INDONESIA

While I'm talking about traveling... I recently came back from a 2 week trip to Indonesia. I'm kind of sad that I didn't go there sooner b/c I think it probably ranked in the top 3 travel experiences I've had in the last 3 years (behind Morocco of course which could never be usurped... it might even come in ahead of Tanzania if it weren't for the fact that I climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro with awesome friends when there...). I spent 11 days kayaking, snorkeling, and hiking around the Komodo Islands in Komodo National Park, followed by 5 days of SCUBA diving on Nusa Lembongan just off of Bali (which I've also determined is the best possible place to have a honeymoon), and 2 days in Kuta learning to surf. I travelled alone, which some people may think would be a lonely endeavor but it actually allowed me to meet a lot of people I probably wouldn't have talked to had I been there with others and it also gave me some much-needed "me" time. I also realize that my perspective on travel is a bit different than most. I approach it as a cross between an extreme sport and a documentary for a travel channel. If I haven't eaten things that I'm afraid would make me sick, then I clearly wasn't seeking out the best food. If I didn't finish the trip absolutely exhausted, then I wasn't seeing everything that I could possibly see. If I didn't get my adrenaline fix every day (and not from exercising like normal), then I most definitely wasn't experiencing enough. Most people wouldn't call that a vacation, but it's how I experience the world whether or not I'm travelling so why would I change my approach when I do?

I saw some pretty awesome stuff in Indonesia. If you think you've seen the worlds most beautiful sunset, it ain't got nothin' on the sunsets in Indonesia. I tried to capture them as best I could on camera. We SCUBA dived with giant 2.5m Mola Mola fish and manta rays with a wing span of 4m. We saw Komodo Dragons in the only place in the world they live naturally. I saw the mass exodus of well over a million bats from a mangrove they call home during the day to another island they feed at in the night (see video below). I climbed to the top of no less than half a dozen uninhabited islands and camped on the beach of even more in Komodo National Park. I kayaked more than 3 hours a day for a week straight and was accompanied along the way by dolphins, sea turles, and other strange sea-faring animals. I learned to surf in one of the most legendary surf spots in the world. I got up at 6am to go to the local market and buy the weirdest and most unidenitifiable fruits and pastries I could find. I had the best massage of my life from a blind man for $10. I clung for dear life on the back of the scooter of a random Balinese dude as he zipped through traffic at well over 50kph to and from a nearby city 10km from where I stayed in Kuta.

Pictures never do justice to the places to which we travel, but I did try. Check mine out here.