Hello🙋 and goodbye🤝 Bali: one of my greatest teachers over the past 18 years

Yup, you read that very well: I have said goodbye to Bali.

But first of all, it has been a while since I last blogged, shame on me, right? No excuses for it, I just simply didn’t do it. But hey, here’s an update about my Bali adventures.

Let’s rewind first: I was on Bali during  August and September 2023, taking a short break after teaching yoga in Laos. Those were my last yoga classes for now, but who knows, I might spice things up a bit in the future 😉.

Bali as a holiday residence was good, the weather was nice, and not that sticky. Even a bit cold in the evenings, like 23 C.

Mid-September, I went back to the Netherlands, for some family gatherings. I left in October for Portugal for cat sitting and continued my trip to Spain. With the idea: I will find a house at the area of Malaga that will be my home 🏠. Whoop whoop, finally a real house! What a nice feeling💫💃!

After six weeks in Spain, I realized this country, at least this area, wasn’t quite what I was looking for. My heart still longed for Bali. So, I took the leap, sold or gave away most of my belongings, packed two suitcases (weighing 40 kilos in total, including the suitcases themselves🧳🧳), and left. Said hi & bye to my family in Amsterdam and touched down in Bali in mid-December.

What a nice feeling💃… for a few weeks. But soon, I realized that Bali couldn’t offer what I needed anymore. The visa regulations were changing too rapidly, and I couldn’t align them with my values of honesty and transparency. Plus, it just didn’t feel like home anymore. Bali, the land of my dreams since I was four, felt shattered.

So, I had a choice: try to mend my dream or forge a new path. Remembering lessons from past challenges, I knew rushing to mend things wouldn’t work. So, I decided to let go and embrace whatever new opportunities came my way.

Back to Europe? No, too cold🥶. I would stay in Asia, for sure.

Then, out of the blue, a message from a friend in Vietnam, Da Nang. He knew I was in Bali, and looking for a house. He figured out that it didn’t work out as I was hoping for. He asked me: why don’t you come to Da Nang, where I live? To make up your mind, and have a little fun. Best question and invite ever of 2024 so far!

Because I really like Da Nang, it’s beyond my expectations 😊.

So, I made up my mind and booked a ticket to Da Nang for early February 2024, just before the Chinese Lunar New Year 🐉 (which started on 9 February 2024). Visa approved, last days in Bali cherished — yoga on the beach, catching up with friends, and diving into my Human Design studies (more on that later, it is a really interesting topic, and I love talking about it).

Packing up, I found a few stray pieces of my Bali dream hidden under my suitcase. Tossed them out, made peace with Bali: you’ve been a good teacher for me from March 2006 to February 2024. I have learnt my most important life lessons. Thank you for being my teacher👩‍🏫👨‍🏫🙏.

On February 7th, early morning, a friendly Grab taxi driver drove me to the airport.

Bye Bye Bali 👋🙋‍♀️. Vietnam, here I come 🤗!

With love 💜 & light✨,
littlemissyoga

P.S. Check out some pictures here if you’re interested!

My favourite spot to chill out: Gili Meno, Indonesia

I am in love 💜with this island 🏖

In case you don’t have any clue where it is – Google Maps will tell you

Gili Meno is the smallest of the three Gilis, it is the one in the middle. Once you arrive here, you go back in time. No motorized traffic but cidomos (horse cars); they use them as taxis and carry cement, wood, water gallons, and even fridges around the island. No proper roads too, often just sand. Jalan kaki (walking), on a bike or an electric scooter, are better ways to move yourself around on the island.

Cidomo – to transport building materials

Talk of the day on this island is when a chopper 🚁is landing. Yes, a chopper! For people who don’t want to take the boat or are seasick 😉, or just because they can. It’s just 2,500,000 million (roepiah 😉), per person, one way, not that expensive actually 😉(2,5 million is around € 150). It goes straight from Sanur to Gili Meno, definitely faster than the speed boat. I may try it next time😇🤣.

