Indonesia visuals

Before I take you on a journey through Thai mountains, I would love to share some last pictures of Indonesia. It feels like everything happened in a blink. A snorkel-beach-photoshoot-batik-ceramics-tempels-volcanoes-poetry-rice fields-jungle walks-motorbikerides-waterfalls-gadogado-new and old friends-full moon magic whirlwind. Bali, Java and all the beautiful people I met have a place in my heart. I will always go back. I wanted to stay. If it wasn't for the visa and the untameable excitement to see this man...

Thailand had to be next.

Beach life

It's hard to fight

this peace of mind

I'm living in

watching surfers

riding waves

catching lifts

to beach cafes

getting the creative juices

flowing wondering why

I would ever leave

with only two weeks to go

so many people to meet

drinking young coconuts

falling asleep thinking

how can life be this sweet

Exciting news, hot off the press!

Whenever you meet people, you change them like they change you. You grow because of the shared experiences and new perspectives on life. Seeing everything with fresh eyes, over and over again as you talk to different people. Some leave big impressions, like a pair of new glasses you can't take off. They take you to places inside and outside of yourself you've never explored before. It can be a journey of love, fear of the unknown and relief when you discover things you can embrace within yourself. It can be the ultimate slap in the face you needed to get off your ass and start fulfilling your life's goal right then and there. 

I've always believed there is a mission, a reason why you're on this planet. It's been a hell of a ride to figure out what it was exactly and I'm sure I will be looking for the answer the rest of my life. I've always felt a tiny bit of envy meeting people who've got it all planned, like a list of things to do and ticking them off as they go. Study journalism, become a journalist, get a wife and kids, build a nice house and maybe even show your face on tv and be famous. I started with the same idea, but my path took a left turn when I planned on going straight to ticking boxes. 

The list had to be edited, erased, changed eight times a day to keep up with where I thought I was going. The need to be traveling when I finally created a nest, the longing for a home while being on the road. The urge to book a ticket to the other end of the world when friends started getting married and having children. Keep moving to find peace of mind. Traveling as a way to find my ultimate life goal. Realising cliche quotes like 'it's not about the destination, but the journey' are true. 

I talked and listened to many people in all kinds of languages, with or without words, collecting stories in my backpack. I did the whole yoga and meditation, reading spiritual books until I started sounding like one. I tried to find routines while traveling, just to journey to new places as soon as I found myself stuck in one. The endless road, the same questions asked, the same vague answers given.

I travel by myself often, yet I'm never alone. I choose to surround myself with people all day every day to learn and share. It's easy to get distracted when friends are around. So the goal searching gets postponed. And I love postponing. One of my many skills!

Until I booked a ticket to Bali, planning to rent a beach shack and be by myself to write, snorkel and drink fresh coconuts. Instead I took another left turn and ended up in a friend's house, met beautiful people, booked a flight out but decided to miss it, stay and get trapped in the Balinese rabbit hole of easy living. I met people who made such a big impression on me, it's hard to leave the bubble of inspiration I'm currently living in. 

The night in Ubud filled with poetry, French chansons and conversations left me beaming with energy. I had a strange but comfortable feeling of coming home, seeing possibilities and grabbing them. Squeezing life like lemon juice and getting everything out of it, pulp and all. My friend must have noticed and decided to put my cards on the table. I've never had a tarot reading before as I thought it would come my way when the time was right. Plus there are probably a lot of dodgy future tellers out there, who take a better look at your wallet than at their crystal ball. 

I was ready for anything. Good and bad, bring it on. He talked about my many passions, that the time has come to choose one and go for it. Dedicate life to it, share it, get rid of all distractions and insecurities and just go. Right now. No time to waste. The much needed slap in the face. 

So I wrote. All night. And all the next days and nights. Finally realising this is what I have been doing my entire life, like a red thread connecting dots. It's been a part of me while traveling and at the kitchen table at home. After 26 years, it's about time I share my writing with the world. I gathered many stories along the way and wrote poetry like a mad woman. 

I'm excited to announce my FIRST BOOK OF POEMS is coming out soon. Handwritten or typed, as you like. Watch this space for more information while I'm giving my all, writing until my fingers go numb and ink stains cover my face. 

Thank you to everyone I shared stories with, strangers turning into friends, supporting me by smiling, talking or pushing me over my limits. Thank you endlessly for reading this blog, for your feedback and messages. You make my day. You make my life!!!

Sending love and fresh writings your way!

Bali: first day tale

Right place, right time. Isn't that how it always goes? Wandering around my new neighbourhood, finding overpriced French cafes and warungs. Fresh flower shops and expats on bikes. I must be the only person walking these streets. Motorbikes nearly run me over 65 times. Turning corners, smiling faces. 

That's where I meet Ferry. He gives me a lift on the back of his bike to his house. A Harley Davidson painting abode overlooking a palm leaf garden. While he makes coffee I admire his admiration for bikes. Hats, posters, shirts, pictures, gadgets. Harley everything. In the middle of the living room: the one. 

Stories of roadtrips in Java covered in Camel Black cigarette smoke. "Try some of these, they go very well with coffee." He puts a flower painted jar with biscuits on the table. I offer a big smile and dunk the cookie in the cup. Salty biscuit in sugary sweet instant coffee makes me laugh even more: I'm in Asia! 

Rain starts playing on the tin roof drums. The rhythm makes me feel good. Knowing I'm sheltered under a roof and I can choose to be outside, get wet and dance in the rain if I want to. For now, I decide to stay dry and dunk another biscuit. 

We leave the bike inside and take the car for a traffic filled trip to the beach. I take in all the green rice paddy views I can, feeling excited to explore this magical island. The water is warm and the sea rough. Boiled bananas taste extra sweet on my salty lips. 

We stop at a foodstall to buy gadogado. The lady opens a leaf and cuts squares of green into a piece of paper. She throws in lettuce, potato, egg and cucumber and pours some spicy red sauce in a plastic bag. Flavours I have never tasted before tickle my senses. 

Ferry puts the cettle on and the rains come over the house with a black blanket sky. I go outside for a tropical shower, the one where you can hardly open your eyes but you can't stop laughing. Palms colour green. Ink stains on my hands run down my elbows. The last Australian stories still needed to be told, slipped into envelopes and sent to another place I can call home.

Balinese goodness

Whether you want alcohol poisoning or just a tan, Bali has it all. I'm talking cocktails served in coconuts (covered in umbrellas en flowers) so sweet they leave you with your teeth sticking together and a tongue bright smurf blue. Next to the drunken coconut on the table: mountains of piping hot fried rice. The view: sunset over the ocean like you've never seen before. Toes in the sand and arms waving around like a mad woman while talking non-stop. We spent nine months on different sides of the world and we decided to reunite in the most wonderful place to catch up, eat, drink and enjoy some good ol' family time before the 'real life' starts again. That's right, I met up with my mum and dad in Bali!

The moment we saw each other at the airport is best described as a bad Hollywood movie. Running into each others arms in slow motion, crying, hugging, laughing... And talking for 24 hours straight. We had A LOT to catch up. I told them about my crazy Aussie adventures and they kept me posted on all the important Belgian news. We have a new king and Astrid Bryan and den John are divorced. I can't believe I missed out on all that.

Balinese family time means pure happiness. Days were spent telling stories, swimming, reading, taking a balinese cooking class with mum, snorkeling with dad, drinking obscure liquors and eating like a queen. Like the queen of Fatland. Population: black rice pudding, selamat cookies, banana pancakes, fluorescent drinks and all things chocolate.