Entries about inspiration

Throughout my week on the islands life was very different from what I am used too wether it be trees growing in water, hospitality service, types of transport, or a little wind gust putting the power out. I had to drop my ideas of normal and need to control, and instead learn to be yielding and accept what comes.

The first island I visited was
LOMBOK:
Our driver friend Bj picked Trey and I up in Padang Padang and drove us to Padang Bai to catch the ferry to Lombok. On the way he took us to his favorite non touristy local Warung. Then we got to Padang Bai. We could have paid hundreds of thousands of rupiah for a fast boat from Padang Bai or Sanur but we went with mostly locals on a 5 hour ferry for about 2$.
Taking the road less traveled .

After almost a full day of traveling we got to Kuta,Lombok and started to question if it would be worth the cost and hassel of getting there. But it most definitely was and Kuta, Lombok is nothing like Kuta, Bali. Lombok is the quitest place in Indo I have been yet. There are wild cats, dogs, goats, and cows everywhere and little wooden shack beach bars lined up right across the road from our place. The first night we went to 'the original beach bar' which was a truck run by a very youthful looking chap named Oyook. Oyook is 20 and runs the little beach truck for his uncle in exchange for living with him and although he doesn't make money, he is able to practice his English with foreigners like us. His sparking positive attitude, the character of this truck, and the cheaper drink prices, led us to stay there instead of the busier more touristy beach bar across the way. We made good friends with Oyook and he would let us play our own i pods on his sound system . We jammed out to reggae tunes and took over the bar. He even got a generator going just for us when the power went out and we were the only ones at the bar.
Even nights when we went to the big psychedelic, packed party beach bar across the way we always pregamed with Oyook first.
My days in Lombook consisted of some light running or hut yoga, and afternoons of motor biking to Gurupak the local surf spot. We paid to be taken out to some pretty awesome breaks and big waves (by my standards) by boat . I would try driving the motor bike a bit on the way home because it is so quiet there . (Don't worry dad I was very careful). I once again feel like I met my comfort zone, challenged my surfing ability and tried something new and for those opportunities I am grateful.

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The islands are much less crowded and it is more common to see a horse and buggy rather than a car. In fact on the Gilly Islands, which are small islands that are a part of Lombok, there are no motor vehicles whatsoever instead bikes around the whole island.
This made me more likely to take the time to pause and look up at the sky at night, with less people and cars, we can we more engulfed in the truly beautiful magical nature around us.

GILLY Air;

Gilly A had a good amount of yogis and a whole lot of divers. The island is so small I ran around the whole thing in 45 minutes. The hostel I stayed in was not my favorite but each place along the beach had a beautiful salt pool with multiple levels for water diving trainings.
I've actually never paid for a professional massage in my entire life, and don't get nearly as much body work done as I should for being so active.
So one rainy afternoon I treated myself to a traditional Balinese Massage /Aloe Treatment at the Blue Lotus Spa to try to get rid of this sun burn some more and 10$ an hour isn't too bad.
I did a bit of yoga, some sunset watching, snorkeling, and I even found a slackline! I slacked with the local kids who are so cute and talented and that was probably the high light of Gilly A. Very chill place.

Gilly Trawangan;
Gilly T is known as the party island, there wasn't as much to do during the day and most places are focused around night life. It has cool late night markets and almost zero police officers on the entire island. Our hostel had no quiet hours and 24 hour free pancakes.
We took part in lots of dancing, ladies nights, and live music, but luckily the two ladies I am with were on the same page as me. We'd usually rather enjoy our days than party untill 4 am spending money we won't remember.
All of the islands had lots of power outages, but Gilly T was the worst.
A huge tree fell across the road right next to our hostel crushing the woman's house next door and putting the power out for days. The weather to me just seemed like a windy rainy day, but to bali this is quite rare.
When we got there we had about two hours of a nice air conditioned room, and then for the next three days it was mostly off, no wifi, no running water and it was very very hot.
We made do by buying hand fans, showering with buckets, and lots of giggles at flash light puppet shows and whatever other dumb things we did to entertain ourselves.
A power outage is a great chance to let go. Because no matter how much you complain about the situation, the power is still out. So instead we let go of the way we thought the world is supposed to be and work in our 21st century minds. Letting go is a scary enterprise for those of is who believe that the world revolves only because it has a handle on top of it which we personally turn, and that if we drop this handle even for a moment well that would be the end of the universe. But when you try dropping it. You can sit back with your head in your hands and let things be as they are, you can actually relax. You can sit quietly in the now and cease your relentless participation. Watch what happens. The birds do not crash dead out of the sky in mid flight, after all. The trees do not wither and die, rivers do not run red with blood. Life continues to go on. Im not sure why we think our micromanagement of every moment in this whole world is so essential.

