Probably there are thousands of other articles about this place, so you might not want to hear me talking about it again, but anyway here i go. The main reason i am writing about all these travel experiences, is to keep track, remember myself, to evaluate and remind myself of all the amazing things i have seen. I am sometimes so very scared to forget all the nice things i came across while traveling and i feel like writing myself back to the places sometimes.



So... Campuhan Ridge Walk is a really nice walking trail, west of Ubud, that my air bnb host actually showed me on the map and told me to go to. When you drive out of Ubud and you see the bridge, you turn right directly before and walk past by a nice temple. Behind the temple you will find the signs for the start of the trail. It goes up quite steep at the beginning and it takes some energy to go up. So either you go quite early in the morning or in the afternoon, since it's also open area and no sun shelter on the way up. Although i am active and doing a lot of sports, it has been challenging for me as well.

The path is first following a small river and then going up higher in the mountains between fields with high and greenest grasses. If you reach the mountain crest you will find one single palm standing there on its own. It is one of the most famous pictures you will come across for Ubud and Bali. The view is amazing. Although it is not that high, you feel like being on top of the world. Once you are there you can continue walking and it will be a bit easier for a while.

Then there is this steep climb again and you will find a small group of houses where local painters are drawing and selling their arts. If you want to find some unique pieces, you are in the right place.

By the way, you can't drive a scooter up the trail, just in case you might be a bit lazy.

You will be rewarded after a 1h walk, that feels way longer, especially when its hot. There is this very popular place up at the end of the Ridge Walk called Karsa Cafe and Spa.

You can treat yourself in the Spa area or have some nice fresh smoothies and food in one of the small straw huts, that are built in a pool there. Sitting there you are facing some really nice rice terraces again. After a long walk it's definitly nice to feel the cool breeze and relax for a while, because you need to go back as well. I stayed up there for a couple of hours reading my book and enjoying the view. From up there, you can definitly also take a taxi, that will drive you back to the main road, but downwards it's way easier to go and one can embrace once more the beauty of this track.

Take a lot of water with you, you might get sweaty!

I am so longing for a quiet day at the endless, empty beaches of Gili Meno. This island was one of the nicest experience i made, during my stay on Gili Islands. To be honest i had the choice between Gili Trawangan and Gili Meno, since i did not have enought days left to visit both and i am more than happy for my decision to go to Gili Meno.

I took the boat in the very early morning from Gili Air. The Island hopping is depending on the season and weather a lot. Usually there are 2 or 3 boats going around in the morning and coming back in the early afternoon before 4, since it turns dark quite early and it can get very windy in the later hours. Better check for the boats at Gili Air Harbour or ask local people, they know best.  

Island hopping is very cheap, around 200.000IDR (14€) for both ways, but prices can variate as well, depeding if you know people, who know people.

The boats are pretty small and other than the big speed boats that are usually landing on piers (if available), those are to be entered from the beach, so better prepare to get wet feet, and if the sea is rough you can go swimming directly.

Travel time between Gili Air and Gili Meno was approx 20min, although they look so close to each other, it takes a while to travel between them. Since the currents can be quite extreme, especially around season changes, the small boats with their tiny motors need their time. Don't worry, the people really know how to handle them, although their sailing/driving style, does not seem to be particulary  safe.

Once i landed on Gili Meno i felt like walking in a dream. Everything was so beautiful, that it got really blurry in front of my eyes and i felt some tears coming up, because i had so many emotions i couldn't handle. Gili Air was definitly the best place to stay for a longer time, but Gili Meno is the perfect island escape for a daytrip or a short time, if you want to calm down and relax.

You can walk around the whole island on one day, in seeing everything and taking your time to embrace the place. I started heading north when i arrived and just walked on the sandy path, always facing the chrystal clear blue water to my right side. There are a lot of hotels and retreats close by the beach, still no beach is private, so you can keep walking straight always by the water. Since i arrived on Gili Meno around 10am the sun was aready up and walking for half an hour already exhausted me to be honest. There are nearly no trees or shadows to shelter from the burning sun, so i stopped at a Bar in the north and had a fresh young coconut to energize again. I took a book with me on that day, because i planned to have some beach hours as well and read for a while.

Around lunchtime i decided to leave and walk a bit more, to find a new place along the coast to eat.

View on Gili Trawangan from Gili Meno

When i arrived on the western side of Gili Meno, i found the most amazing beach bar, i had ever seen. Everything was decorated with shells and corals from the sea, made of bamboo and it looked like a hidden pirate island here.

It is nearby the place where the boats to Gili Trawangan leave, so one can also see the other island very good on a clear day.

Anyway i ate a fantastic Nasi Goreng in that place, after 10 days, i still loved it, since everyone prepares it a bit different, it's never the same. 

So after lunch i had a few hours left for the beach, but i was also quite scared to not get the boat back to Gili Air at around 4. If you walk around Gili Meno you can nearly always still see Gili Air, even if you are already halfway around, so i started panicking, because i went for 2 hours and still did not get around what it seemed half of the island. I tried to hurry up a bit and get to the other side again, to be close to the harbour, before taking a spot on the beach. Luckily i found the nicest beach on Gili Meno, which was quite crowded (around 10people) but very easy and nice to get into the water. The side facing Gili Trawangan is full of corals and really hard to get into, while the side facing Gili Air is just sandy and clear water, no urchids!

