The day Michel told his employer about our plans

Today Michel told his manager about our plans. This means that it is really happening! We are really going to travel the world! Even though Michel claims he is the one who started talking about going away for a while, he is also the one who was the most hesitant about leaving. He was not interested in reading other traveler’s blogs, did not want to do any research, nor did he really want to talk about it. It is only since the past two months that he gets a bit more in the spirit. That is his character. He probably first wanted to get his head around it before really talking about it. Once he starts to talk about something, it becomes real…

So today he told his manager about the trip. That was a bit earlier than planned. Our plans are not really fixed yet. We have not yet bought a car, the route to take is still a bit unclear and we have not decided on an actual timeline yet.

The past two years Michel has been working on a project that was finished in January and a few months ago he and his manager agreed that it was time to find a new challenge for him some time soon. So when Michel received an invitation to come and talk about future opportunities within the organization, that did not come as a surprise.

Ever since he received the invitation we have been thinking and talking about that meeting a lot. What could it be that they had to offer? Would it be fair to just take on new job and then leave after a few months? Would we be willing to postpone our trip for a few years if they offered something really interesting? We knew immediately that Michel would not be able to accept the new job and then leave after a few months. He has been working for the same company all of his life in various jobs at different locations. It would not feel right to have a conversation about future possibilities and not tell them about our plans.

It took a bit more time to realize that almost no job could be interesting enough to make us postpone the trip. Only if they would send him abroad we could be tempted to do that.
That meant that he really would have to tell his manager about our plans… Michel has never quit a job before in his life besides a weekend job at a bar when he was a student. We knew that this would not be easy!

Together we put his storyline on paper. We saw three possibilities. The first was to ask for a sabbatical for a year. Michel has always been very flexible in his job and we moved house twice when they asked him to. He believes he has built some credits. If they would let him leave on a sabbatical we would have the security that in case we wanted to come back within a year, Michel would still have a job.

The second option was that Michel would still support his department from a distance. This would give the junior manager the time to grow in his job with Michel still in the background for questions and help a few days to a week per month.
The third option was to just quit his job…

Of course Michel was quite nervous when time came. The reaction of his manager was even a bit of an anti-climax. All he said was “cool, you should do that”. He did not yet want to get into any of the three options because he needs some time to think about it. Tomorrow Michel has a meeting with the senior director to discuss that more in detail….

Scuba diving in Bali

When we decided to go to Bali for this last long holiday before the big trip, we never really thought about diving in Bali. We wanted to look into getting on a live aboard scuba trip towards Komodo Island, or heading to Lombok’s Gili’s to do some diving, but we never expected to be diving on Bali. We never looked into diving there and did not think it would be really special..

Boy, were we wrong! After two days on Bali, a storm hit the island, which meant that we could not go the Gili’s nor were there any live aboards leaving from Bali in March. So, due to the weather, we decided to head north and ended up in Amed. And when we started to explore the small fishermen’s villages along the coastline, we were quite surprised to find one diveshop after the other. The water was still too much influenced by the storm to be able to go diving, but we did speak with several people in the shops and realized that diving in Bali could actually be really nice.

So when the weather cleared up after a few days, we decided to give it a try. We ended up on Menjangan Island, in the north-west corner of Bali. Menjangan Island is a small, uninhibited island about half an hour boat ride from the coastline of Bali.

Under water, we found Nemo(!) and lots of other fish. The visibility was not great yet, due to the storm of the days before, but the corals were beautiful and almost untouched. The dives were very peaceful and easy, not too much current and not deep, so we could really take our time to enjoy the dive and admire the beautiful corals and fish.

Now that we realized that the diving in Bali was actually really nice, we decided to go for another day. This time we went to Tulamben, a place close to Amed, where the USS Liberty Wreck can be found just a few meters from the beach. This wreck sank in WWII, after being hit by a torpedo. The ship is approximately 120 meters long and lies parallel to the beach. Again, the dive was very easy and therefore we had all the time to visit this beautiful wreck. Since it is under the water for quite some years, the coral has had the time to grow on the wreck, which gave it a somewhat surreal look. You know it is a wreck but due to the amount and size of the coral growing on the ship, you do not always recognize it as a ship anymore. A nice attraction is the huge cloud of jack fish close to the beach, just before getting out to the water. Inside this cloud, we felt like being in a carousel because of the hundreds of fish swirling around you.

So, what did we learn from this experience? First of all, the diving in Bali is very nice! We have been diving in quite some nice and special places in the past ten years and the corals and the amount of colorful fish in these places were an unexpected surprise for us.
Secondly, it taught us that we really need to research places better before we go. We usually never really do any research of a place before we go. We get out of the plane and start walking around. And even though I really enjoy that kind of relaxed walking around, just finding the nicest places ” by accident”, we now realized that sometimes it can’t hurt to do at least some research….

Easter Fires in Holland

The tradition of the Easter Fires goes back as long as we can find written history. In ancient times, people used to light these fires in the spring to ask the gods for good and healthy crops. The fire, together with its smoke would lead to fertility. People would jump through the fire and cattle would be led through it to enforce their fertility.

Somewhere in the 17th century, the Christian church tried to end these heathen fires. When they did not succeed to ban the fires, they decided to make them into a Christian tradition and now they are known as Easter Fires, the light of Easter, sign for the resurrection of the son of God.

We find these fires in a large part of Europe, going from Denmark to Switzerland and Austria and from eastern Holland to the middle of Germany.The most famous are the fires in a region in the Netherlands, called Twente. This region is famous because the fires are very close together and numerous. Almost every village has its own Easter fire and many people go from fire to fire on the evening of Easter Sunday to see the fires and to meet up with friends and family. The region is also famous because one of the villages holds the Worldrecord of having the largest Easter Fire. The fire in Esperlo this year was almost 46 meters high and had a circumference of approximately 160 meter.

