Twists and Turns

A King Cobra sighting in Ubud!

I find it funny how you can make a plan and think it through and expect to execute said plan, only to discover life has its own ideas. I am such a planner by nature, but often the outcome is quite different then what I expected and I think it is a great lesson for me to learn to gracefully accept these twists and turns as they come. When I decided to come on this trip Katie and I had booked our villa for two months and were going to stay there together each on our own journey of healing, hers more physical and mine more mental. The first week presented the first of many deviations, with my voyage on S/Y Shamoun with Jack and Sally up to Singapore. A wonderful experience that I probably could not have even planned had I tried, it just organically presented itself at the right moment. The second major deviation came with Jessie's arrival in Bali after being evacuated from her program at Esalen in Big Sur. Never in my wildest dreams could I have expected my best friend to join me on this voyage, and the stars just happened to align and offer an opportunity for us to finally travel together at this transitional time in both our lives.

A lizard investigating a Balinese offering - you see these spiritual offerings all over town

Upon returning to Ubud I figured the rest of the trip would continue on as I had envisioned, with my days spent at Yoga Barn and Katie's treatments at the ozone clinic. With Jess added in we were all just going about life in Bali at Villa Cantik. It went that way for a bit, until Katie started feeling quite ill. Nearly two weeks ago she decided to head to the clinic as it was clear she was running a fever. It quickly got worse and she started experiencing body aches, high fever and sensitivity to light. We decided it was best for her to head to the hospital as the fever was getting worse and the possibilities of what the sickness could be were varied. With her already weakened immune system due to the Lyme there is a higher risk of any sickness being that much more dangerous so into the ambulance we went. I have to say it was a pretty crazy ambulance ride through some twisty jungle roads, but it was a good sign seeing Katie filming the ride as she told me she plans to document the experience later (she makes documentary films). Turns out she tested positive for Dengue fever, which is incredibly unpleasant/painful but generally not fatal (thank goodness), and is caused by a mosquito bite. She spent a about a week in the hospital which was about 30 minutes outside of Ubud, and I visited when I could to check in and see how she was doing. I had many chats with her mom back home as obviously it was a stressful situation for her parents being so far away and unable to do much to help. I felt pretty helpless, but glad she was getting the proper care in the hospital.

Katie arriving at the hospital

To pass the time Katie practiced her Balinese and Indonesian language skills as well as the guitar (she made friends with a local music teacher who let her borrow his instrument)

Slowly Katie's condition started improving, but we both decided at this point it was best for her to gain strength back so she could fly back home where she was more comfortable. Her friend Mike, who had planned to come out at some point during the trip, made arrangements to come out so he could escort her back to the states once she felt strong enough to travel. It was a huge relief for me to not have to worry about taking care of her further. Quite the turn of events and a good reminder of how important your health is, my heart has been feeling for Katie watching her go through this ordeal. I finally was able to move her out of the hospital and into a resort the other day and Mike arrived to take over looking after her and get her ready to go home. I waited to post anything about it as I wanted to make sure she was on the path to recovery as it was quite scary but the worst is over. Sad she will have to go home but it really is for the best given her weakened immune system and current state of health, too risky to stay in a foreign country away from her doctors and family.

Katie made many local friends from our neighborhood who came to visit her which was cool

Once we decided Katie was going home, through all these other twists and turns we decided to leave our villa and I moved over into a villa Jess had booked in another part of town. She had some friends that also decided to jump on the Bali train and so I helped find her an Airbnb to host them and she invited me to join her. This house is quite amazing, it is owned by a French couple and set out in the jungle with a pool overlooking some rice paddies. The bathrooms are fully outdoors and we are surrounded by all kinds of birds, lizards, frogs and other creatures. It has been quite a zen hide away and nice to have a few more people join the group. I wanted to include some photos as this place really is a gem.

Poolside in the rice paddies

You can't really tell how large this lizard is that was in our bedroom, but he was about 5 inches long and quite cute

I found this caterpillar just cruising up my arm one day

Our housekeeper asked me if I had seen the "alligators" in the river by the house, I was baffled until I saw a few of these guys that were at least 4 feet long

Serenity tub

Outdoor shower where I often see frogs and lizards hanging out

The living room and back yard

Bedroom with jungle view

Watching the rice farmers from the pool deck - pretty amazing

The terraces are so lush and beautiful here

I am pretty excited to see how this trip has evolved, as Jess and I are now "planning" (let's see how this goes) to continue the adventure by heading to Thailand, Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam over the next month and a half. All my life I have mapped out trips like this meticulously, having all my flights and hotels booked in advance. However, given how this trip has already evolved I have decided to use a completely different approach. Jessie is more of a "let things happen organically" type person, so I am doing my best to go with her on this journey and let go of my planning instincts and let the universe be our guide. I suppose it goes along with me "trusting the tides" so quite fitting for this point in my life. It is not easy for me, but I think a great learning experience. I look forward to seeing what unfolds...

Just another visitor at the jungle house