Making some videos as I travel through Bali, Lombok and wherever. They're amateurish efforts and not the type of content most here will find appealing, however someone might like to see how much a room or meal is over this way.

The first video is pretty slow going.

Uploading a couple of videos while I've got internet, the speed of which is already becoming an issue.

Username Taken wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 1:51 pm You seem to have the language nailed.


I think I got lost after buku besar ini!

Sadly still at the basic language level which just about gets a bus ticket and a beer, UT. It's enough for the locals to think you speak it then they take off on a ramble and you feel pretty dumb.

My feelings have run hot and cold after seeing previous videos of Bali. KfH, you have rekindled my interest. I have usually tired of places after 6 months to a year and then moved on. The pandemic nailed me to Bangkok for almost 3 years now. It made me forget my reflex to leave places and move on after a while. This is the phrase that just woke me up:

I feel free. The world feels right again.

Anyway, I have very much enjoyed your minimalist presentations. I'm ready for more, any time.

ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:04 pm My feelings have run hot and cold after seeing previous videos of Bali. KfH, you have rekindled my interest. I have usually tired of places after 6 months to a year and then moved on. The pandemic nailed me to Bangkok for almost 3 years now. It made me forget my reflex to leave places and move on after a while. This is the phrase that just woke me up:

I feel free. The world feels right again.

Anyway, I have very much enjoyed your minimalist presentations. I'm ready for more, any time.

I hear ya, EPM. I went through a phase recently as well prior to and through COVID. I think some of us have to remind ourselves why we started this caper in the first place, try and reclaim the spirit of our younger selves. It's in there, perhaps we just have to coax it out a little more as we get a bit older. But at the end of the day some of us are just wanderers and the urge will return eventually.

Appreciate the kind words.

ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:04 pm My feelings have run hot and cold after seeing previous videos of Bali. KfH, you have rekindled my interest. I have usually tired of places after 6 months to a year and then moved on. The pandemic nailed me to Bangkok for almost 3 years now. It made me forget my reflex to leave places and move on after a while. This is the phrase that just woke me up:

I feel free. The world feels right again.

Anyway, I have very much enjoyed your minimalist presentations. I'm ready for more, any time.

Me too. Bali has been on my radar for a while, now it's looking even more tempting. Keep them coming please.

The food looks nice too.

Doc67 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:42 pm

ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:04 pm My feelings have run hot and cold after seeing previous videos of Bali. KfH, you have rekindled my interest. I have usually tired of places after 6 months to a year and then moved on. The pandemic nailed me to Bangkok for almost 3 years now. It made me forget my reflex to leave places and move on after a while. This is the phrase that just woke me up:

I feel free. The world feels right again.

Anyway, I have very much enjoyed your minimalist presentations. I'm ready for more, any time.

Me too. Bali has been on my radar for a while, now it's looking even more tempting. Keep them coming please.

The food looks nice too.

The food is brilliant.

I think a mistake some people can make when looking at Bali is getting caught up with what all the hip young things are doing at the cool beach clubs, or in their swanky Instagram villas, or trying to centre their chakras at the special river etc. Sneaking around the back alleys, eating in local eateries, and staying in simpler accommodation in Bali soon reminds you the place still has an authenticity about it which is uniquely, pleasantly, refreshingly, still very Balinese.

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:22 pm

ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:04 pm My feelings have run hot and cold after seeing previous videos of Bali. KfH, you have rekindled my interest. I have usually tired of places after 6 months to a year and then moved on. The pandemic nailed me to Bangkok for almost 3 years now. It made me forget my reflex to leave places and move on after a while. This is the phrase that just woke me up:

I feel free. The world feels right again.

Anyway, I have very much enjoyed your minimalist presentations. I'm ready for more, any time.

I hear ya, EPM. I went through a phase recently as well prior to and through COVID. I think some of us have to remind ourselves why we started this caper in the first place, try and reclaim the spirit of our younger selves. It's in there, perhaps we just have to coax it out a little more as we get a bit older. But at the end of the day some of us are just wanderers and the urge will return eventually.

Appreciate the kind words.

A couple of questions:
Is the last-minute cancellation common practice or just bad luck?
Are these homestays literally renting someone's guest room and you live in their house?
Why did you decide to move on right away and not find somewhere else in Ubud?
Are all your travels overland by buses or do (will) they involve any of Indonesia's famous micro airlines flying single-engine Cessna Caravans and landing on the side of mountains? This would make a good video!

Doc67 wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 6:04 pm

Kung-fu Hillbilly wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:22 pm

ExPenhMan wrote: ↑Sun Jun 11, 2023 5:04 pm My feelings have run hot and cold after seeing previous videos of Bali. KfH, you have rekindled my interest. I have usually tired of places after 6 months to a year and then moved on. The pandemic nailed me to Bangkok for almost 3 years now. It made me forget my reflex to leave places and move on after a while. This is the phrase that just woke me up:

I feel free. The world feels right again.

Anyway, I have very much enjoyed your minimalist presentations. I'm ready for more, any time.

I hear ya, EPM. I went through a phase recently as well prior to and through COVID. I think some of us have to remind ourselves why we started this caper in the first place, try and reclaim the spirit of our younger selves. It's in there, perhaps we just have to coax it out a little more as we get a bit older. But at the end of the day some of us are just wanderers and the urge will return eventually.

Appreciate the kind words.

A couple of questions:
Is the last-minute cancellation common practice or just bad luck?
Are these homestays literally renting someone's guest room and you live in their house?
Why did you decide to move on right away and not find somewhere else in Ubud?
Are all your travels overland by buses or do (will) they involve any of Indonesia's famous micro airlines flying single-engine Cessna Caravans and landing on the side of mountains? This would make a good video!

1. I've known the guy for a long time and understood he could cancel as he's not very reliable in other ways. I suspect he just got a better price for the room. In nearly forty years of coming here it's the first time any accommodation has been cancelled. The three places I've stayed in since he cancelled I've got by walking in off the street.

2. The homestays are located in Kampungs which are family owned enclaves which house extended families. These walled family compounds have added extra rooms to house guests, the rooms usually to western standards. It's very quiet mostly except for the odd rooster.

3. I move on because it's my nature, I'm prone to making quick decisions. Added to the fact I haven't been to some places here in a long while and feel they deserve revisiting now the opportunity has presented itself. I can change my mind and go somewhere else in an instant, it's this freedom that I'm drawn to as much as where I am.

4. I prefer and like the pace of overland travel, I feel you engage more with the people and environment. A small plane flight over a volcano would offer some great footage, but the videos I'm making are simply something to do while I'm here. Turn the GoPro on every now and then and edit simple clips so there's no stress in production.