GILI AIR

Friday, September 27th we packed our bags and went on a "fast" boat to Gili Air (a small island just outside Lombok). The reason I say "fast" is that they say it will take one and a half hour to get from Padang Bai to Gili Air, while it really took three hours. For the first part we stayed inside but the petrol smell was so awful that when we got the chance, while stopping on Gili T, we went up on deck and that was sooooo much better.

We finally arrived on Gili Air - Air actually means "water" and not air - we got something to eat and found a place we wanted to stay. We stayed at Gilinta or Gili Indah for four nights (don't know why they use both names, but guessing one of them is old). We had our own small bungalow with a outdoor style bathroom. There was also a pool there, but it wasn't that nice.... but Nico who's swimming and jumping into whatever water he can find, loved it.

On Saturday we walked around the whole island. We stopped to take a swim but because of all the washed up corals it was hard to walk without getting hurt. We finally found one place on the south tip of the east side of the island where the sand was nice. We spent most days by this beach :)
After four days we decided to stay a little longer on this beautiful island so we found an even nicer place - Bel Air Resort - (more expensive, and with a nice pool) to really get the holiday feeling before going back to Bali ;) Sometimes you just have to spend some money on comfort to let yourself know that you're worth the best. I find myself thinking that I'm not worth spoiling, but I believe that it's important to show yourself that you matter and that you are worthy of everything that's good in life and to give yourself permission to prosper a little once in a while - and so we did :)

After Nico saw the big fish while snorkeling in Padang Bai he's been afraid to snorkel again, so we rented a glass bottom boat to take us to places where we could see beautiful fish and turtles. We saw many turtles, millions of colorful fish and A SHARK! After seeing that the big fish around the reef wasn't dangerous Nico got braver, so today (October 3rd) we all rented snorkeling equipment and went snorkeling just outside the shore of Gili Air. We tried to film under water, but it didn't work :( and then the battery went out before we got to try again so we're not able to show you all the beautiful fish and corals we saw. We'll try again next time we snorkel. Something is telling me this wasn't the last time :)

Gili Air has given us great memories, good food and JT got the Gili belly (like Bali belly, but on Gili), but after one week I feel that I'm ready to move on to new adventures, new beaches and new challenges :)

Tomorrow we'll be heading back to Bali after one week on Gili Air. We'll go back to Padang Bai and from there we'll get transport to Amed coast (don't know exactly where on the Amed coast yet).

Hopefully we'll get better WiFi access when we get back to Bali so we can update this blog and also our Instagram more often.

Some pictures from our Gili Air adventure

 Nico gets private transport from the hotel to the harbour :)

 Hair wrapping in the making

 First place we stayed; Gilinta/Gili Indha

 Glass bottom boat trip

 Bel Air Resort (we had to turn off the light under the bed - it was a bit tacky)

All the garbage on the Gilis get transported to Lombok by boat. 

Unfortunately some of it also end up in the ocean :(

New adventures waits :)

Live life and love it <3
Lotte

Padang Bai

Tuesday September 24th we bought bus tickets to go to Padang Bai. This turned out to be a full minibus where Nico had to sit on my lap until we came to Ubud where some people got off and some new passengers joined us. Then we cramped our three butts onto two seats and Nico actually fell asleep for a while.
When we finally arrived in Padang Bai I was a bit confused. I thought this place was supposed to be a bit slow, but when the boat from the Gili Islands came in and we tried to just get through all the people it didn't feel slow or relaxing at all.
We got a double room with shared bathroom and toilets (there's nobody to share with so that's no problem) at Beji Bay Resort and we have a pool :) It's low season so there's practically nobody at the hotel, so it's mellow. We chose this place because it's close to Blue Lagoon Beach, a beach that's supposed to be nice and where you can snorkel the coral reef. We went there today and was a bit surprised. The beach was nice enough, but the corals stretched all the way to the beach so the waves smashed into the corals and made it quite hard to get out to deeper waters to be able to swim and snorkel. We rented snorkel equipment and a life vest for Nico and got through the waves so he could see the corals and all the fish. This was fun and all until he saw a big fish. Neither me nor JT saw the fish so we don't really know how big it was but Nico says that it was about 40cm long, had white eyes and a big snoutelike mouth. He got so scared that he didn't want to snorkel anymore so we took a break. After a while he wanted to try again but now the tide was low and it was a BIG challenge to get out without hurting ourselves on all the corals that now were surfacing. Now we didn't see much, and luckily we got back in with only me getting a little scratch on one knee.
Padang Bai isn't as busy when there's no boats coming and I like this place better now than when we first got here. Our neighbour is Top Inn witch is a restaurant, tourist information, you can do your laundry, they can arrange taxi or boat wherever you want to go, and they have quite cheap accommodation. The food there is great and they are really conscious about the way they prepare the food, and they make everything from scratch. It's absolutely fantastic! They also have a Silver Smith that's working all day long making jewelry. Today Nico bought a necklace with a turtle, and we got to see the final steps while he made it.

Dinner at Top Inn

Blue Lagoon Beach

Our pool :)

We decided to stay here for three nights, so we'll head off again on Friday. Our plan was to go to Gili Air and from there go to Amed, but after talking to a guy here that says that there was no boat from Gili to Amed (even though it says so in our travel book) we might change the plan... or maybe not.... who knows :)

Live life and love it <3

Lotte

Meet Mr Coconut

Hello, my name is Mr Coconut.
I was found by Nico in the sea while he was swimming and playing with his dad, and I am so happy that he brought me up and gave me new life!! Before I was just an old coconut, but now I can be EVERYTHING! Nico uses me like a drum, he throws me around like a ball, he fills me with water and throws me back into the sea so he can find me again. The best thing is that he calls me a "kalabas", which is, according to him, something you can fill with stuff. I don't really know what it is, but he lights up when he says I'm one, and that makes it so fantastically special! He brings me everywhere; the beach, restaurants, supermarket and at night I lie outside their room and watches over them.
Nico is my best friend and my savior :) I hope he will bring me along when they leave Sanur in a few days. That would be so great!

