Dal

Bali definitely has all the glitz and glam you see on Instagram, but what you don’t usually see is everything else just outside the picture frame: Countless stray dogs, extreme poverty in many areas, and insane driving conditions (just to name a few).

Seeing these things brought life back into perspective for us. What we complain about in our l suddenly didn’t seem important. That being said, if you go to Bali you’ll be able to enjoy refocusing on the important things in life and see an incredibly beautiful island at the same time.

We bought our flights on a crazy sale that was happening. I was sitting at work and saw the tickets go on sale for $418 RT per person, so I immediately called Erika and asked if she wanted to go to Bali for Thanksgiving. Being the great sport she is, it was a done deal within minutes. We flew on Hong Kong Airlines and it was actually a pretty great experience. The flights are real long though, and it was 15 hrs from LAX to Hong Kong, and another 5 hrs to Bali.

When we travel we like to hop around a bit, so we stayed at 3 different locations in Bali. The first was at an Airbnb in Kuta, which lived up to the expectation of the nice villas you see pictures of. The second was a villa on the sister island of Nusa Penida. The third was the Ulun Ubud Resort & Spa in the jungle. The nice resorts can get pricey at times, but there is no shortage of cheap accommodations.

The food in Bali is much better than other parts of Asia we’ve visited. There are some unique local foods, but almost anywhere you eat has more “American” options due to tourism being the largest industry there. You can find a burger, pasta, or pizza in most places as a safe option if you’re not an adventurous eater. Do be careful with the water though. You should only drink bottled water as the tap water is completely contaminated.

Erika