While sipping on a fresh pitahaya smoothie and reading my book, i found my inner peace at the beaches of Gili Meno. Every half an hour at least, i bathed in the amazing sea and cooled myself a bit, since the water is around 28°c.

There is not so much to see on Gili Meno, the population is really small and the only real attraction is the Turtle Sanctuary, which i actually could not find. There were a lot of posters advertising you to set free a turtle for around 15€, but it never said any direction where to go. There are no roads on Gili Meno and only some horse carriages one can take to get around, or bikes. The true benefit of this island is your own retreat and loading your batteries again.

If i would ever recommend a place for a honeymoon, it would be this!

One of the most fantastic views on Bali are offered by the rice terraces and each has its own characteristics. I have never been to any rice fields before i went to Bali. I actually did not know for sure how rice grows or how the actual plant looks like and to be honest, i still do not know exactly how the terraces are working.

There are so many different types of rice and let alone on Bali they grow so many different ones. They grow mostly yellow, red and white rice, i can only name the colours, since there might be so many different names for the types in each colour. Since i ate so much Nasi Goreng, i hopefully tried most of them. Even the rice tastes better and more spicy on Bali.

I have been to the two biggest and most famous rice terraces and i would never compare them to each other, because they are each a beauty of their own.

On my first day in Ubud, i strolled around and i had a very small map, that showed me the Ubud Rice fields. There are several ways, to go around them, i think i took the big round, although i am not sure, since i got lost on my way several times. There are 2 or 3 small ways coming from Ubud central road up in the terraces, which one you take does not matter i would say. It takes a while until you finally are really in the fields, but then you can enjoy an amazing view and total calmness. The Ubud rice fields are  really big terraces, with only a few steps. I would guess there are around 3-4 Levels and in between the fields you can very often see private villas and farms, such as Sari Organik, which is lying in the western part of the fields. After a long walk, you should definitly get a refreshment there.

Although it is quite windy, the sun is shining the whole time and the rice terraces don't offer any shadows, so better take care of your skin. I totally lost time and any feeling for heat, while dreaming and wandering around, so of course i got the worst sunburn ever. Also take a lot of water with you, since you can easily walk around for two hours or more (especially if you don't find the way back)

I have been walking north for half an hour or longer and suddenly the way stopped or at least i did not see where it continueds. To actually get around the rice field, one has to walk on a stone wall next to a cliff, which is stirring the water from one rice field to another.

It might have been less tourists in Bali during my travel time anyway, but during my strolls in these rice fields I barely met anyone, except for the people working or living there. I am still amazed, how they are able to actually do physically hard work in this climate! After 2h of walking i felt so exhausted, that i needed to relax the rest of the day.

Ubud Rice Fields

The far more famous Rice Terrace is located north of Ubud in Tegalalang. This Rice Terrace has a totally different character. There are uncountable different levels and this one is built between several mountains. If you want to walk in here, you better take your trekking shoes with you. I have not been walking all around this one, it looks way smaller than it actually is. You can only see parts of it from the main road it is closing to. So if you have time and power and will, you should definitly cross the terrace and have a look from the other side.

There is one way down from the street to enter the Rice Terrace and the trekking path. It goes down hundreds of stairs and after those you already feel sweaty and tired, but then you have to walk up the other mountain on the opposite, to get a super nice view. The paths are not really safe, so always make sure to get hold of something and take care where you step, otherwise you might land in a rice pool. So if you got up the opposite mountain of the main road, you will find another track, that you only can enter by paying a small fee to the local workers. They use this money to repair and take care of the road and you can give as much or less you want to, but they really appreciate it.

They have a bar up there and offer fresh coconut and juices. You can then continue walking around the terrace in long curves. I would recommend you to go very early in the morning, since as soon as the sun rises, you do not want to move anymore. In these hills the air is super humid and just standing, so even not moving will make an effort.

As said i have not been walking around the terraces, but down the one side and up the other side, continuing a bit around the hills. After that i took a refreshing drink in a restaurant close to the road, there a quite a few with nice pavillons build on the slope, with a fantastic view over the rice fields.

And it is indeed super nice if you have already done your walk and you see the people getting up too late and getting super exhausted in the sun, while you are sipping on an icecold fresh pressed juice in the shadow.

Tegalalang Rice Terraces

Vacation is about feeling well and treating yourself, doing good to your body and your mind and forget all stress of your everyday life. So when i went to Bali i heard about these amazing massages and spa treatments, manicures and beauty masks for super low prices, so i definitly considered booking a spa day or two for me.

When it comes to manicure, i would never recommend to do that in a humid climate like on Bali. The nail polish is not really drying and often very old, so i only heard of bad experience from people. Although it's cheap, you can spend your money better on something else.

There are some main transports, you can and should take on Bali

1) rent a scooter

Everyone recommends you to rent a scooter and drive around on Bali. That was my plan as well, until i finally came there. On my way from the airport to Ubud, i just got shocked about how people drive in this country. First of all it's leftside-traffic, i did not knew that. The people are driving super fast, with their babies on their arm or huge water bottles attached with some small ropes at the back.

