One Week Down...

Forget about pinching me, I need someone to full on slap me in the face (don't all jump at once). This has been one of the most incredible weeks of my life! To look around as I'm writing this, surrounded by beautiful palm trees and Palmeria's, overlooking a huge rice field, is just not a reality I would have ever imagined. I can't believe it's only been a week since I've arrived. I am overwhelmed with happiness, excitement, and a larger appreciation for life. To say the experience thus far has been life changing would be an understatement.

I've been to 5 cities in the past 6 days, each have been an incredible, but very different experience. Seminyak is pretty much what everyone said it would be, a huge party full of crazy Australians! Boy, were you right (not mad about it). Nusa Dua was beautiful! The Bukit Pennisula, walking trails, and Temples were unreal! Pura Luhur Uluwatu was one of the most breathtaking experiences, one of Bali’s sacred directional temples (said to protect the island from evil spirits). Then there's Kuta, the opposite of a spiritual experience, unless you count drinking a shit ton of spirits and dancing like a crazed banchee (to each his or her own I suppose). And last, my current location, Ubud. I've fallen in love with the locals, tranquility, and overwhelming hospitality! Very sad to leave this place tomorrow.

I've taken something special (luckily nothing more), from each of these destinations! It's been a perfect balance of culture, parties, and self reflection! Each day I find myself more willing to step out of my comfort zone and try something new, minus the street drugs, they will in fact kill you. I've eaten traditional Balinese food, exotic fruits, drank spirits with the locals, and ran around a monkey forest. I've experienced more in the past 6 days culturally then I have in a very long time. Sad to say, this is the first vacation I've been on that wasn't just a drunken binger! This is only the beginning of my journey and I'm learning and growing (and not by pant size, yet) as each day goes. I was doing Yoga yesterday morning at the Yoga Barn and at the end of class the instructor asked us to think about what we want out of life. I have yet to figure that out, but I know what I don't want, so that's a start I suppose!