My days consisted of allot of walking, some beautiful sunsets (if we're lucky at a sunset swing) and lots of dancing and laughing. There was a yoga place right across from our hostel and I tried to eat as healthy as possible, but options were limited, and the free pancakes were pretty good ?.
I think the girls would agree that the one day we didn't have power alll day we laughed harder than we had in a long time. We had to make our own fun and actually talk to each other instead of being on Instagram!! Can you imagine?
Something I love to see about the young kids here is how they can have the biggest smile on their faces just by playing with leaves. There's no I pads or phones or TVs. This time without electricity really brought us back to realizing how privileged we are and how sometimes having these technological advantages can be a bad thing taking us away from the moment we are really in. (I say this as I type my blog on my smart phone.)

At night I found myself taking even more time to be gazing at the stars rather than down at a phone. It made me think of this quote by Mahatma Ghandi; When I admire the wonders of a sunset or the beauty of the moon, my soul expands in the worship of the creator.

Feeling very full, adventurous, grateful, beautiful, and connected.

If you don't want to read all of this, basically;
If anyone is visiting Bali for over a month ever, make sure to plan a quick round trip ticket in the middle to a close destination of your choice or figure out your extended visa before you leave the states...

Explanation ;
Upon arrival in Bali I paid 30$ in the airport for a one month visa. I am going to be here for a while over a month but I figured that I had just gotten away with it or would deal with it when I pay my departure fee on my return flight .

So my two Canadian friends who I am traveling Kelsey and Jen with have been dragging me to the immigration office every day to work on getting our visas extended . Luckily Jen is very organized and notified me that if I don't do this I will be charged at the airport upon arrival for every day over 30 days and it's actually quite illegal if you're a week over and I could Goto jail.
SOO our first few days in Sanur have consisted of paying for cabs and going to the immigration office in Denspasar every day to work on this .

Day one we arrived at 220 and they close at 2. Day 2 we got there at 1 and the minute I got the forms in my hand the power went out.
Day 3...

I start my day with an Instagram post. (See happiness is now blog) saying how happy I am and how no matter what is going on in your life you are able to choose happiness and joy in every moment.

We get to the office at 12 . The immigration office in bali is just about as slow and friendly as maybe the DMV in south jersey, except your in a foreign country and you can't trust anyone.
So I take my number, get my paperwork, fill it out, wait again, hand it in, am told I need a photocopy of my passport and departure flight itinerary, walk around the corner pay for photo copies, go back, and hand in all of this including my passport.
I should have known right then that something was weird why do they need my passport if they already have a photo copy of it, but I thought maybe they would stamp it with my extended visa I would pay 30$ and Id be on my way. At about 1159 the guy gives me a paper that says return for payment February 18th and then my visa will be extended for another month. And untill then they will hold on to my passport and folder of paperwork. This is when I knew something was wrong. I explained to him that I don't want to come back a fourth time and I do not feel comfortable leaving without my passport and I would like it back right now. He said he can't give me my passport back and I need to cancel my application if I want that. I said okay I want to cancel please hand me my passport back . We went back and forth untill he handed me an oh so official blank piece of white paper where I should explain why I want to cancel and then told me it's his break time from 12-1 (even though he gets off at 2) and to come back at 1.
I stayed and intently kept my eyes on that folder.
While waiting an e mail comes through from the friend who told me of olap and is very experienced in Bali. I had written him about my visa issue and his response went something like this ;
"It might seem paranoid, but even when you overstay, just a few days, if there's a problem and the police ask for your passport, if you don't have a current visa, they can make trouble and it will cost you much more than a round trip plane ticket and you won't enjoy the experience . Never give the police your passport, just give them a photo copy, because they might try to keep it and sell it back to you. You can't trust the police or Immigration officials, there. It's not New Jersey."