Since 18 months we live in this region. Even though we have some mixed feelings about the traditions in this region, this tradition is one that we quite like. Easter Fires are usually a real village gathering. Even though we did not grow up in this village, we do feel quite at home here and the fire brought back memories of our childhood where we would run and play around this huge mountain of fire and find all our neighbors and classmates with their families.

At dawn on Easter Sunday, the children of the village come together at the church square. With torches in their hands, they walk in procession to the “Poasbult” (Easterbump), a huge pile of wood, hay and branches. Most villages take months to built the highest possible pile, on a meadow just outside the village. Once arrived at the Poasbult, the procession has grown into hundreds of villagers that all gather around the pile of wood. A marching band is playing music to increase the excitement. When the music stops, all children get to throw their torches at the Poasbult, which is then set to fire. With a big whoosh the whole pile is on fire within seconds. Depending on the weather and the height and width of the pile, the fire keeps burning for hours. It all ends when the burning barrel of tar that is set in the top of the pile, falls down. According to tradition, the longer it takes for the barrel to come down, the more prosperous the crops will be that year…..

Silence day in Bali

Today the Balinese are celebrating Silence Day – Nyepi. It starts at 6.00 am and takes until 6.00 am the next day. It is a day that is being followed by the Balinese New Year. Nyepi day is used for self-reflection and anything that may interfere with that is being prohibited.
There is no noise ( or as little as possible ), no television or radio, no electricity, and for some, also no eating or drinking. People are not allowed in the streets or out of their own premises. There is no exception for tourists. We are also asked to stay inside, make as little noise as possible and there is no electricity at night so that there will be no light. We are given a candle to use to go to the bathroom if needed, but this should be turned off if not needed. Special police is walking the streets to check if everyone complies with the restrictions.

We are staying in a very small guesthouse with only two other guests. We enjoyed the morning just sitting by the pool and reading books. But somehow, after a few hours of this total silence, I cannot help but be affected by this silence. All we heard today was the crowing of roosters and an occasional dog barking. It makes me do some self-reflection of my own. During this holiday I realized that I am so ready to set off and start traveling. I want to leave rather sooner than later. This is what I want to do. I want to see the world and write about it. It seems as if I see the world with different eyes now. Whenever we go somewhere, I remember I need to take pictures, ( something we never really did while being on holiday. I was always convinced I could never take a better picture than the one in my head…) I write down the name of every place we go to make sure I remember the names whenever I have wifi and time to write about it. Having breakfast in the morning with a view over the ocean makes me happier than I have ever been on holidays. Even the bad weather of the past week could not bring me down. I know that while traveling, we will probably not have sunshine every day either, so why be sad? We just have to find something else to do, which we would also be doing if we would be traveling instead of being on holiday.

We just got offered our first house sit today. If we take it, it means that we would be leaving by the end of September… That means we really have to take a decision soon. Until now, Michel has still been a bit hesitant of leaving so soon with our dog. When we started thinking of going on a world tour, we always spoke about going backpacking. We even calculated a budget for backpacking through SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand. Going overland with a dog needs so much more preparation and may not take us to the countries we know and love. However, the opportunity to start with a comfortable house sit for the first couple of months would make it a lot easier. We could take that time to prepare ourselves, set up the blog a bit better, create our own design and layout. We can decide where and how to continue after the house sit – another house sit, continue by car, go back home? We could take that time to set up an online business to earn some money. And all of that without having to pay rent or stay in hotel rooms or on campsites…

Well, as you will understand, we have a lot to think about during this Silence Day. We will let you know our decision in the next week or so..

The thinking will be done here…. If the sun comes back, that is….

Hiking around Amed

For a few days now, the weather here in Bali has not been great. High waves, so no diving. Cloudy, so not very comfortable on the beach. After having read another book and endlessly trying to get on the Internet, we decided we’d go hiking today. I already mentioned in some tweets that this area is amazing. It is so peaceful and beautiful. We walked for about 13 km today and this is what we saw:

The people working the land along the route were all very friendly. I must admit that after hearing 10x ” hello, how are you, where you go” , we were getting a bit fed up with answering. But we knew that all they were was being friendly. Of course, the Balinese are very entrepreneurial, so many tried to sell us a little boat, tried to convince us to take a massage or asked whether we needed a taxi, if not today, then maybe tomorrow? It never got annoying though, and when we made clear we were just walking and enjoying the landscape, most of the people we met were just curious and showed us where we had to go to see something even more beautiful.

Walking along the coastline made us realize that this area is really in development. Hotels are being built everywhere and every house seems clean and many even brand new. We wonder, will this place still be as peaceful as it is right now in ten years time? What happens if people of the former “developing” countries also start to travel the world? Will the coastline of eastern Bali turn into a second Kuta in a few years time? Now, the area is still green, the prices are low and the hotels are small, but I am afraid that it will not take long before other people will find out about this place and the area will be flooded by tourists from all over the globe.

Of course, me blogging about it might not help. We do not have that many followers yet, so I think today I can still write anything I want, but it does make me think what happens if all travelbloggers write about these “secret” places. It is those places that we are all looking for as travelers if we talk about ” going off the beaten path”, but won’t our blogs change those hidden paradises into touristic “flee markets”? It makes me realize, if we really want to go and explore the world, we should not wait too long!

In order to relax after this long day of hiking and thinking, I decided I needed some relaxation. What better to do than take a massage? In Bali you will find the best massages on every street corner for nearly nothing…