the world is spoiling me

i feel the world is treating me really well with great comfort and happy moments and amazing people and healers and new smells and tastes and fabulous new textures and unknown bits of me and generous clouds that keep me from the heat and everything just feels... great!

when i left for this trip i was curious with how it would feel to travel for a limited amount of time, already knowing that i would be in indonesia for most of that time. on top of that, this is a 4 month trip, making it a much shorter trip than my previous trips. these are all things that are new to me, as i usually have a lot more space to 'go with the flow', and i almost never make big decisions like time and place before leaving home... well, i found that... this is great! it's exactly what i wanted at the moment, and it is really making me discover new things in me :) i'm happy i chose indonesia and i'm very glad this trip is for this amount of time and not for a year or for an indefinite number of months :) i feel i'm somewhere new, in how comfortable i feel with this :) it's a totally different way of making decisions and going about life

and what a trip this has been so far! it started in london some 13 weeks ago :) from where i flew to singapore. then i headed north in malaysia till i reached penang to get the ferry to medan in sumatra. spent 3 weeks in sumatra :) flew from padang to jakarta and spent a week in java - trying to run away from the crowds of people and the noise and pollution! another ferry took me to bali :D and i really loved that special part of the world! got on another boat to lombok to find really beautiful beaches and fantastic people :) and then i took another boat to dry and gorgeous sumbawa, where i took the ferry to sumba after spending 2 great days at the harbour. sumba blew my mind with its traditional lifestyle, gorgeous unspoiled beaches and amazing people! from there i took the loooong ferry ride to west timor, from where i took the speed boat to the small island of rote where i had the most peaceful week of the trip :) then i traveled overland to east timor and onwards to the most eastern bit of the island, tutuala and the beautiful jaco island :) east timor hit some really special part of me that other countries don't usually reach - magical, really! then i backtracked overland to kupang and got on a ferry to flores, where i got on a boat to lembata island and went south to the village of lembata that moves in a rhythm that would better fit another century... so special :) back to flores with another boat and i started the trip overland to the west tip of flores, labuan bajo :) from here i took a tiny boat to the island of kenawa, and i got back here to labuan bajo today in the morning with the same boat :)

now i have 16 days to go on this trip! 4 of them will be spent on a boat traveling west to lombok through rinca and komodo and the red island and moyo and bola and stopping in great snorkeling stops on the way :) this is definitely the most touristy thing i will do on this trip! but actually... it looks like i might have the boat all to myself! or maybe i'll share with only one more person (that's quite something as the boats coming the other way, from lombok, arrive with 20 people at a time...!) we'll see! tonight i'm already sleeping on the boat here at the harbour :) and i can't wait to be woken up by the harbor's noise in the morning while i get used to the deck that will be home for these 5 days ;)

there is little time to go till i'm back in lisboa :) and this feels great! i've saved my last week, week and a bit, to go back to bali and let that amazing island move me again in that sweet and special way that bali has... and i can't wait for that too!

i'm at a really beautiful time of my life :) i feel a happiness that is really full and it's not coming from external things, it's really coming from inside. i feel a bit like when the traditional healers here work on my energy starting at the belly button... it's all coming from the center :) but maybe this happiness is best visualized if you picture one of those hugs that make everything feel well and balanced and peaceful xx and i feel i'm spoiling the world just as much as the world is spoiling me :) and that feeling is sweet and light and special x

so much has happened in this trip so far! most of it is non wordable and that's why it doesn't fit here. but you will know what i mean when we meet :)