I’ve had even more adventures than I could have imagined in my last few weeks in Gili Air. However, most of them haven’t been here in Gili at all. I’ve been venturing out to the mainland on both sides.
Lombok
I took myself on a little adventure to Lombok last week. When you arrive in Indonesia, you can get a 60 day visa on arrival. This means you have to go to “immigrasi” and apply for the extension. It’s usually a long day where you get your photo taken and your fingerprints registered.
I decided that, since I had the Friday and Saturday off, that I would make a little vacation down to Kuta, Lombok. It was perfect timing as two beautiful ladies I met in the yoga space, Rosalind and Magdalena, were going to be there at the same time.
I got myself a scooter and went to immigration which took all of 10 minutes. (This was surprising as some people can end up waiting there for several hours!) and then went down to the south coast. I found a delightful second story room for myself (with hot water!) and took myself to the beach.
The beaches here are absolutely gorgeous, the only problem is the amount of rubbish that surrounds them. It’s a really sad problem that the people there are not doing much about.
Rosalind, Magdalena and myself ended up enjoying cocktails and bottles of wine together that evening. I tend not to drink so much anymore, so it was a real treat for me. The night was very special; talking about real things and connecting with two very beautiful women. I was incredibly thankful that I got to spend that time with them.
The next morning, feeling pretty sorry for myself, we got a delicious breakfast together and went to the beach again before I drove myself all the way back north to my little island.
Bali
I’ve just spent a week in Bali as well. I got another opportunity to be a model on an advertisement, this time for Trip.com. This shoot was so much fun!
The last shoot I did consisted of a team of 25 people all doing their own things. This crew was just 7 of us, included three of us models. It was for a Chinese audience so the crew was from there. However, the director and cameraman were originally from Canada. And they fully fulfilled the stereotype of being overly polite to everyone.
It was just such a relaxed and caring environment to work in. No one was stressed or snappy to each other. We would sing and talk in the car between locations and support was always offered wherever it could be given.
One beautiful thing as well is that I was not asked to wear make up. There was no make up artist for the team, and since I don’t own any, I didn’t have to wear it. This was really empowering for me, as I hope people will see the ad and realise that they also don’t need to wear make up to feel beautiful. Our faces are fine just the way they are!
The only make up I did have to wear was over my tattoos. This is because in China it’s not really allowed that people have tattoos so I didn’t mind at all.
Next?
The next two months are going to be really busy with a lot of adventures and almost too many friends to see. What a problem to have!
I have 10 days left in Gili Air before I go to Bali for two days to see some friends before I fly to Bangkok. One night in Bangkok with some friends, then to Pai for about a week to connect with the fire family again.
I then travel for 31 hours to get to the states and move and shake around there until the new years.
If anyone is going to be in any of these locations, please reach out as I would love to see as many smiling faces for adventures as I can.
Patal Kikian Villa
Patal Kikian Villa
Just to avoid all instagram disappointment, the guy who takes the photos holds a mirror under the camera to make it look like a lake. It’s just concrete.
I could not have asked to work with a more caring and respectful group of people.
Read more of my adventures here.