After my time at the bamboo school I headed to Bangkok. It just so happened that I was able to catch up with a friend from New Zealand!  Sarah Bland and her friend Bri have been traveling around south east Asia and Nepal for the last 2 months and our paths just happened to cross! It was really good to catch up with her and her friend and hear all about their adventures!

I jumped on a a plane bound for Bali the next day. I am always excited to see and experience new places but for some reason I knew this place would be much different to anywhere I had been previous. Famous for the surf, beaches and yoga, it definitely sounded like a nice place to be!

On arrival I was hit with a decent wave of heat. Something I haven’t felt in a while. It has been quite cold at the bamboo school the last couple of weeks. But I quickly found a taxi and headed up to the amazing and tranquil Ubud. My first impression of the place was that it was very busy and crowded, all the buildings were close together and it seemed quite busy. After 2 days here I had fallen in love! It is very tranquil and peaceful here. There is a very friendly expat community here. People here are very open minded and deep thinkers which is extremely appealing for me. I am learning a lot about life and how to be a better person.

Also.. this place is the most vegetarian friendly place I have ever been! People here take care of their bodies doing yoga and eating well. It is a very big change from the way I have been living over the past several months on the road. Charissa and I rented a 2 bedroom villa in the town with a swimming pool so we have finally been able to unpack our bags and relax in one spot for a while

There seems to be celebrations here almost every day. It has been nice to see the culture and different religious beliefs being practiced.

You might be asking what I do all day, with I seem to keep pretty busy just reading, writing, doing yoga and cooking! Time goes by pretty quickly. The past 2 weeks have flown by and I’m sure I will want to stay longer when my time is up here.

Christmas was a quiet affair, we had a nice dinner with some expat friends and relaxed all day by the pool in the sun. I think that’s how Christmas should be celebrated.

New years was much the same. A delicious dinner with friends in Taksu, a nice fancy restaurant in town followed by fireworks. It seems the people of Bali really love their fireworks.  I actually felt in serious danger of being hit by some of the hundreds of domestic fireworks being set off by kids all over the streets. So we made a hasty retreat to hour home soon after the count down.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of the island, but for now I have been quite content just relaxing and living my life.

A very big Happy new years to all of you back in New Zealand and everyone else who reads the blog thanks so much for taking the time to read it. I really appreciate it!
Happy 2015!