Every so often you go on a trip and on the last day you are ready to go home. You've had the tasty food, met the people, enjoyed the lovely weather, got the rest and you are ready to get back to real life. But then on a rare occasion a special place steals your heart. As I leave Ubud (I spent 7 days in Bali and never saw anything outside of it!), I'm feeling sad. I can list all the cool things I did here, which of course are well documented on the blog and Facebook but I can't explain the vibe. In fact, I won't even try. I hope that through my jibber jabber over the last week something peaked your interest and you've been able to sense why Ubud is what it is. But this blog entry is not about that.
A few days ago I met a girl from Barcelona traveling solo. It's always amazing how much people open up to each other when they meet traveling. One night, we saw traditional Balinese dance (I wasn't a huge fan) and ate questionable gluten-free, dairy-free, taste-free crepes. Last night, we had a phenomenal 3.5 hour dinner (as one does with a Spaniard!) over French food and cosmos. Of course, I got my Spanish practice so double bonus there. Tonight we had some gyros and made plans to hang out next time I'm in Barca. Done.
On my sunrise trekking adventure, there were many couples and I. The French and Argentinians were super unfriendly but the Australians and Brits took me in. And the French smoked non-stop (yes, while hiking a volcano) so the stereotype was well and alive there. Some days you meet cool people, others not. All part of travel.
Yestersay during my Balinese cooking lesson, there were people from Iceland, Canada, Philippines, yours truly and a mother/son duo from Sacramento. First of all, wow, Americans! Rarity here. Second of all, that mom is truly my goals. She doesn't do any organized tours, loves the planning aspect, her son who is going into his senior year was such a polite, well spoken guy who wanted to come to Bali because he saw a cooking show with Indonesian food. Mom is planning a trip to Uganda and the kid was trying to get permission to go solo to Eastern Europe. Seriously?! Who are these people?!?!?!? If Remi turns out quarter as cool as that kid, I am all in.
Over the last few days there were people of different ages and backgrounds but we all had one thing in common. Choices of travel locations. Warning: Do not read further if you love Europe and are easily offended. I'm about to go to town. Also, I love Europe. But it's easy. So easy. So perfect. So approachable. There is something about traveling to more difficult places that pulls you in and facilitates the desire to do more.
A driver left Heather and I in the middle of the night in the rain? We got a different ride and a great story from it. I ordered a mango and a coffee in Hanoi last year, they brought me a mango smoothie. Awesome, it was tasty. A driver dropped us off in the wrong city? Met some lovely people, made more memories and got home safely. Got the wrong sarong? Sweet, now I have a dress made from the material. I'm full of random anecdotes, the highlights never start out as planned.
I noticed something funny this past week. My most liked and discussed pictures have been of a nasty bathroom in Lombok, monkey porn in Ubud and bloody knees from Mt. Batur. It's curious how we tend to chase the beautiful rainforest or the turquoise water but at the end of the day, those are postcards. They are rarely real life. There is nothing to talk about when you see a pretty sunrise. Sure it's beautiful but that's rarely *the* story. Biting it hard and walking around town trying to find Indonesian Neosporin for two days *that's* the adventure.
Europe is a great starting point. It's where you start to see new things in a safe travel environment. Very little can go wrong, the bathrooms will be clean (you may have to pay to use them), the food often familiar. Water is drinkable and you will probably not get run over by a car. The showers will be hot and you'll enjoy every second! I am, of course, generalizing but the idea is there. Once you are a comfortable traveler there are so many places off most people's radar dying to be explored.
It's pretty neat to sit around the table with people listening to their stories of places I haven't even considered. Nobody talked about all inclusive resorts in Mexico or Hawaii nor Paris or London. Maybe some of us are misogynistic by nature and want the torture travel? My guess is that it's not it. You can have a cheap or a million dollar trip to Ubud. To Cape Town. To Siem Reap. It's just that sometimes we lack creativity and tend to go places most traveled. I'm as guilty as the next guy and have made it a point in the last four years to get to those places before I die. My current wish list consists of regular easy locations and some creative ones but where will I go next? Not a clue. So next time you are traveling, I hope you too will look for an adventure off the beaten path. There are so many places that will take your breath away.
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