So we made our way out of Kuta (would never drive there by myself) and i thought it would be more calm on the way to Ubud. It is true that there is always a lot of traffic, especially when driving into Ubud. Most of the roads are only one way, which does not seem to care the scooter drivers. They prefer the sideway anyway. I had never driven a scooter before and asked my driver if the traffic was always that bad. I somehow already canceled my plans for the next 2 days to move around with a scooter and got super disappointed and frustrated. My first day in Ubud i walked around everywhere to explore the different roads and directions. The second day i took a driver and really tried to remember all roads. So in that evening i asked my host Putu, if she can help me rent a scooter, and she organised one from her sister-in-law. They showed me shortly how to use it, and of course i was scared, but that did not put me off.

I got up super early the next morning at 7 and took the scooter at 8 already, the streets were totally empty, so i could get used to the scooter first and then later to the traffic rules. I drove only 20km/h all the time and everyone just passed by, but i did not care, since the landscape is so amazing and the slower you drive, the more you can see the details of your surroundings. I drove up to Tegalalang rice terrace and to the elephant safari park, since that was one of the major things i wanted to see. On the map it seemed pretty simple, just following the street out of Ubud to Tegalalang and then just going north and left once. I did not see the road, where i was supposed to turn left to the safari park, because actually there was no road, it was still in building process. So i thought this could not be right and moved more north for half an hour. Then i asked some woman around and she told me to take above mentioned piste. Well i really, really wanted to ride an elephant, so i felt more secure on my scooter and drove down that hill. I felt like a motorcross driver and nearly got stuck in the mud, but finally made it to the part, where the road was ready. They had started building from the other end. During my way back from the Park i wanted to take the other direction of course and got lost, but there are always people you could ask how to go to Ubud.

I got special price because of my host, so renting the scooter was 70.000IDR, around 5€ and filling the Tank was around 2€

2) take a driver

As mentioned above, i booked a driver on the second day in Ubud. My host also organised that for me, the whole day was 700.000IDR (49€). It was the same Driver that picked me up from the airport and he was a super nice and friendly man, so i felt more comfortable as a women alone in a taxi.

We drove to a lot of temples and he really knew a lot of nice spots. I would have never find my way through this labyrinth of not even real streets, so i would recommend a driver to see all the temples around Ubud. In the streets of Ubud there are hundreds of people that offer you a taxi drive, so if you are in a group of people, you might get even cheaper price than above mentioned, but i did not want to go alone with a stranger. Also there are a lot of agencies that offer group trips, so you can join that as well. Since i wanted to do a lot of stuff on that day and i was too late for a group tour, i took the private tour instead, which has a lot of benefits, since you can see each place as long as you like and don't need to rush or wait because of other people.

3) island-hopping by boat

I knew i wanted to go to Gili Air, since i had booked my Air BnB there. My host Putu did offer me to get a better price, since she has a cousin or friend in a good company offering hopping to the Gili Islands. So she went to the agency and booked a transport from Ubud - Padang Bai - Gili Air for me, for a price of 500.000IDR (35€), the prices offered directly from the agencies were around 700.000IDR.

So they fetched me in the morning, with a bit of delay and it took us quite long to get to Padang Bai harbour. There were so many boats and different companies, that i was super happy Putu booked for me. So i went into the office and they gave me a sticker for me and my bag and i just had to wait until they called for my sticker colour. On the pier, there were hundreds of people squeezed in the hot sun, so waiting there for 2hours until the boat finally went, was quite annoying.

It was a large speed boat, i would always only recommend those. It took us approximately 3hours to go to Gili Air, time is always depending on the sea and waves. That tour was really quite calm and i arrived happy on the Island.

If you want to hop between Gili Islands, there are some boats that go around in the morning and in the afternoon. Hopping between Gili Air and Gili Meno was 200.000IDR (14€) both ways.

On my way back i needed to leave a day earlier, since the boats are not so realiable, especially timewise. It was a very good idea to leave a day earlier and stay one night on Nusa lembongang instead.The husband of my hosts daughter was working in the boat company and got me a transport from Gili air - Nusa lembongang - Sanur - Denpaser Airport for 700.000IDR (49€)

He signed me up already 5 days before for the Gili Air - Nusa lembongang boat, since there is only one connection and it is quite popular. The rest of the journey was open-ticket so i could leave Nusa with any boat the next few days.

The weather turned quite bad on the last day on Gili Air so the boat got stuck at Gili Trawangan and did not came to Gili Air. We got a super small wodden boat to Gili Trawangang, and i definitly thought it would crack with every wave. Normally i do not get sea sick, but this was insane.

So when we arrived at Gili Trawangan, all men had to help to push out the boat that got floated on the beach and after another hour, they finally managed to start the boat. That journey to Nusa Lembongang took me 6hours instead of 2 and a half and as the sea was totally wild, i felt really, really sick. I had planned to explore Nusa for a day, because normally i would have arrived at 1pm, heading off at 10.30am, but i arrived at 4pm. So don't rely on these boats, if you need to catch a flight and always travel with the biggest boat available. I met a lot of people at the harbour telling horror stories about the small little speed boats jumping over the waves.

GOOD TO KNOW: 

1) if you stay with local people, they always know someone who knows someone ect, that can give you a better price

2) no matter which country, transport is never on time, so always calculate a lot of extra

I am known to travel alone, and thats true, for most of the time. It's not always like that. I already had some vacations with friends, some went good, others not.

