Flexibility and adaptability!
I have been in contact with my place in Ubud, Bali since starting to plan this trip. I gave them approximate dates and told them I would contact them as the dates got closer. They said that was OK. When the dates got closer, I wrote them. They had only one room available! Not a room I particularly liked, but room with them and that seemed just fine with me! Family! Pool! Nyoman and healing! Laughter and time together. Perfect!
Or so I thought!
After a week including over 30 hours of travel, I arrived in Sanur, Bali at the end of a weary day! So excited to be here! I went to the beach for dinner and sunset. When I got back to my room, I had a message from them. The person who was checking out decided to stay longer. They had NO room for me! This, three days before I was to arrive!
Shocked and disappointed, it took a while to reset my intentions! I love staying there not only because I’ve known the family for ages but because the energy of Nyoman’s healing permeates the entire place! So now what!?!?
Flashback to Seinfeld! Adaptable?
Suddenly, I was remembering an old Seinfeld episode I used with some training programs. We have your reservation….
….we just don’t have your car!
Talking with a friend...
Noticing the time, I called a friend as our time difference worked for a call. While talking to her, my shock calmed down. I do believe everything happens for a reason. So, something else was coming up for me. What? I stopped thinking and felt into what experience I wanted to have there? And things suddenly cleared up!
The three "non's"
and...staying flexible! Listen and adapt!
While caring for mom and dad during the last years of their lives, I knew it was imperative that I take care of myself!! Or, I would have no energy to share helping them. Whenever I was exhausted, feeling out of balance or just plain frustrated, I was violating one the three “non’s”.
Non-judgment: judging what is, right or wrong, crazy or not, doesn’t help anything. What is IS…flow with it!
Non-resistance: denying or resisting what “is” is a complete waste of energy! I remember hearing Eckhart Tolle talking about being stuck in the mud. You can complain about it, wish you had done something different, beat yourself up with criticism or a variety of other reactions. Only once you let go and accept … “I’m stuck int he mud!”…can you take any action and do anything about it.
Non-attachment: holding rigidly to how things should be is exhausting and unhelpful! Whether thinking about the past or the future, NOW is the only moment you can act. All past and future thoughts happen in the now. So rather than being attached to how things SHOULD be…let go and deal with what is!
The same three non’s are so helpful in travel! The reservation is cancelled! Gone! Not there! Complain, resist, should on them, wish, get frustrated…or release and adapt. That helped me incredibly when caring for mom and dad (and myself) and the same ideas hold true for travel!
A Hebrew Quote...
“Blessed are the flexible, for they
shall never be bent out of shape!”
So now what??
I stopped thinking and started feeling. “What experience do I want to have?” And I reminded myself, “I AM IN BALI!” Almost immediately, ideas formed, each followed by a feeling for whether those were inspiring or not? I booked a room with the family at Dewa’s Bungalows, the place I stayed my first visit in Bali and the friend who introduced me to Nyoman.
Then, rather than stay at a place near my friends that really didn’t feel right, I decided to go explore another part of Ubud! It’s relatively close but will have me experiencing different parts of Ubud more intimately than I have in the past. And I plan to relax and do some work that I hoped to do while having down time. My requiremets were: new part of Ubud, swimming pool, big bed, air conditioning and close. Look what I found!
Jai 3 Bungalows and Spa! I booked them through Booking.com but this has a great intro photo!
Leaving Kuala Lumpur and getting here...a breeze
Really nice time with great food and generally great experience in Kuala Lumpur. A later flight gave me the opportunity to get up early, so slow, enjoy myself and have plenty of time for the airport and such! The hostel was great although the room was tiny. It was private, comfortable and I loved the rooftop! Next time, it will be a restaurant so may not be available to me to sit with my coffee early in the morning!
Travel to Bali, my flight left at 10:20. I was checked in and had codes for getting my backpack checked. I woke early so got up and slowly, leisurely, showered and left the hostel for an Indian Restaurant! An awesome simple breakfast and then I walked across the street to the LRT station at Pasar Seni. It was literally a 3 minute walk. Getting a ticket, I rode back to KL Sentral where I walked another 5 minutes to the KL Ekspres. I downloaded the app so was able to purchase tickets and have a digital code. The tricky part: getting the code reader to read the code. A security guard helped and showed me the trick to get it read!
Down the escalator and onto the train which departed about 5 minutes later. It’s an express to the two terminals at the airport. Traffic would be horrible and take a long time. This takes 35 minutes and cost around $12 US.
The longest walk was through the airport to Air Asia and their ticket counter. Everything is automated. Even with codes for checking in and for baggage, the machine wouldn’t work! I found an agent and she showed me a different code reader for digital codes. Ah ha!
Had been a craving pancakes and a coffee! Fixed that because I had time. A short way until boarding. I purchased an upgraded “hot seat” which gave me priority boarding. I was in row 2 which, in hindsight, was great for going through customs in another country. I was among the first off the plane. And, during the flight, the seats beside me were empty! Lots of room!
I read online about the new VOA (visa on arrival) system. Everyone recommended doing it online first to simplify things. It was actually pretty simple except for the part about ONLY accepting electronic eVisa verification. Their QR codes wouldn’t work and having just arrived, I didn’t have a sim card for Indonesia yet. Finally, a computer terminal opened! Since I had spent hours online before my trip attempting to complete the form, I had all the information they asked for memorized! After that, it was a breeze. From landing until I was at Grab awaiting a car to pick me up…having passed through immigration, gotten my backpack, completing and paying for the eVisa, finding an ATM and getting Indonesia Rupiah and even getting a sim card installed on my phone and checked out…all that happened in one hour!
Massive changes!!!
I was here one year ago toward the end of covid but still having challenging travel restrictions! When I arrived at my hotel in Sanur, they had only three or four rooms occupied. Now, they are full, the beach is packed and people are everywhere!
Last year, I had the beach to myself at sunrise! And the pool later! Now, the pool cafe is open, Aussie’s are here drinking beer and having a good time, the beach is packed.
The first things I noticed is that prices have gone up. The local service similar to Uber now had hidden costs which is always annoying! The favorite restaurant from last year is now busy and the dinner was a bit disappointing. People everywhere! Lots of traffic!
And…still lovely people! So happy to be here relaxing. And it feels normal to me to honestly assess what is different, then let it go, and decide to have a good experience because I can simply choose to feel good and enjoy myself!
One example of the change…SPA and massage places!
Massage everywhere!!!
Last time, massage businesses were almost all closed and the massage therapist were working on the beach. Now, in my walk back from Massimos, I saw close to 40 of them! Lots of therapist sitting outside trying to get new clients! Most of them on cell phone only momentarily shifting their eyes to go through the motion of asking if you want a massage. Then, immediately back to the phone. It appears rather zombie like! Nice, friendly smiles and voices!
My policy….look for older women. If they are still doing massage, generally it means they care about what they are doing! I’ve had great success following that idea.
Price!? Very affordable! It was slightly more in Malaysia for massage. However, in roughly three weeks, I had three acupuncture sessions, two hour full body massages and one hour foot and leg massage. They cost about $72 US. Not apiece, that was my cost for all of them!!
Birthday morning walking and breakfast...
Walking back slowly, looking at everything, taking my time. I was really savoring going slow and seeing what has changed since last time. Below are a few things I noticed along the way.
Relaxing day!
Tomorrow, it’s a chill day. More sitting and watching the sunrise. More swimming in the ocean and the pool. More reading. Just relaxing and recharging. Afternoons are getting really hot so I look for shade or AC. Big plans tomorrow: smile a lot and be happy!
