“That doesn’t sound like you!” Those were my husband Aaron’s words when I told him that I was leaving for Bali and Thailand in a week. The travel part does, but the last-minute part is …. well, it isn’t like me at all! That’s what happens when your life gets shaken up – you do things differently.

I realized that I had been lacking joy for a while. I was blinded by my “richly scheduled” and wildly busy job. I had lost who I was at my core. I was not joyful anymore. My joy had been lost – I realized I had lost balance between working and living and I was not the best version of myself There were many factors to the decision, but the bottom line is my job wasn’t a good fit for me anymore. I was more important than a job, and my family needed me to be joyful again. So… my job and I parted ways and I departed for Bali and Thailand. Best decision!!!

I was mostly quiet about my trip because I wanted to focus on my reclamation of passion and joy in my life and lean into the moment and relish in the experiences for myself. I now share my month of joy in a series of posts if you want to know more about the joy I found.

Why Bali? Well, I had been researching a retreat center called Santhika Retreat Center (@santhikaretreatcenter) with lodging at Dream Hill. It had everything I needed to have a reset in my life. “If you are looking to slow down life, relax, rejuvenate, expand your consciousness, evaluate your beliefs, and give back to yourself, Santhika Retreat is ready for you.”

It was a long journey to Bali. I started in Redding and flew to SFO where I had a very long layover before boarding my 11:30 pm overnight flight to Taipei. I was happy I was able to use airline miles and get a little extra legroom (no, not first class, but even a few extra inches helps on a 15 hour flight). I caught up on movies, read books, and slept. After landing in Taipei and spending four hours there, I was on my way to Bali (aboard my Sanrio themed plane). Five more hours and I arrived on the sunny shores on Bali! Oh let me add the hot, humid, and sunny shores of Bali! Wow… that was a shock stepping off the plane!

After going through immigration, gathering my luggage, going through customs, and exchanging money I found my driver and off we went to Lovina from Denspar. Bali isn’t a huge island, but it took four hours to get to Lovina. The roads are small and curvy and motor scooters are the way most people get around! I did have to sleep on the way to the retreat center, but once I finally arrived 36 hours after I left Redding, what a treat!

I plan to share my journey, highlights, stories, and photos in this blog for anyone who is interested in more details. It’s really for me, so I remember the me I reclaimed if I feel sideways again! Stay tuned for a lot more about what I learned, the beautiful sites, and how I reclaimed my joy in the month of May.

A few more photos of settling in.