To give you an estimation of the size of the island: you can walk around the island in less than 2 hours (slow walk)! And that includes taking pictures and zigzagging to avoid the dead coral. At least, that’s what I did 😉. In the morning, instead of my usual ritual (yoga on the beach), I decided to take a walk. In bikinis and barefoot, feeling the warm water and sunshine on my body🙌.

The first time I got here, July 2008, there weren’t ATMs, so you needed to carry millions 💰 💰 💰 with you. And when you had spent more uang (money) than you had estimated, you had to take a boat to Bangsal, the mainland of Lombok. Now there are 3 ATMs on the island, but I think 1 is broken haha. Still, 2 left, enough for the few tourists here to get money (so no need to fix the 3rd one😅.

However, I recommend, in case you want to go here, take enough cash with you, just in case the ATMs aren’t working. And because you can’t pay with a card in shops. Even changing a note of 100,000 is hard. I had this after my supper. I ordered gado-gado, Lombok style (enak sekali!), it costed 25,000, I only had 100,000 (around US $ 7), I had to ask 3 places to change it, then went back to the restaurant and paid.
FYI: 25,000 is around € 1,50.

This island has been a healing place for me, ever since the first time I got here. The peaceful, quiet nights (ok, until 5 am, then the show ‘Gili Meno has talent’ starts, or in other words: the prayers from the mosque 😉). The clear blue waters, white sandy beaches, the silent whispers of the sea, the waves touching the sand, the genuine kind people, kids playing around, good food and the tanned beach boys trying to sell their snorkelling trips.

Besides the beach and snorkelling, there isn’t much to do here and I like it. It is stimulating my creativity, my intuition. I slow down and enjoy life much more. I am still working though, not yet enough passive money coming in 😉 (working on that!).

And, I realize how grateful 🙏 we should be for all we have in life! Drinking water from the tap, here it is not possible, not even to make tea because it is salty water. Taking a shower? Salty water. Washing your clothes? Salty water. 1 thing that I sensed is that my soap bar doesn’t foam, probably because of the salty water🤔. Can anyone explain this to me?

Cockroaches🪳 don’t mind salty water, I got one, a GIANT one, on my toilet seat, of course in the middle of the night! The first night I got here! What a nice surprise. I screamed and that must have helped. I haven’t seen it again, thank God 🙏.

Oh, after 3 weeks in Sanur, Bali, I must say: the food here is amazing, although having a food buddy, like I had in Sanur, would make the food taste even better. Gado-gado Gili Meno style and tempe curries, my favorites, really yummy. I even found delicious brownies. The landlady makes especially for me nasi goreng pedas (spicy fried rice) as sarapan (breakfast) and she is surprised at how spicy I can eat without having a runny nose or starting to sweat. Yup, from the inside I am more Indonesian than I look from the outside 😜☺️.

Yummy, tempe curry!

Short summary for my upcoming travels: first Sanur, Bali until 12 September. Then back to Belanda, the Netherlands for a few weeks (not sure if I should be happy 😕). Then cat sitting in Portugal (Algarve) and most likely visit Porto before or after the cat sitting. But…. Changes are coming up🙌. Which ones? I keep you posted!
1 hint: 🎵🎶Welcome to my paradise🎵🎶.

You can find more pictures about Gili Meno & Bali here.

If you like to know more about Gili Meno (good places to stay or to eat), or about the other Gilis or Bali or you just wonder why I don’t gain weight but you see me eating all the time, just ask 🙌😇.

With love 💜 & light✨,
littlemissyoga

P.S.: If you want to meet me in the Netherlands, reach out quickly because I have a full agenda already and I am travelling to Portugal as well in October. I would suggest, visit me in Portugal 😊.

P.P.S.: Who wants to join me for a few days to visit Porto (and you can also meet one of my friends there, whom I met in Laos). Let me know when you are interested 😊.

P.P.P.S: This island is also known as the Honeymoon Island. Who did I bring with me? Let me see… me, myself and I 😉. Hopefully next time I am here with my Prince Charming🤴.