                                                                    I'm a drum :)                                                                                   

Nico is a great ventriloquist. Finally I have a voice!

-Mr Coconut

We're in BALI

Thursday 19th we arrived here in Bali, and we have enjoyed these three days here in Sanur on the south east of Bali. We're staying at Pollok & LeMayeur Hotel in a room that I think is the cheapest one here. The toilet is in the shower and there's only cold water in the shower. At first I thought this was crap and was a bit disappointed (most disappointed of my own disappointment because I know what cheap means), but after a few days here I actually don't mind anymore. Outside it's beautiful and the beach is just cross a small street with small markets and places to eat, so we can't complain :)

Yesterday we had our first coconut and Nico also found one on the beach. Unfortunately Nico didn't like it that much.

 I don't know if you can see it, but it looks like the coconut has a face :)

Today we had one goal: To have smoothie bowl for breakfast, and we did! And it was GOOD :)

After a late breakfast we went to the beach. Of course I'm a bit red now, even though I stayed in the shades alot. I guess I underestimated the strength of the sun even if I really thought I was being conscious about it. Tomorrow we'll be waring t-shirts to let our shoulders rest a little :)

It's so fun to see how much Nico likes to play in the water! He's wearing his swim goggles and is diving in and swimming under water. Today he and JT stayed in the water for hours before they had to come up to eat.

After a nice cold shower we went to the nearest restaurant where they play only Bob Marley and have lots of pictures of him. The food was delicious.

 Bob Marley is in the background :)

Now we're back home. Nico is drawing and JT is trimming his toe nails, while I'm writing this post. We figured we'd have a slow Saturday at home.

Tomorrow we'll have smoothie bowl for breakfast again and relax at the beach again (trying not to get burned) :)

We have met a few of these sweet beings :)

Now it is REAL!

Now it's REALLY happening! Today my parents drove us all the way from Sandefjord to Gardermoen B&B where we'll stay untill tomorrow. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 14.15 so we don't have to hurry or get stressed at all. We can just enjoy the unfolding of the dream :) 

We haved been so lucky to have family that's always there for us, helping us with everything from moving to giving us a place to stay where we have nothing, and driving us two hours just to turn around to drive back home. Thank you so much!

Seven years ago we posted a photo of me and JT with our backpacks when we were ready to leave for Australia. We now recreated the photo with some of the same backpacks, with a new familymember and his small backpack with toys.

Seven years ago:

And now:

I still can't really believe that we will actually leave tomorrow. But the day after tomorrow, when I step out into the sunlight in Bali, I might believe that it's true :) 

Live life and love it <3

Lotte

All we have is each other...

This last week we have been living at my parent's house in Sandefjord after packing all our stuff into storage. Now we don't have an apartment, I don't have a job - all we really have is each other. It's a bit scary, but I also feel free. There's so much freedom in having little. Some may say that we're crazy, and I can see why, but for me living with lots of stuff that demand a lot of time and upkeep, and also requires money, is crazy. I don't want to be working my ass off just to be able to keep up with the latest trend, buying a bigger TV or a new couch, just waiting for the summer holiday. To me that sounds crazy. In Norway it requires lots of money just to be here; housing, electricity, food. The ticket to be in the game is so expensive that you easily get lost in the game just by getting that first ticket. Our easy living lifestyle is not so easy here in Norway, and is one of the reasons that we're going to Bali. Another reason is the weather. We just LOVE summer and the winter darkness in Norway doesn't tempt much.
Two weeks from now we will actually BE in Bali for real!!! I'm so excited, but it still feels a bit unreal. Sometimes it dawns on me and I suddenly get really stressed and I start questioning everything. But then I remember why we're doing this, and I just get so excited that I want to scream out loud :)
This is just life, and I want to fill it with experiences and memories, not things and money. I believe that the Universe will provide us with all we need and that our gut will lead us in the direction we need to go. We don't have all the answers but that's what makes this so great!
We'll update the blog with pictures and post about our life (ups and downs) in Bali.

Join us in this crazy, joyful journey, traveling through life :) 

Live life and love it
-Lotte

We're going to Bali!

It's been one year since my last post where I said that I was getting the blog back on track. Sorry, but one year between posts is not back on track.

So now I will give an update... a very short version update (a lot of things happen in one year, and it's not that interesting).

About one year ago we finally made a plan - to go to Bali! Now one year later we actually have bought tickets and I (Lotte) have quit my job as an Occupational Therapist and we're about to move out of the house we've been renting for the last year.
It's been a long journey to finally get to this point where we're actually doing what we want to do instead of feeling trapped in a lifestyle that doesn't suit us. 

This blog will now be a journal where we will share pictures, experiences and thoughts along the way, and we hope that by following our journey you will also start to look within to figure out if you're really living the life you want. We've never said that everyone should travel and do what we want to do. We only want people to follow their hearts and do what feels right for them, not to live a conform life only to please the society, family or friends. Whatever feels right for you, is right for you. 

I will do my best to keep this blog updated from now on. 
From August we'll be packing and storing our things, and September 18th is the magic date; the day that we'll get on the plane to go to BALI :) 

That's all for today! Now I will join the other two (drawing dinosaurs, or something).


Live life and love it

Lotte