Un(bali)evable Spring Break!
It's that time of year again, Spring Break! The time of school year where college aged young adults and some high school students (In March or April) descend upon vacation resorts such as Puerto Rico, Cancun, Miami, and other sunny destinations to partake in much debauchery which usually results in hangovers, interesting pictures, and great memories! Holidays offer you the perfect opportunity to take a break from your hectic schedule and embark on exciting adventures abroad. And what better way to enjoy this type of holiday than to spend it exploring a different country. My spring break was a little different in comparison to the typical American spring break considering I'm in Australia. In Australia it's not even called spring break not only because it's technically fall here, but it's known to everyone in university as study week. Most people stay home, relax, or go to work to make some extra cash. Most kids attending university in Australia don't take the time to go on wild vacations like Americans do. Since I am studying abroad in Australia I wanted to take advantage of my location and go somewhere I typically wouldn't go to when I was in the USA due to distance, convenience, and flight time. A few girls and I from our program decided to go to Bali. I didn't have a lot of prior knowledge about Bali before going there and it was never on my radar for somewhere I really wanted to travel to. All I have to say is Bali definitely blew away my expectations and I will definitely return there in the future. My trip to Bali started off early at 2:00 am catching my shuttle to the airport. I flew out of Brisbane international airport and landed in Denpasar. I was a little jet lagged when I arrived there because Bali was 2 hour behind Gold Coast time. The flight took around 6 hours give or take a few minutes. As soon as I landed in Bali I automatically noticed a difference in temperature and climate. Indonesia is a lot closer to the equator in comparison to Australia. It's just turning into fall into Australia so the temperature is around 75 to 70 degrees fahrenheit and has gotten less humid in comparison to when it was summer. Since Bali is closer to the equator (only 8 degrees south) it was a lot hotter, more humid, and buggy. I was very fortunate enough to have good traveling weather only experiencing small amounts of quick rain showers. I spent my time in Bali with a tour group of around 12 people and I would highly recommend doing this, especially in place you're unfamiliar with. Being in a tour group gave the advantage of having a tour guide who gave my group insight into the culture of the country we were in. Some other reasons why traveling in a group is so great is that it's cost effective, it offers you several opportunities to socialize and meet new people from all of the world, it makes the trip easier/safer, and it exposes you to extraordinary opportunities you wouldn't typically experience on your own. My spring break lasted 10 days and those 10 days were one of the best days of my life. My time there included lots of adventure, being immersed in rich culture, learning more about myself, and meeting some amazing people on the way. In my next few posts I will get into more detail about the activities and adventures I experienced during my time in Bali.
