Welcome back!
If you haven't read Part 1 of my first ever blog article, what are you doing here?! Go read
Part 1 and I'll catch you back here in a bit.
Now, I feel I should warn you that while Part 1 of this Balinese travel story was all about poolside relaxation, food and booze, we're about to get deep here in Part 2. Don't let that deter you! I think it's still worth the read and if you're anything like me, it'll have you calling up Chris Watson to book in your very own trip. So let's get into it, shall we?
Day 3 - A Lot of Not Much Plus the Centipede That Makes Me Question the Meaning of Life
OK, today's a premeditated lay day. We have a complimentary massage at the Number 2 rated day spa in the whole of Bali. Oh, did I forget to mention that?
The Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua is also home to the Number 2 day spa on the whole island.
KRIYA SPA is the name, but if that's not good enough fancy pants then Number 1 is five minutes down the road.
Image source: Grand Hyatt
As part of the ridiculous deal we are on here we get a complimentary 30 minute back and shoulder or foot massage. I'll get back to all that soon.
Today is nothing but doing nothing. We hit the spa for the sauna and cold plunge again and then try a new spot for the buffet breakfast. The Indonesian restaurant was the pick this morning. This was also unbelievable, more of the traditional Indonesian breakfast dishes like noodles, nasi goreng, Indonesian pancakes….it goes on. Long story short it's amazing and as per holiday protocol we probably eat too much.
10 o'clock rolls around and it’s massage time. We check in and wait in the lounge area. Everything here is set up for you to feel worlds away, the sounds of cascading water into lotus ponds and Balinese music. We sit and are presented with ice cold towels, and a rose and cinnamon drink that I need more of in my life. The hectic morning schedule of the sauna and buffet breakfast melts away 😄 with time to stop and reflect on just how busy we are over here.
It’s the wet season right now so the rain has been a feature - I won’t pretend this is a sunny paradise this time of the year. It's been on and off and clearing pretty quickly for a humidity that is only encouraging of the poolside drinks we booked this trip for.
The massage is obviously ridiculously amazing. Half an hour of me falling into some sort of 4th dimension. I wasn't asleep but I was chilled out to the core and feeling amazing.
Pulled back from the stratosphere by a beautiful soft voice…‘Hello sir, are you ok?’ ‘We were done for massage.’
I didn't want to reply truthfully or make things awkward in explaining that I actually won't be OK. I won't be OK without her in my life when I go home and I can't get these massages anymore.
We are taken to the post massage lounge, again we are looked after with ginger and cinnamon tea.
I'm feeling extremely contemplative if I'm honest, I watch a centipede walk across the pebbles in the garden. He seems to have a purpose but is also seeming to go nowhere in particular.
I know this is a holiday, a fantasy perhaps?
No cooking, no cleaning, no kids on this trip so life isn't exactly what we would be dealing with at home. There is something about Bali for me, I’ve felt it on past trips here. This place makes me feel there is something bigger. People move slower here and there seems to be a place for everyone in some way.
There is something about this centipede I'm watching that has me feeling like there is something else, isn't there? There must be?
Day 3 and this amazing trip and these beautiful people are making me feel the greater question in life that has plagued me…why do we go so fast at home?
Bali, I'm sure, has its monotony, people wake up and drag themselves to jobs and a life they maybe would want to change, they perhaps don't like negotiating the one million scooters on the roads each morning but they look happy. A less is more type of happy.
It seems to be a particularly Westen thing - the need to outperform ourselves or seek praise in a societal expectation.
Something that goes beyond just an ambition or internal drive, there almost seems to be this unseen rule book that we follow. I don't feel that here at all. Almost like there isn’t a social or professional pecking order. Again, I'm sure there is but I don't see or feel it and it brings about a peace.
We fill our lives with extra-curricular for us and the kids, there is a rushing about that seems to peel the calendar days off like one is bleeding into the other. We are flying around a million miles an hour to get home, get dinner on, kids in the shower quick, quick it's getting late!!
What's the rush? Why so much? Who for?
And do we actually love it?
Bali is a STOP and people come for that slow in the energy I think.
Day 3 and we are at dinner talking about booking this again next year with Chris as soon as we get home. The slow pace, massages, poolside drinks. Tell me what else you need?
Day 4 and 5 - Rain rain isn't going away!!
The wet season is officially a 3rd wheeling partner on our vacation now and from all accounts this is the wettest wet season in 25 years. YAYYYY!!! Where previously it has been on and off it’s now set in hard.