Most important is really to find the right travel buddy for you. If you are an active person, of course it is good to have an active buddy as well, but it's not the main point.

I can be running 10k and my friend can be lying on the beach, if she wants, as long as we are both comfy with not hanging onto each other for all the time. How independent each of you is willing to be, is essential for your travel and peace during your time together.

Of course making compromises is a big issue during those travels as well. Some things you both may want to do, others not. Still vacation is not endless so you may not be able to do everything both of you want until it's over. So then it is super nice to have your independent buddy who wants to go to the beach one day, while you might be shopping somewhere else and afterwards you can meet up and you actually have something to tell each other.

Personally, i feel very uncomfortable traveling with a lazy pool-person. It can be nice to relax for a while of course, but as soon as one person gets bored, the tension is rising between you and it's just a matter of time until you fight. I mean, there is a reason why a lot of friends don't talk to each other anymore after vacation or why couples break up. Spending so much time with each other, sharing a room and privacy is getting super hard, except if you are so super similiar or one person is willing to adapt and give in.

Sotavento Beach Cub-Fuerteventura

Once i have been with a friend in Paris and she has had a crush on this guy back in Germany. So she was so super in love, that she booked a super expensive internet flatrate, in order to answer and text him every single minute. So when it was our last day and i suggested to walk around a bit in the quartiere notre-dame, all she wanted to do was sit by the river and chill, typing into her phone instead of talking to me. This was getting really boring for me, hellooo, its PARIS

Anyway i suggested that she could stay and sit there, while i would go around and explore a bit, promising to fetch her in one hour. She got so super mad at me, saying i don't understand her and we have been walking all the time and now she is tired and she didn't want to stay alone (it was her first stay in paris and she felt unsecure). Well, but why do I have to sit next to her and watch her chill and right, i did not really understand her problem, because she was anyway absent on her phone. So we got into fight and i left, being pissed, but soon relaxed because i could explore lovely Paris without a mourning lover for a short time. I fetched grumpy her, later on. We still talk to each other, but we both know that this was a once-and-never-again-thing.

What i learned from that is the very thing i just wrote before.

Know the independence of your buddy! Is she/he able to do stuff and enjoy activities alone? And are you? The more people join, the more tricky it gets, especially if everyone has different wishes and no one wants to do their things alone.

I went with another friend last year to Fuerteventura and we are quite similiar, both very into our things and some kind of dickheads. So i was actually fearing the worst, but it turned out so much better, since we where both really individual and happy to be on our own as well. She read her book, i went to an aqua class, some stuff we did together and sometimes we just didn't talk to each other for a few hours, but we were both super fine with it. None of us felt any pressure towards the other one, to be responsible for the others happiness or boreness.

This year i will go with a friend to NY. That trip was originally planned to be on my own, but she thought about joining me and i said happily yes. So, let's find out how travel-compatible we are.

It's not that i don't want to go with other people, it's just hard to find someone, if all your friends only travel exclusively with BAE. And i am so tired of waiting and not being able to do what i want, just because society keeps telling you: traveling is not a one-women-thing. I am going to proof them wrong.

When you go to a new place it is not only the surface that matters. I learned that, when i went on my first diving trip a year ago on Fuerteventura. Every place has an amazing underwater world to offer as well, so if you are not scared of getting wet, better dip into it!

I did my diving license during my stay on Gili Air. In September the water is quite clear since there are no storms, so it is indeed quite calm and one can see a lot. Also i have to be very honest, i love diving, but not in cold water. 

So my first experience was rather cold 18°c and I was quite frozen after. The water temperature around Bali is fantastic 25-27°c, of course the deeper you get, the colder it will be. Anyway i thought i can go with that and decided to do an SSI Open Water License, up to 20m (Price for that is around 400€)

The course includes 4 Dives and is done within 3 days approx, including a lot of theory as well. If you want to dive in the best season, you might better reserve a spot in a diving school you like. I dived with Dream Divers - Gili Air and made the best experience. The people are very professional, many of them do speak German and very good English. Also the equipment is well taken care of, and everybody is nice and very passionate about it. I never felt unsecure during a dive with them.

www.divessi.com

I had the priviledge to have a diving teacher on my own, since last year has been quite a bad year for tourism around September. 

I did actually not know before, but Gili Air is mostly muslim and the ramadan has been super late. Since you can't get any food at all during that time, people stayed away. So better research that before you go. The last day on Gili Air, they had a feast of sacrifice and every place on the island was shut, so i actually starved. My diving teacher said during Ramadan they survived with cookies and chips, since there was nothing else available. 

Diving is a very fantastic experience, but also really frightening. If you are down in the water, you have to be well aware of the dangers.

So before every dive, there is definitly a lot of adrenaline pumping through my veines. Once i get into the water, i feel super comfortable, as long as my equipment is working. I changed mask accidently one time, and it was luckily only a pool session, but it was leaking all the time and then i got super stressed, and just imagine beeing down 10m and it feels like ages until you can pop up again.
Although i have to admit the theory parts of that course were super boring, they are really essential. Since it's super hot, your brain is really on vacay mode and not working at all. There is this 200 pages book, that you need to study and there are very many questions concerning chemics, bar pressures ect. as well, not my best subject to be honest. But even I made it. It's worth the effort. 