Ect ect. As you can imagine Im freaking out.
And I think of my Instagram post. Ha what a test. If it wasn't for my two new friends standing by my side throughout this I may have cried. Instead I patiently waited and kept repeating in my head, choose happiness in every moment, deep breaths. Because even if I had freaked out and let myself cry and get angry and build up my temper, it wasn't going to get my passport to the other side of the window.
So instead I calmly waited and tried my best to be happy and put things in perspective, after all I am still in paradise, things could be worse.

About ten minutes later another worker from immigration asked me what my problem was as I was anxiously waiting at the window not leaving. I tricked him into giving me my passport back by saying I just needed to write down my passport number for a moment. And then once it was in my hands explained that I want to cancel and am going to write why on that white paper and be done with this. He said okay just give me your passport and go write it out the pens are over there.
No I think I'll hold on to this thank you. I wrote them a letter that ended in this was my third time to this office and I am done. Thanks. Rachael May O'Brien. I wish I took a picture of it. I told them that I will be headed to Singapore for a few days instead and will get another visa upon arrival.

We left Denspasar, came back to Big Pinapple Backpackers, and started looking up flights! What a head ache that was the past few days, but now I am being sent on another adventure! Perth, Singapore, Thailand where to?? It will be an unplanned expense yes. But I don't have much of a choice, and it makes sense to see somewhere else in south east Asia since I am over here. I am going with the flow of what life threw at me and now I'm on the search for the cheapest flight for a few days out of Indonesia!

Everything happens for a reason right?
Sometimes I am skeptical about the whole social media yoga world. We can post and say all we want but how many of us are really living it? And are my posts stemming from my ego just wanting more likes ? Why do people need to know what yoga poses I did today? It seems like just about everyone today is posting head stand pictures.
BUT it makes sense to share with others the catalyst of inspiration and peace in my life . Social media can be a platform for social change, we are all looking at it all day every day and it affects us. So if there are more and more positive quotes and healthy posts every day. That's something to celebrate . I would much rather see juices and crow poses than negativity, violence, and club pictures. Posting those pictures and that positivity, makes you more inclined to live it, because you don't want to be a hypocrit right? That's how it all starts. You fake it unyill you make it. We all have a vision that's not quite real yet and then we work work work untill it becomes our reality. That Instagram post and words I said that more helped to remind me to keep the peace within, while there was chaos and stress all around me .
And so I choose happiness and I will continue to do so.

Denspasars word; frustration.
Baha indonesia word of the day ; TIDAK- NO

"There's nothing like returning to a place unchanged and realizing it is you yourself that has changed."

Although I had been to Delray and Deerfield before in 2013, there is always something new to experience especially when with new people.
It's easy for me to go on autopilot and go places I have been to and feel comfortable navigating, but to try new places and things is to grow. It's easy to get stuck in our patterns, trying new things and going to new places scares our ego, which is why it's important to do so. The ego may scare you into never doing something you've always wanted because you're too scared to try. My dad has always told me a famous quote by Wayne Getzsky "You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take." This can be applied in your yoga practice or anywhere in life, traveling to a new city, or finding new adventure in one you have already seen.

So in a traveling sense Miami was a new location to me , these two next towns wouldn't be , but that didn't mean it couldn't be a new experience. Even at home in the same place, there's something new to see and learn every day.

So when we got into delray, Aunt Mindy met us for a Santana cover band concert. The night began with reunion tequila shots and ended with excellent pizza and sublime music. So great to reunite with old family and introduce new friends. ❤️
Delray is super cool and happening. The word for it might be, festivity or 'The Avenue'. Every week there is some kind of event going on. Seafood and wine festival, art festival, garlic festival. Always live music, always poppin clubs and bars, and lots of fancy food. The avenue itself is even a little too much for my liking.
So we found our favorite street in Delray - Swinton Avenue; a cross street by the avenue with The Sunday House and Shaffers Tea House on it.
Shaffers tea house is a rad cluster of all wooden little buildings and outside seating. Awesome live music, Henna tatoos, and the purest homemade healthy teas and treats is what you can expect here on a Friday night. Great vibe and staff.
The Sunday house is one block down, is a beautiful botanical garden and fancy restaurant and bar with random private seating throughout the gorgeous gardens . We walked through and found out that it also is a hotel. It even has an all natural pool with a water filtering system that doesn't use chemicals, a big green grass area, and bananas and other exotic plants and fruits growing randomly throughout the place. It is breath taking.
So we decided although it is not in our budget, we must experience this place at some point, perhaps with false identities.

