Life Unraveled

It was 4:50am.  The alarm on my cell phone went off as normal, but on this morning it sounded more like an air raid drill.  It took me a minute or two to even realize that this hideous noise was erupting from the side of my bed.  I flailed around, finally locating the perpetrator, and stopped the insanity with a press of a button.  Whew.  Silence.  I sat there, shaking.  Where am I?  Hey, wait a minute--why did I set my alarm so early in Bali?  Through the pre-dawn fog, I rubbed my eyes and surveyed my room.  Oh no.  I wasn't in Bali anymore.  That alarm was for.... gulp ....work.    Oh no. Vacation was over.  I ended up at work by 6am.  During the day, I answered a litany of questions posed by the regular customers of our store regarding my long absence.  How was your trip?  How was Bali?  How was the food?  How WAS IT????  Maybe it was the jetlag (more on that later), combined with two solid weeks off work, which conspired to make it appear (at least to me) that I was slogg

On the first evening in Bali, I made a new friend.  Her name is Allison, and she is also from Hawaii.  We started chatting over dinner and then the hours just flew by.  I recognized her as one of those people that you meet and just seem to connect with on contact, so when she suggests I join her on a hike the next day with an organic farmer she just met for a few hours that day, my initial impulse is "YES!" .  I trust her already, and of course I trust my own instincts.  We are going to have to get up early ( 6am early ), but the day will include a hike and also a trip to a place called "Dreamland Beach".   No brainer, folks.  I'm in, and with minimal questions asked.  But the closer I get to bedtime, the more my mind begins to take over.  Sure, I trust my new friend and I know I trust myself and all that, but what about this organic farmer?  He grows herbs and gets glowing reviews from Allison, but still I wondered.   And he was going to pick us up so damn earl

We arrived in Bali a couple of days ago, though I think maybe I arrived here (at least in my mind) a few years ago.  Soon after I moved to Hawaii in 2008, I began wondering about this strange Bali place after my roommate mentioned it was a prime surfing destination.  Now, I had never picked up a surfboard in my life (and still haven't, shockingly enough) and had not an inkling where Bali even was on the map.  Indonesia, you say?  No clue.  I just knew that it was somewhere far, far away.   But Bali was forever imprinted on my mental map way back when.  I had no idea how or why I would eventually go, I just knew that it would happen when the time was right.  Now, two years later, I am here in that place that once seemed so far away.   My first glimpse of this island nation is from the airplane.  I was awakened from a fairly sound sleep by an imaginary tapping on my shoulder.  Melina, our tour orchestrater, had arranged for me to have a window seat (of course she did), knowing that

Over the river and through the woods, we arrived in Ko Lanta a few days ago.  Actually, it was more like over the land (on a short flight), over the sea (via two ferries) and through the jungle.  Either way, I am now a million miles away from the grimy hustle and bustle of Bangkok.  I know this the moment I step foot onto our resort, which is aptly named "Relax Bay".  But not in a Hilton-ish or Disney-ish way, mind you.  No fabricated relaxing is taking place here.  This is relaxing the way it was meant to be.  Total nature.  Bungalows on the beach, thatch roofs everywhere.  Lush greenery all around.  The sound of the waves crashing gently against the shore.  Our group is greeted with fresh coconuts and enthusiastic smiles from the Thai staff.  Relax Bay, indeed. The past couple of days have demonstrated just how prophetic the name of this place really is.  Long walks on sparsely populated beaches.  Swimming in the clear waters of the Andaman Sea.  Riding elephants. Sip

The world is very small. Here I sit, recalling the past few days of traveling and sight-seeing.  I'm not exactly sure what to say about any of it, except I just cannot believe how small the world really is.  Or maybe it would be more accurate to say that my concept of the world's vastness has shrunk considerably.  When you can hop on a couple of flights and then 15 hours later be submerged in a wildly different culture, well, I would say the world is not quite as huge as it once seemed.  I know, I know....welcome to the world of travel, right?  But this is a first for me, and the novelty amplifies this concept a hundred times over.  We arrived in Bangkok in the middle of the night.  As our bus approached the hotel, scores of lovely ladies dressed in fashionable apparel lined the streets.  At least I thought they were ladies.  Who knows, really.  But I am sure that they are prostitutes.  Melina, the organizer of this whole shebang, says what is obviously running through al

It's that time of the year again.  It's March, the month that is known to come in like a lion, or lamb or whatever, only to go out the opposite way.  People in cold-weather climates start to ponder what the sun must feel like after several months of overcast skies and winter doldrums.  Sometimes, if they are lucky, they will even get to see many of the first signs of spring during the month of March.  The mere sight of a tulip popping through the soil, or maybe even the sight of grass once its persistently white winter cover has melted, is enough to send hearts aflutter.  Having grown up in western NY state, these were the moments I would cling to right about now.  Spring was coming.  The days were getting longer.  There was no way the cold darkness would last.  Hallelulia!   Hope springs eternal this time of year.   Yet for all of this, March was always even more special than that.  At least for me. It is my birthday month. Yes, I said birthday  month.   Why should I lim