Bali

On my last day in Bali I got up early and sat by the pool with the intention of writing something extraordinary to sum up the trip. I had no idea where to start. This trip has exceeded my expectations in just about every possible way and I will always remember it as my first real off-continent travel adventure. Cheers to Bali!

After spending a couple of fabulous days in beautiful, relaxing, laid-back Amed, we showed up in Kuta and were immediately shell-shocked. We could only describe it as a sort of LA meets South Beach Australian surf party. It was NOT what we were hoping for.

A great day spent touring some of the villages surrounding Amed, meeting the locals, and passing out surprises to little kids. Joya even got to try some spicy fish and we all stumbled into an accidental village celebration of some sort. A fantastic day!

Today's adventure was snorkeling at the shipwreck of the USS Liberty, about 20 minutes north of Amed. The fish were spectacular, the shipwreck was nothing short of amazing and we had a great experience swimming with a school of thousands of fish.

An amazing trip to a temple with 1000 stairs where we met a priest who presented us with a special blessing and told us of his visit to the States and to Seattle. After leaving we found locals at every corner pointing us the way back home. Things like this just don't happen by accident do they?

We've now developed a new recreational love here in Bali: scootering! It's such a fantastic and cheap way to get out, see the island, and have a blast! We also enjoyed our own little mini version of the Discovery Channel by snorkeling in the fantastic reef just off the shore of our bungalow.

Armed with scooters, we toured the island, took a bunch of photos, and enjoyed cooling off by riding around during the hottest part of the day. And we also discovered that we're sharing our beach bungalow with a cute little bathroom snake!

Today we packed up and left the Ubud Villa to venture to Amed, a sleepy little town on Bali's east coast that has beautiful ocean views, fabulous seafood, and a very young, hip population. We love it and already think we'll be here a while.

Today Jo taught me the fine art of bartering and negotiation during a long day of shopping and sightseeing. Afterwards we enjoyed a hilarious stroll through the Monkey Forest and considered it a success as none of the nasty little creatures managed to hitch a ride home with us. We finished up the day with a birthday celebration for Joya!

Dressed like natives we hit the local full moon ceremony where I found that jetlag, fatigue, and goat on a stick sometimes don't play well together.

I've arrived in Bali and on the drive to Ubud I'm immediately shell-shocked by all of it. The traffic is chaotic, there are scooters everywhere, so much is happening all at once I can't even process it. But at the same time it's so different and exciting and overwhelming! This is going to be a memorable trip for sure, I just know it.

I'm at SeaTac airport about to take the longest and most unknown journey of my life: my first off-continent trip to Bali! Traveling has always been a dream of mine but I sadly have yet to go anywhere. My poor empty passport will finally have some stamps!