How My Travel Life Started

For those who don’t know how my travel life started, I lived in a city of comfort in Bali. Don’t get me wrong, Ubud has its own charm that made everyone even decided to stay longer than they expected. I did. I never regretted the short trip to Ubud that changed my whole life. Ubud has magic that made you fall in love with this small city. Too small that everybody knows everyone. Just turn left or turn right and you will see the same person that you met yesterday. The friendly faces, the cool weather, the cultures, and variety of food that are perfect delicious, can attract you to prolong your stay.

My life in Bali was never too far away from the beaches and ocean. Almost every weekend we were always going down to the beaches to swim, surfing, snorkelling, diving or even just being lazy and relax in the sand. You know that Bali has the best snorkelling spots around in Indonesia. Oh yes, we are living a dream in Bali!Nice cool weather, amazing rice terraces, and the ethnicity of Balinese cultures in Ubud made me respect more and more about Indonesian tradition. One of the reasons that I moved to Bali is also about my English conversation skills. Oh, i admit, I am very good at writing or reading in English, but when it came to doing the talking, I am simply lost and tangled in words. So it was a perfect choice for me to learn! Ubud has so many spots where expats and Indonesian people collide. In a cute cafe, co-working space, or simply just say hi on the small stalls in the street. It was a great chance to learn and exchange info about other countries. Moved to Ubud was a life changing experience for me.Having met so many travellers from all over the countries had me jealous with their travel stories. Especially with the female solo travellers that cross by in Ubud to relax. It was such an honour to hear their life-changing experiences. Such superwomen! They decided to travel far away from their home country, they don’t even understand the local language, and yet they were still brave enough to go around by themselves. Alone! Trekking in the jungle, diving in the tropical foreign sea, exploring the ancient temples, or just surviving in the metropolitan city. Oh, i was intrigued to do same like them.

I was very lucky and blessed to met so many friends that support me to try to do long term travelling. I know that I will never be this sure if I was still living with my family. So finally I decided to leave my comfort zone in Ubud. Leaving all of my friends that I can primely to called “family” was the hardest part. But they will always be there for me and thank God for the social media that can connect you everywhere you go 🙂

I was the childish one in the group and everyone was worry about my sloppiness during my next trip. Well, in fact, they worry about all my life being careless in so many aspects. I wasn’t the youngest one, but I have so many best friends that I called “Mama” who care so much about me. Being the happiest person on the group, I was always get “bullied” and be the jokes and fun target. Oh, I don’t mind, I know they will miss me tho! I feel so blessed and being loved at the same time!

Even though they don’t believe that I am able to do this trip on my own, (they worried too much!) they still trust me that I can survive along the way. That matters the most. And that is the reason I keep on going on.

It’s almost 1 month since I left “Home”. Funny how time flies so fast when you do something you love. So many things happened during my trip, especially when it comes to myself. I feel like I am growing more and more. People do change. But travelling alone definitely changed of who I am.

© 2017 Writing & Images copyright of Marina Utami.