Selamut Siang from Bali!

So, where were we? It’s been just over a year since my last vacation—thus, the longest I’ve ever gone between entries. You will understand why in a moment.

How did I leave off? Well, last October I ended by acknowledging the cycles of my life and my willingness to embrace the changes that awaited me. Perhaps I should have been less open to that, for change is exactly what I got. Shortly after I returned from Esalen, I got a new job. Then, a few months later, after growing weary of really bad neighbors (as an adult, I find my tolerance of college-like antics to be so low that I’m now totally uncool), I began the process of selling my townhouse and searching for a home with no shared walls. Then, I finally moved and nearly had a psychotic breakdown in the process (okay, not really—but it was a particularly horrible moving experience). At the same time, David moved in (you’ll remember him as my boyfriend and travel partner of the last three years)—which is in itself a major adjustment.

As if that wasn’t enough (really, wasn’t that enough?), right on the heels of the move, changes with the new job forced me to look for yet another new job. I found one, left the old-new job, and began the new-new job. Throw in numerous other unmentionable changes and that brings me to…now. At some point in the melee, somewhere between moving and searching for new-new job, it became clear that I no longer had time to plan my “normal” vacation— and I was desperate for time away. So, I quickly cobbled together a plan for Bali, a place I’ve always wanted to visit and the farthest we could get in the amount of time I had. It’s definitely not my normal vacation because I am not volunteering and have no obligations while here. This will be a “proper” vacation—a warm place with a beach and only three things on the agenda: a) have fun b) relax c) repeat.

A lot has happened in this part of the world in the last few weeks. About 1700 miles to the north, the Phillipines was hit with typhoon Haiyan. This weekend, two of Indonesia’s 129 volcanoes erupted. Since then, an earthquake occurred that registered 6.3 in the Richter scale. It happened under the sea, and although no tsunami resulted, the above-sea damage still included 1500 buildings and 29 lives. Geologically speaking, I don’t know what’s going on here, but I really hope it’s done.

I’ll have to end on that bright note, since this entry is simply meant to say that we’ve arrived. After a marathon travel day (27 hours!), we’re weary and there are odd animal sound outside our bungalow that require exploring. The lovely town of Ubud awaits…