You dip into the sea and every meter you go deeper seperates you from the surface. And the whole world up there does not matter anymore. 

During my dives i saw a lot of huge turtles, octopusses that change colours, all my friends of "finding nemo" and beautiful corals. One day we where going to Manta point and they told me we might see a shark. So hearing the word shark already made me shiver and everyone was super excited, but me. 

To my great relieve and my diving teachers great disappointment, we did not meet a shark. 

For those who might not be as mermaidish as me and want to stay up, you can even meet turtles while snorkeling, if you know the right spots.

I went snorkeling on Gili Air one day, but already put on my fins at the beach, since i made a bad experience with an urchid the day before. It was really awkward and the guy from the bar that i rented them from (2€ for one afternoon), just laughed at me since i was so frighten of stepping into one again. It took me ages just to get in and out of the water, because they are hiding everywhere and it takes a long time until the water ist deep enough to swim. It might be pretty uncool, but aqua shoes would help.

I can recommend to take a single-use under water camera with you, although it's not deep, you can take a lot of nice shots. If you do not want to get wet at all, you can go on a trip with those glass floor boats, although i heard some of them broke during the time i have been there.

The Gili Islands definitly have so much to offer, but half of it, i guess, lies deep in the sea, so have a try and explore for yourself! You do not neccessarily need a diving license, there are also trial dives, not as deep, but as exciting.
 

What is actually the worst thing, that can happen to you, while traveling alone? You get robbed, loose your passport and all your money, may get hurt or lost.

Of course these things can happen to you as well, when you are with friends, but then it does not feel as bad, since there is someone supporting you.

Be aware of these scenarios and already think about, what you would do in case these things happen. If you get robbed, loose all your money, you will definitly find some other traveler that borrows you a phone.

Also you can minimize the risk of course in not putting yourself in dangerous situations. Don't go out late on your own, unless you know it's a safe area and you are in a public place.

So i don't go partying or getting drunk in my vacation, because even if you met people, you never know what they are really up to. Nevertheless i am anyway not a party person -haha.

I was totally fine during my trip on Bali, until some really shitty things happened to me. And i promise in those 2 weeks more accidents happened to me, than in a whole year back at home.

Be aware that traveling does indeed mean a specific higher risk, than staying at home. Don't pretend that these are not existing.

When these things happened to me, my first intention was actually to ring my mother and cry, but obviously that would not really help me. Since she was so far away and if i would have told her, she would freak out even more than me. She was so strictly against me traveling alone, so i did not want to give her the satisfaction, that i am not capable on my own. Also my phone did not work on Bali, i don't know why, but i never had connection and the only thing possible was emergency calls, at least one thing working. Anyway you have wifi in most spots, so contacting your beloved ones home via whatsapp is possible.

First thing happening to me was that i burned my leg on the very hot exhaust pipe of my rented scooter in Ubud. Not just a tiny bit, but a few layers of skin just shrinkled away. Back home, that's not a super big deal. It hurts as hell, but at least one has proper medication and treatment.

When i go on vacation i always pack essential medication, for diarrhea, a cold and some plasters, as well as my emergency allergy medication.

That burn, that i got, was bigger than any plasters i had with me, and the wound was sipping all time. Most dangerous in tropic spaces is, that they can get infected very easily, because they don't close in the humid air. You might have heard of meat eating bacteria, that comes from flies that sit on your open wound, pretty scary. Luckily, it happened to me in Ubud and there was actually some kind of pharmacy, selling bigger plasters and some iodine cream. Normally you would always let a wound heal in fresh air, not in this place! I bought all plasters in big size in stock of that pharmacy, since you always need to change them as well and some alcohol pats, since this was the only bacteria killing thing available. So cleaning the wound with an alcohol pat needed some will.

Fine, i got through this and got more positive! When i went to Gili Air after Ubud, there came some new challenges for me. My wound was not healed, the plasters all got lost while swimming in the amazing sea and the sun burned my wound even worse. I had some plasters from home with me, that were water resistent, so i cut those and put 3 next to each other to cover my wound and they stayed for a while. Not enough pain yet.

During my first swim on Gili Air i stepped into a black sea urchin, with the left foot. I did not realise until i came out of the water and felt a more than horrible pain. So i turned and looked at my foot, that was all sparkled with black spots of poison. First thought was: now i really will die! Maybe a bit overreacting, but on this island there is no proper medical care!

So i went to the first person i saw, a bartender of a small hut nearby the beach and showed him my foot, covered in tears. He laughed at me and told me to sit down and said he will help me.

When he took a stone, i was a bit concerned what he might do now, but then he started slapping my footsole with it and explained, that he needs to crash the end of the spikes under the skin, otherwise it will get infected. After half an hour of knocking, my pain was finally gone and the black spots with them. Lucky me!

When i went home that evening, i felt super strong and more capable then ever. Next morning i woke up with a pain in the other foot. I had actually also cut myself in the sea, but did not realise, since the other foot was more in pain. So while walking home and over night, some sand did came in the wound and it got infected. So first thing in the morning i had to do was a little operation, with a nail scissor and pincette, to get the sand out my skin. By then, i did take it more casually, since i got used to treating wounds every day.

