Day 19 – Do You

I always think I’m going to lack writing material on travel days, but the great thing about being in a writing mindset, is that you look at everything a little differently. It’s one of the reasons why I love writing (both in my journal and in blog posts) while we travel.

We’re at Bali airport with a 4 hour layover today. This is the closest we’ll come to Indonesia’s most famous island.

Yeah…. Because who wants to go there? It looks absolutely… Disgusting…???

If you asked me why we’re not going to Bali, I might give you a quick answer and say that I hate tourists, but that’s not really it. Honestly, I feel like Bali has been done. I’ve seen the pictures, I’ve heard the stories and I’ve read the articles. Everyone’s already written about Bali, so what’s left to say?

The other problem is that when you go where everyone else wants to go… There are a lot of people there!!

I mean, don’t get me wrong… Places like Bali do what they do very well. Bali is beautiful, comfortable and a bit kitsch, and for a lot of people, that makes for a perfect holiday!! But that’s definitely not what Dave and I seek anymore.

The longer we travel, the more we realize that we aren’t looking for the same things many other tourists are. We’re ok with the 8 hour drive to Bukit Lawang. We’re alright spending the night sleeping on a rock in the jungle. Even my sunstroked boat experience was worth it because there was a chance I’d see something really rare!

Like Manta Rays, for example :). (not my picture… Sunstroke robbed me of this opportunity…)

This is not to say that Bali and places like it aren’t wonderful, and it’s certainly not to say that everyone should want to do the things I love. What I’ve learned over the past 4 years is that you should do you… Don’t follow everyone else’s dreams… Figure out what YOU want.

For me… It’s meeting Thomas and Juni in the Sumatran jungle.

A Thomas Leaf Monkey, found only in the northern Sumatran jungle. (This one was eyeing my bananas)

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