When Delray became a bit much we headed to Deerfield but first ran back down to Miami to take some yoga at Kino MacGregor's studio. I was surprised at how small and humble it was. She and another teacher we wanted to see were absent but we took a great ashtanga class and it was cool just to be there . The guy who taught the class got both of my hands to bind to my feet behind my back in a lotus forward fold. This is something I've always wanted to do! And another first! And one day I will be able to sitting up and on my own after enough hip and shoulder work haha . It always feels good to accomplish something new and different.
In fact Miami even seemed a new experience the second time around. I had only been there less than a week earlier, but that trip was about seeing the city beaching and partying. This short visit was about yoga and driving around coral gables to see the Banyan Trees. These trees are the national tree of the republic of India but can also be found in Florida. They are epiphytes (a plant growing on another plant) when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree. So they end up looking like one crazy big connected tree with a bunch of roots. They're quite interesting and very pretty and it was my first time climbing on one !

It didn't even feel like I was in Miami. We also found a small street art fair and ate a very reasonable lunch at 100 Montaditos. Which is a cafe that sells small Spanish sandwiches and on certain days offers specials where select sandwiches are 1$ or 1.50$ . We happened to be there that day! Which also included 1$ sangria.
And so I could have not driven back to Miami because I had already been there, but that Sunday afternoon gave me a completely different view of the city it was cheap, healthy, fun and filled with beautiful nature.

That evening we arrived in Deerfield to stay with Mindy in her awesome little complex, the sandy pebble. Super chill people, super chill town. Got to bum on her couch for a few days and reconnect with Mindys neighbor Rasta who happens to live with a friend of mine Katie from high school. We rented paddle boards, did some yoga, ate some ice cream and enjoyed simple slow placed days and long walks on the beach. Deerfield is so chill with a stoner surfer vibe, and they have a great location. Everything I needed in walking distance from jazz music and side walk dance parties to uptown funk, and rockin reggae music a block down. I found myself thinking this is quite a nice set up they have down here... Our last day there we were blessed with some nice little waves. I didn't even plan on surfing, we had rented paddle boards and I was out at the end of the peir doing SUP yoga with Katie, and decided I would try riding in a wave. I've never surfed on a stand up before so I thinking Id wipe out. I successfully rode in several nice long lefts, making turns and digging my paddle in the water. It felt exhilarating and I kept thinking I wish my dad was here to see this. Another first experience. I also did forearm stand on a paddle board and handstand for the first time, even if I fell on my board a few times. You miss 100 percent of the shots you don't take .

After surfing, Derrick and I journeyed back to the ever so fancy 'Sunday House' in Delray. (On a Tuesday) . After I made Derrick put up his long hippie hair and leave the guitar in the car, I put on some make up and we walked in pretending to be guests of the hotel. We successfully sauntered right past the from desk and swam around in the pool with live fishies and moss everywhere. Once again beautiful, is an understatement. Used the cold outside shower like the squatters we are and stayed for an epic dinner. It was awesome, and we totally pulled it off, even though Mindy said we wouldn't... Again you gotta take the chance
My last day and evening couldn't have been more perfect. The scenery and food was fantastic, and took the place of the fancy over priced meal in Miami, that we'd be making up for with PB and apples ever since. (It may seem like I'm being wined and dined and am a total brat, but those meals are complimented with nice healthy cheap meals for traveling like fruit, pb, cereal ect. Keeping costs lower.)

So all in all, Even in places I had visited before, I experienced so many new great things . Because I decided to take the chance.
So no matter where you are, take a minute to ask yourself if there's something you've been waiting to do. Why haven't you done it?
How can you look at somewhere you are all the time, with a new perspective?
And When was the last time you did something for the first time??