On top of all this, i got an allergy attack  2 days later, because of some peanut butter in a smoothie. I ordered it without and the waitress repeated my words "yes, no peanuts". After the first sip of it i directly realised that there was something wrong. My mouth and throat had swollen, i could not proper breathe any longer. I started panicking like crazy, since my epipen was in the bamboo hut to stay cold, and even if you take those, you need to go to hospital immediatly after. And you never really know if these hospitals are really good. So the owner of the cafe came to me and they started massaging me and calming me down, bringing cold towels and everything. I took 2 cortison pills by that time and used a spray to widen my air passages, but that did not really help since it had gotten too warm. In that moment, i wished more than ever to have company. I had wifi and texted my mum desperateley, because that was finally too much for me on my own. This was at least some little comfort, because she said it's going to be alright.

So i tried to breath slowly and calm down a bit, not able to move at all, since i was so weak. A few minutes later i felt that all my food would come up again. After throwing up for half an hour, my whole body got sprinkled with nettle rash and swelling up like a baloon. I am not exaggerating. I was supposed to go diving on that day, in half an hour from that moment and did not have any way to contact the diving school. So the owner Suki brought me with a scooter to the diving school, so i could tell them to go without me that day. Luckily they had some proper tropical allergic medication there, so the cortison spray of them finally worked and i could breathe again. Anyway my whole body was itching and swollen, so after lying for 2hours i thought a bath in the sea would calm my skin. But when i took off my dress and saw the real extent of my rash, i just ran into the water, stayed in for 30min and went home super quick afterwards. The rest of the day i spent lying naked on my bed with the fan on highest level to cool my skin. It wore off after 5h in total and then i was more than grateful of me and my body.

I survived!

All those things happening to me did make me angry and sad of course and in those times i really wished to not be alone. But looking at it afterwards, it feels even more brave and i am proud of handling these things on my own. Do believe in yourself and also in the good of the people. As you can see i got a lot of help and support from totally strangers.

This vacation has been so amazing and i paid the price for that as well, with blood, sweat and tears! I tend to always remember the bad things, because this is how our mind works, but this really challenged me, to see only the good in it as well.

Those scars do not remind me, of the bad things happening to me, but of how strong i actually am!

As many others i get to see those amazing pictures of travel bloggers on instagram and wherever, where they stay in the fanciest places, nicest 5* hotels, infinity pools.. whatever!

It can be so inspiring, i have to admit, but also very frustrating if you are a semi normal person, with a regular job and a limited income... traveling is actually not your job! 

So as i love planning to plan, i just came up with a strategy, that helps me to achieve my goals and travel a lot, lot this year.

1) Start saving early - it is very good to save some money every month, so in case you see a cheap offer, you can just book it.

2) Set a travel Budget - it is really good to set yourself a maximum amount you are willing to spent around the year for vacation, my budget is 5000€ this year, which is also a lot of money for me, but the point is to get as much out of this bunch as possible

3) Set your destinations and times- it is good to have a travel bucket list, so you can decide more flexible what places you will go to.

While doing your travel list, consider always the weather and high season periods, so you can spread your vacations evenly, i'll share mine with you below.

Gran Canaria -  6 Days February (it's actually high season during that period, but i wanted as much sun as possible, while taking short flight times)

New York - 5 Days May (it is always better to do City Trips in Spring/Autumn and May is just precisly before High Season)

Italy-Amalfi Coast - 2 weeks August/September (semi-high season, still manageable super cheap if you book in time and do quite a lot of research)

Carribean over Christmas and New Year? (This one is planned, but not booked yet)

4) Split your budget - also consider what price is really reasonable, compare what you can get for your money!

6 Nights New York City - 600 Euros (flights and AirBnB)

14 Nights Italy Amalfi Coast - 580 Euros (flights, AirBnB, Hostels and Hotel)

5) Know your needs - Of course you want to spend as less money as possible, but there are some standards that you might consider neccessary for your comfortness. I really prefer having a seperate sleeping room, but i can share kitchen and bath, because i take privacy as the privilige i treat myself with. So comparing air bnb and hostels with same price, i would always chose the private accomodation.

6)Try to spread your booking periods, you don't need to book all at the same time (only if you are quite late), as you also might not have all the money saved already (sometimes i book just flights on offer and take care for a hotel a month or two later)

It is always up to you, what you are willing to pay and what you expect to get for a certain price. My goal is to inspire you with different trips, that are worth their money and with different budgets for everyone. So i will be super honest and straight, when it comes to prices, since this seems so often not mentioned.

As most of you might already know, food is more than delicious on Bali. It is bali(cious).

Apart from different food bacteria, the restaurants and cooks have something far nicer to offer - most fresh food, directly from the farm (the chicken might have just been running around 2hours ago...) Everything comes natural and without artificial ingredients. At least if you eat local.

I was first really sceptic, since i am very used to the controlled and checked food in Germany. But after eating very fine and super nice for these 2 weeks on Bali, i really think that we are exaggerating a lot.

One day i went down to the food market in Ubud and the meat was literally lying open on the table, flies that had been sitting on dog's shit before, nagging on the chicken now. My first reaction was of course disgust and shock. So when my air bnb host said she will go to the market and fetch some nice meat to cook for me the next day, i was of course really concerned and not really happy, but could not deny the offer, since she was so very nice. And yet it tasted amazing, best meat i ever ate and i am still alive!

