The Trip Heard Round the World: Medewi, Bali

Jen here. I was blissed out in Ubud. I loved the weather. I loved what my eyes saw -- it was really beautiful. I ate my raw vegan food. I bought a yoga class pass from Radiantly Alive and oh so cautiously zipped my scooter over there for classes. I went swimming every day. We had adventures. I wrote a law review article which really became more of a policy article. I reviewed another article for a small academic journal. I was in a great zone. So it was really, really, really hard to leave. Chris had booked us somewhere by the beach but I wasn't feeling it. He and Otis wanted to be by the water to have a go at surfing some more but I was skeptical that I'd enjoy it as much as I had our time in Ubud.

Bali has a number of unlovely (read overdeveloped) beach areas which you can read about at length on the internet or any guide book. After our experience in Ao Nang, we wanted to avoid a similar stay and so Chris found a place that on paper (computer monitor) sounded great: remote, secluded, not many tourists. In reality I found this Airbnb *too* remote, and while it said very plainly that internet would be spotty to nonexistent, it also indicated that cell signals were strong enough to run phones as hot spots. This was not actually the case for us. I ended up spending three days off the grid which can be nice for some but not when you are maintaining a work position, and, to be fair, want to watch some Netflix. The listing also sort of downplayed the fact that yes, part of it is under construction and finally, there were air fresheners in every single room which gave me a super bad headache for the first days. I hate those things. Anyway.

We were highly encouraged to hire/use the house's fixer, Yani, who picked us up in Ubud and took Chris and Otis out to do errands. Yani was super friendly and helpful, we liked his presence.

Boys get ready to do what they came to do!

Very honestly, dragging those boards through the rice paddies didn't sound that fun to me

Yani opens a coconut up

Fresh coconut water

Bro time, Yani and Chris chat while C enjoys coconut water

Island sunsets

Yoga by the pool

The sunset this evening was particularly dramatic and gorgeous

Calf on the beach

Walking on the beach

The weather was up and down. The beach was rocky and had a lot of cows and therefore, cow poop. I ended up watching a lot of DVDs and reading. After an intense burst of time very well spent in Ubud, I felt like it wasn't my personal best spot; in fact, in hindsight, I should have stayed in Ubud and met up with Chris and Otis at the airport. But Chris and Otis really liked it there, going off to surf for a bit each day and eating at a local restaurant. Otis sometimes played ball with some local kids. It was here that we said goodbye to the NY Giants football...sigh....it had made it so far but was not destined to be the ball that made it around the world. One night Yani came over to light up the wood fired pizza over for us, which was fun if slightly imperfect. The pool was the best part of the property and we enjoyed some swimming under the stars.

... this pool!

Yani gets pizza oven fired up

First pizza out

We had an overnight flight from Bali to Cairns, our next destination. We found that the pricing of these overnight flights sometimes outweighs the inconvenience. Sometimes.

On our way from Medewi to the airport, we asked Yani to stop at Tanah Lot temple. It was touristy and crowded and a bit jarring after the prior few days but really pretty. I was feeling sad to leave Bali and would feel even sadder in a few hours, when we started learning more about what was going on with one of our favorite furry family members.