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Train Street, Hanoi. The trains run through every hour or so!

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Some GoPro footage of this weekend’s 50km hike and gorgeous early morning kayak.

Murray River region, VIC/NSW, Australia. 🥾

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Wreck Beach, Great Ocean Road. VIC, Australia. ⚓️

This beach is only accessible by foot. It’s a bit of a trek to reach, but those who adventure down to it are rewarded with these relics of the past. The anchors of the wrecked ships the Marie Gabrielle (1869) and the Fiji (1891) lay on the shoreline amongst the rock pools. The Fiji’s anchor has been cemented in to the ground like a headstone, as a memorial for those who died in the wreck. The anchor from the Marie Gabrielle remains unmoved. Eerie stuff.

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A wallaby hanging out by the campsite at Aire River. On the Great Ocean Walk, Victoria, Australia.

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Photos from my spontaneous weekend in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

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Coconuts from the weekend markets, Port Douglas, QLD Australia.

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Running Away to Ubud

Last October, I was in a bit of a state. I was unhappy in pretty much every aspect of my life. A significant relationship had crumbled beyond the point of repair, and my job was taxing and unfulfilling. In a moment of spontaneity (and possibly sheer existential panic), I did the responsible, mature thing. I ran away to Bali for a weekend. Here’s the story of that trip.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and I was in the lunchroom at work. My two closest friends had just touched down in Bali and were sending me flicks from Ubud. 

“Come and meet us,” one of them urged.  “Wouldn’t that be wild?” I replied, laughing to myself.  “You totally could,” the other friend chimed in to the group chat. “Just for the weekend.”

Cue the swiping open of the Skyscanner app and wistfully searching through flight options. If nothing else, it was a nice moment of daydreaming in an otherwise mundane day. Then, a flight combination that may have actually been doable popped up. Fly out Friday morning, fly back Sunday night. I had a day of leave. I’d always wanted to go to Bali. Was this something I could do?

I sent a screenshot of the flight to the girls.  “If you’re serious about me joining you, I could actually do this.” “Yes! We’re serious! Come and meet us!”

So that was it. I booked my flight at lunchtime on Wednesday, and was on a plane in the early hours of Friday morning.

It was an experience unlike any I’d had before. The only other times I’d been on a flight by myself were to Sydney and Brisbane, places I had visited before and had the familiarity of my home country. Bali, on the other hand, was a different story. I got off the plane and teetered on the verge of panic. I was in Indonesia with just a backpack full of clothes for a weekend-long “leisure” trip. Was I going to look suspicious at customs? I didn’t even know what hotel I was going to stay at. Not to mention that as soon as I got to the main section of the terminal, I was in sensory overload. Signage in a language I was entirely unfamiliar with, stalls inside the terminal spruiking sim cards and travel money cards, new chain restaurants within the terminal, and oh god, where were the toilets? 

Before I’d got on the plane, I’d thought that I could walk from Denpasar airport to the bus station, and catch a bus to Ubud to meet my friends. I quickly realised the flaw in my plan when I set foot outside of the terminal and was hit with the stiflingly humid air. Then I realised the walk was 40 minutes. And then I realised that in Bali, the infrastructure really isn’t designed for pedestrians, so the road I thought I could walk alongside was actually a multi-laned highway. I was starting to think I’d fucked up big time. Time for plan b - grab a lift to Ubud from the airport.

The next challenge was navigating my way through the sea of taxi drivers all vying for my attention and business. Was I going to get scammed? Robbed? Kidnapped? All of the above? I had no idea how much a trip to Ubud should cost, or which companies were trustworthy. I messaged my friends to check and they recommended a particular company, so I jumped into one of their taxis and I was off.

The drive to Ubud was about 45 minutes, during which time I took in the view. There were scooters carrying entire families - I’d heard about this before but it was far beyond anything I’d imagined. The landscape changed multiple times along the trip, from open fields to narrow shop-lined streets, to heavily forested area. I’d calmed by this point, and spent some time looking for somewhere to stay, excited for the adventure ahead.

In the end, I met up with my friends and had a relaxing, stress-free trip (unless you count the incident with the monkeys... but more on that another time). I often joke that this was my “eat, pray, love” adventure; a travel experience that helped me to figure out what it was that I wanted out of life, and made clear to me the things I needed to do to get it. I consider it a valuable turning point for myself, personally, as it was after the trip that I had the clarity to end the relationship and to change my career trajectory. It threw me out of my comfort zone at a time that I most needed it, and gave me a challenge that I never knew I wanted.

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Hey, it’s me! Four Mile Beach, Port Douglas. QLD, Australia.

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Golden Hour in Port Douglas, QLD Australia.

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The 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia.

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The Great Ocean Walk, Victoria, Australia.

120km of walking along the southern coast, from Apollo Bay to The 12 Apostles.

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Byron Bay | Ocean views along the walk from Captain Cook Lookout, Wategos Bay and the Lighthouse.

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Just a few snaps from Movie World yesterday ☺️

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Morning walk around Coolangatta, Point Danger, and Rainbow Bay.

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Superman Escape! |📍Warner Bros. Movie World, Gold Coast, Australia.

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A perfectly acceptable view to awake to this morning |📍 Tweed Heads / Coolangatta on the Queensland and NSW border, Australia. 🇦🇺

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Not heading abroad any time soon, but I’m just over a week I’m exploring my own country and taking a trip to gorgeous Northern NSW AND Queensland. Can’t wait to visit some naturally beautiful places like this 🙌🏻

The Natural Bridge Photo Credit: (Chrystal Hutchinson)