In all honesty, and after my insights post massage and the visit to the 4th dimension, I'm not sure this isn't further proof the universe is trying to send the message to slow down further.
I haven't had my phone on me at all this trip. I’ve checked it in the morning and at night for five minutes max to say g'day to the kids and ask about school etc, even writing this BLOG is happening post trip and from memory alone.
The feelings of needing to keep up, planning days and being organised melts away further with the rain. We are far from being held hostage or feeling that the holiday is ruined. Instead it's further calm that kicks in.
The rain is torrential tbh. The pool is not very inviting, the beach is a no go, so we decide to explore a little further around our hotel at the local shops and stalls. Massage and beauty salons, local stalls, clothing from big brands and restaurants – you can find everything you could ever need here.
We waste some time looking around. Taking our shoes off to walk barefoot in the rain-soaked paths is almost therapeutic. We seem to connect further to just being in the moments on this time away, we are barely talking 😄
I remember back to my friend the centipede. Just moving around, going somewhere but seemingly not really needing to be anywhere specific and, like the centipede, I am moving in circles, doubling back from awning to awning, shop to shop like he did rock to rock. Just passing time and feeling very present. The weather and rain has bought more chill and a sense of Bali peace it seems.
There is not much to report on today or day 5 and maybe that's a good thing. I'm not sure if it makes thrilling reading so I apologise if not. Maybe the greater message is connecting with you. A message of time and being able to manage to just slow. Maybe this trip, regardless of how good the deal was, has been in place for us for a greater reason. It's certainly already paying for itself on a personal level that I didn't expect.
We both sit quietly for the afternoon, in the rooftop bar that overlooks the beach and horizon at the SALSA BAR, listening and watching the rain like you do a fire when camping. Sipping cocktails, the centipede-like reflection on life continues for me while enjoying the 5-star life.
Day 5 is our transfer day back to the airport and like this whole trip nothing can be faulted. A 5.30 pick up, the driver is to the minute on time. I have mixed feelings tbh. Keen to get home and see the kids, I love what I do for work so there is no post-holiday dread for me there. I'm excited to take some of this Bali love and chill home with me.
The other part is split between wanting to find a shack and live on a cliff top somewhere and simply meeting with Chris Watson Travel again to book another trip for next year.
The flight home again is faultless. Batik Airlines has the best arrival and departure times from what I can gather. We leave at 9pm so firstly we were able to enjoy a full day before we left the hotel and on our ‘red eye’ back to Sydney we got some sleep. With the time difference we land in Sydney at 6.30am and touch down to reality.
I'm writing this two weeks on from the Grand Hyatt Nusa Dua and about four months since we booked with Chris Watson Travel.
I once heard someone ask me these three things on returning from a trip so I will steal them now.
1. What was the highlight?
There were many but one is the food and beverage all inclusive. Now this may not be what you expect as to why.
There is something about not having to worry about a final bill on a holiday that is so calming. I didn't really expect it, but it just puts things at ease that I can only recommend you seek out on your next holiday. It didn't really encourage overeating or mass consumption of alcohol but it was just a further relaxing aspect to the whole holiday. I genuinely am not sure that we could travel without that again.
2. What was the lowlight?
This is tough!! I'm really just going to have to say the rain because that's about all I can come up with. As I wrote all through this though the rain was almost a highlight in a greater message to me at a time when I needed to receive it. But I guess the rain traditionally people wouldn't be too stoked with. This was a seriously wet, wet season though. To the point of the locals not understanding how much rain was coming down. If you are not prepared to take the chance maybe don't book for early in the year. For me I'd go again regardless, I loved that it was quieter in tourist numbers.
3. What did you learn?
I learnt a big part of me is a centipede 😄
Or at least I want to be more like the centipede, not always rushing, not always having a place to be and a clock to watch.
You might just say that it was a holiday and of course you feel like that. But why are we rushing so much these days? It never felt like that for me growing up. Is it technology that's connecting all the dots where we used to have quiet moments? Is it work? Are we working more just to make all the other things in our life stay lubricated and moving? Are we enjoying it all like we should be?
Maybe a bit deep but the world really will keep spinning and most of what we think will collapse without us won't actually.
So what I learnt was to just take a little more time, take your shoes off in the rain and let your feet feel the wet path and grass. Don't worry if you get wet in a downpour because you will dry out soon.
I can't wait to get back to Bali again. I can only recommend Chris and his team. The package, the hotel and all of that holiday experience I can not recommend more to you.
Signing off from my first travel blog.
I hope you enjoyed
I will sign off in my usual writing way by saying
Be good to yourself, so that you can be amazing to other people