Since i am allergic to really a lot, lot of things, including all milk products, egg and especially peanuts, it's not as easy to find food for me.

So i researched before a lot for vegan places, since then i only need to explain "no peanut pls". There are so many places to eat and there will be something for everyone. Even if you would like to stick to european food like pizza or döner, you will find a spot. Since i tried something new almost every day, i am happy to share some of my greatest culinary suprises.

Dayu's Warung: This place is paradise. From the outside it does not look super fancy, but it's one of the nicest restaurants i have been to in Ubud. They offer a lot of very "exotic" or unusual and vegan combinations. There are sweetpotatoe and pumkin pies, raw balls.. each dessert better than anothers. But best dish is definitly the Mahi-Mahi Lasagne. It's a Lasagne made with mashed pumkin, Mahi-Mahi fish, fresh spinach and some kind of sesampaste. You can find two places in Ubud, one on the main road in the very city, and one on the way to tegallalang rice terraces. I have only been to the one in central Ubus, more than once, since i could not resist!

You can get a main course, smoothie and dessert approx for 10€ in total.

http://dayuswarung.weebly.com/

Tukies Cafe: This place offers the best coconut icecream, that you will ever eat. I have been to this place almost every day while my stay in Ubud, since i am allergic to milk, it's hard to find good icecream. You have to try the Coconut Mango Float, which is a high glass with freshly pressed mango-orange and one scoop of finest Icecream floating on top. Added on top are the finest roasted coconut flakes, so crispy and cool! This one costs around 2,70€. The whole store is filled with fresh coconuts, they are also really refreshing after a long hot day!  

Tukies Cafe no, Jl. Raya Ubud No.14, Ubud, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia

Murni's Warung: This is the oldest Warung in Ubud and might be one of the most famous. It is located a bit outside nearby the way up to Campuhan Ridge walk, west of Ubud. It has several floors and pavillons, where you can directly look in the rain forst. Prices are a bit higher, since they are so very famous, people are paying for good food, but also for the view. I did not get a big choice of seat, since the super nice spots were already reserved, so i ate on first level with an okay view. The food definitly made up for that. I had the Balinese Duck, which was a spicy explosion in my mouth, but in a good way. I paid for a smoothie and the Duck around 15€, quite expensive for Bali. http://www.murnis.com/

Earth Cafe: One of the nicest organic, vegetarian places in Ubud. They do a lot of cakes and amazing sandwiches and pizzas, drinking water is for free. When i was there, half of the people were backpackers, so it seems like the travel cafe to hang out. Unfortunately i could not eat so much, since they didn't want to guarantee nut freeness in the main dishes and cakes. So i had a really nice pink dragonfruit smoothie bowl with banana and cocoa nips for around 7€

http://www.earthcafebali.com/

Sari Organik: This place is a bit far off and hard to find, but definitly worse a try. The Restaurant is lying between the rice fields in Ubud and approx 20min walk from the main road. It feels pretty long especially on a warm day. One can also take a scooter, but i would only recommend experienced drivers to do that, since its more a path then a real way. If you want to come to dinner, you definitly have to make a reservation. Also if you would prefer the fresh duck, you better come in the evening, since it will be butchered in the afternoon (they told me). So i had instead the nicest Nasi Goreng ever, with fresh ingredients directly from the field and a young coconut. If you like you can also go and pick the ingredients yourself and the cook will prepare the dish then for you, since it is an organic farm. Jl. Subak Sok Wayah, Tjampuhan, Ubud, Gianyar, Kabupaten Gianyar, Bali 80571, Indonesia +62 361 972087

I have been to a lot of more places of course, but some of them are not worse mentioning. In general i would say, that a high price is not a guarantee for good food. I ate Nasi Goreng quite often in these 2 Weeks and the cheapest (2€) from the shabbiest place i have ever seen, was the best and biggest portion comparing to a 7€ Nasi Goreng from fancy Restaurant on Ubud main street.

If you are interested in learning traditional balinese cooking, i would recommend a cooking class in Ubud in one of the most popular cooking schools, Casa Luna. I came across it while i was in Ubud, but unfortunately i was too late to book a space. I have heard that Sunday's evening class for Balinese Duck is really amazing. But as said, better reserve a place via email before you travel there. Also they do not have internet regulary, so if you are in Ubud, better ask personally.

Going on your own to a new place can be really frightening, but means also freedom and endless possibilities. In those 25 days off work in a year, i want to do things i like and really make the most of it. That doesn't mean that you can't have an amazing time with friends, but it is always very hard to find the right travel buddy.
So if you decide to go on your own, it's nice to have some perspective and it's quite fun to not care, what somebody else would like to do (that sounds selfish, but this vacation is about you and your dreams!)
In order to feel safe and comfy by your own there are some basic things you can do.

