I’m sitting in my windowless but air-conditioned and wifi-equipped hostel room in Bangkok having spent a week in Bali touristing it up big time. Well, I managed to avoid shopping too much because I hate it, but where we were in Kuta meant that no matter where I wandered, I seemed to be reluctantly strolling through some shopping area selling shitty ‘Bintang’ (an Indo beer) and ‘Bali’ adorned t-shirts. But forced-shopping aside, I had a great time.
I came to Bali to surprise my good Aussie friend for her 30th and I also got to go to a wedding and see a bunch of Aussie friends I lived with in London. I was surrounded by Aussies, actually. It was fun. My favourite thing about travelling has to me meeting up with old friends all around the world and getting to see so many people at once made the crazy trip worthwhile.
I went white water rafting for the first time and, though it was pretty calm, I’m a complete coward when it comes to adrenaline sports type things. The grade three rapids were a baby step towards going rafting in Uganda on the grade five big boys. I’m still scared, though. But damn it was fun. Plus the scenery was pretty amazing whenever I managed to take my eyes off of the waves and look around.
I had a few days at the beach, some time by the pool, fought off an attempted theft of my flip flops by a monkey, drank lots of cocktails and plenty of beer, ate seafood, had a bout with Bali Belly (possibly related to the previous items on my list) and generally had a great time. But I’m looking very forward to going home.
I’ve said it several times now… I’m just not the traveller I used to be! I absolutely love visiting friends on their home turf and I still love living in new places, but I’m really not so into breezing into a spot for a few days with nothing else on my agenda than checking it out. Those days are gone, I think.
So ya… I want my own bed. I want to go to the gym. I want to practice on my guitar. Ooh I’m also starting French classes on Monday night so that should be good! I’ve been trying to learn on my own but I’m too shy to speak and there’s no way I’ll learn if I don’t, so I’m hoping the classes force it out of me.
Plus Drew, husband of Christine from Almost Fearless, will be stopping by next week to interview me for their documentary about people living where they want and working online. I’m slightly shitting myself about it because I’m not sure how I feel about being caught on tape forever and ever talking. But we’ll see how it goes. You’ve got to get out of your comfort zone one in awhile, I guess. I’m looking forward to meeting him though and picking his brain about his doco experience as I’ve always been curious about that sort of thing.
So that’s my update! I’ll be back in Kigali on Monday and I’m really looking forward to it. Tomorrow I’ll be braving Bangkok’s shopping malls reluctantly, buying all of the things I can’t get in Kigali. God I hate shopping.
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