Collect as much information as possible about the place you are going to. Whether it is about culture, politics, religion and also distances. I did not know Bali was as big, as it was until i finally went there. So some stuff i planned to do, was literally impossible because i did not look at the map scale properly.
Also consider different living standards and health care in other countries. I was especially scared of tropical diseases, like Malaria, and more likely Dengue Fever and Stomach flues. For mosquitos i can really recommend Repel100 spray. In two weeks i got bitten only once!
In addition to avoid having a bad time from the totally different food bacteria, one can take a cholera vaccination as well. I might have been a bit overreacting, but i wanted to be as safe as possible!
So after taking care of these more general things, the real fun part can begin: to plan your activities!
After choosing Ubud and Gili Air as my main spots to stay, i borrowed some travel guides from the library,which seems quite oldschool, "lonelyplanet" is my favourite, but the biggest sights to see, will never change. One can also find really nice advises on Tripadvisor.com.
So i made a list (again) with all the places, that i was really interested in and that were absolute obligatory to see.
Take in consideration how long it takes to get there, and which places might be close to each other, so you can do them the same day. The best way to find some routes and daytrips is actually with google maps. You just type in your destination and your place to start, very often there are spots just shortly away from the route, that might be super interesting as well, but are not mentioned on big travel sides.
So if you have picked your main destinations and enriched them with some little nice spots around, you can decide what to do on which day. Also important for museums or temples: look up opening times as well, so you don't plan stuff on the wrong day. Sometimes you can just change one planned day to another, but if you rely on a scooter or driver, booked for a specific day, it is not that easy to change spontaniously.
If you have your days planned and full with activities, you can't get bored and start thinking about being lonely. To not get stressed out too much, plan some extra time every day, because you might want to look a bit longer at some place. Also it is very nice to just plan some spare times for literally doing nothing and just explore or wander around, you might be suprised what you can hit. I always plan in a free afternoons every third day, so in case something goes wrong or takes longer, you still are able to fill stuff in that empty time.
Planning and preparing is really good, but don't panick, if things don't turn out as you thought. As mentioned before, i planned to drive to almost every temple by myself with a scooter (because it looked all so easy on the map), but when i was on Bali, i decided to book a driver instead, which saved a lot of time for me, so i could do other things that were not planned.
How much you plan and in which way is up to you, but i consider being over(prepared) as a really good sign. You always have some backup possibilities and that is a great security. 

You might have already read many, many articles about this, but here is another one.

Budget: 2500€ (1100€ flights, 400€ air bnbs, 600€ food and transport, activities; 400€ diving license)

Duration: 16 Days

Travel Time: September (best travel time, since it is shortly before seasonal change to rain period, semi high season, it is always warm on Bali, but in September it is quite windy and not as humid)

I have always dreamt about going to Bali for a very, very long time. But since i had been working a lot the past years, doing an apprenticeship and relaying on school vacation, earning super less money, i was never able to actually go there.

So finally when i got a job i started saving for this journey and then i did not book it. I was super scared, since it is also a different culture and i looked at flights over and over again, but never got the guts to actually buy them. I knew i wanted to go in September, since i researched for the best travel time, so it would have been just so very easy.

One evening i finally told myself that i can do this and i tried to book on a flight, which went wrong several times. I had gotten a new Visa Card, which was not activated, so i tried several times to book my seats (with more leg space, since it's quite a long flight) and desperately failed. When i finally managed to make my Visa Card work after 2hours, all those seats that i tried to pick in previous sessions, where gone, since they are blocked for a while. I got so super mad and thought this might be an omen, that i should not go and went to bed, angry and frustrated. Of course i could not fall asleep, since this was all driving me super crazy, so i got up again and looked at flights at 1am in the morning.

I said to myself: this is the last time you try and if now you don't get the nice seats, then you might not go. So fingers crossed, i got my seats with nice leg space and could finally go to sleep happily.

This got me so super stressed that night, that i did not consider booking any hotel or place to stay for a while.

(Prices for flights can variate, depending on the airline you travel with and where you stop. I went with Thaiairways from Stockholm-Bangkok-Bali with a total travel time of around 18h, staying at Bangkok airport for 3h approx and paid 1100€. Flights to Bali are fairly expensive, while living there is super cheap. So i would always recommend, also due to long flight times, to stay at least 14 Days, if i would go again it would be definitly more)
So after 6 weeks i looked deeper into places to stay. I decided to travel around a bit, but not too much, since it was my first real journey on my own. Of course my first destination was Ubud - The cultural heart of Bali. Since i was also interested so much in Balinese Culture and Mentality, i thought it would be best to live with a Balinese Person. It was quite frightening for me to go on my own and live with a stranger, but i got so far with booking the flights, that i felt i could also do this.
I researched for quite a long time and finally found Putu Merni's Air BnB which is Jawi Painter House in Ubud. Of course i did not want to book my first Air BnB with a man, beeing really critical and sceptical, as i always am.
Staying at Putus Place was 22€ a night including a really nice breakfast with amazing pancakes and fresh fruit salad and free drinkable water.
After Ubud, i wanted to go to Gili Air, so i researched again for a super long time and finally found Dean's Bale Kampung Bamboo Hut. The price was reasonable and since he had good recommendations i felt it would be fine, even though he was a man -haha.
This Hut was a bit more expensive, so around 27€ a night, including free water and breakfast as well.
To be honest i invested more than the 16 Days i spent on Bali, just for researching and beeing super sure, about what to do. As i mentioned it gave me a lot of security, knowing where i am going and what i will do and where i will stay.