I had a wonderful time exploring Bali, Indonesia over 12 days. Every experience I had was a reminder of the previous 15 months of my travels around the world, from interacting with the locals and diving in the sea to eating local foods and observing gorgeous landscapes and coastlines.

I put together a little video montage as a wrap up to my time spent between Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan, Ubud, and the Karangasem region. Enjoy!

On my last full day in Bali, I hopped on the back of a motorbike with a local who showed me the highlights of the lower Karangasem Regency. My tour guide was Han, a local who offered to take me around the region. His tour turned out to be the perfect wrap up to my time in Bali.

There really is no experience like the one you can get from a local showing you around. I got a personalized tour of the region with opportunities to learn about Indonesian culture and take in some of the sights on my own terms. Han ended up driving me to 5 separate locations, including a traditional Bali village, two water palaces, a chocolate and soap factory, and a chilled-out, sandy beach. Below, I describe my experiences visiting each of these places, but the real story to share is how wonderfully well-rounded Han had made this tour.

I know I've connected with a place when I want to return to it after I've left. I feel it in my soul. Similarly, there are places you will go in your travels that you know you won't be returning to. Candidasa is would be one of those places...if not for Crystal Beach. Crystal Beach Hotel was one of these chance encounters, a lucky draw, a diamond in the rough. I stumbled upon it when looking for inexpensive stays with beach property and good Wi-Fi. I was happy to find it surpassed my expectations.

Crystal beach is located in Candidasa—a location I had never heard of before—which only made it more intriguing. Going on the fact that I had never heard of Niue and my trip there turned out to top them all, I decided to take a chance on Candidasa.  And I am so glad I did because Crystal Beach was exactly the respite I needed. The town, on the other hand, I could have done without!

Deviating the norm is all about remaining true to your authentic self. This means constantly looking within to identify which path or direction you'd like to take on your journey. Solo travel is the best kind of travel for becoming an expert at tuning into your own needs and desires. When you allow those innermost needs and wants to lead you, you evade the guidance of some prescribed norm or the expectations of others.

As a solo traveler, I feel out a new place by looking within and deciding on my own time when it's right to move on to a new destination. I quickly felt out of place when I arrived in Ubud. I wasn't connecting to it in the way I had thought I would—and that's okay! Not every place we go will be a good fit. I came to appreciate many aspects of Ubud during my stay. However, there were two prominent features that were missing for me: a body of water and mountains. I realized these features are truly the bread and butter to my happiness as a solo traveler. Now was the time to embrace it.

When we travel the world, our own beliefs and comfort zones are often challenged by the cultural differences we encounter. I was reminded to keep my own beliefs in check one morning in Bali when I stumbled upon a cockfight outside of Ubud. After my attempts to engage with Macaque monkeys in an ethical manner the day before, I now found myself standing as an observer to a bloody, testosterone-charged death match between beautiful roosters.

In my opinion, it's an incredibly inhumane tradition—one I felt uncomfortable taking part in as a reluctant voyeur. At the same time, it was just that: A tradition. The cockfight is one of those travel moments that reminded me about how much our culture shapes our beliefs and behaviors. You don't have to agree with those of others, but you can try to understand them.

Have you ever wanted a monkey for a pet? Ever since I watched Disney's Aladdin as a child I have wanted to have a friend like Abu (sorry, Genie). I've had such a strong obsession with the idea of making friends with a monkey, I've managed to ignore all the reports of monkey attacks on humans and poo-thrown at zoo keepers in the media. This kind of passion led to my arrival at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud, Bali.

With reports about the monkeys stealing tourist's cameras and biting them for food, I was careful to take the necessary precautions. I also ensured my interactions with them were not forced while I was there. I wanted to be certain I would meet my new friend as ethically and safely as possible. The result was an incredible amount of cuteness, lots of rambunctious monkey behavior, and even a few selfies captured with these friendly and curious cousins of mine. I also got a lot of the action on video—a must see at the end of this post!

Many travelers visit Ubud in Bali, Indonesia because of its well-known spiritual- and health-conscious atmosphere.

I focused my time on experiencing a handful of these mind-body-spirit activities. This post describes what to expect from these experiences, why I chose to focus on them, and how you can experience each on your own!

From yoga retreats to eco-green cafes, you will not be short of rejuvenating activities during your stay in Ubud.

For my first 4 days in Bali, Indonesia, I traveled to the Nusas ("Islands") to the south east for a bit of adventure and respite. Bali is often associated with young backpackers who travel there to party hard and work on their tans. This may be true of areas like Kuta beach on the mainland, but on the Nusas the atmosphere is much less crowded and much more relaxed.

While staying on Nusa Lembongan, I had the opportunity to explore the entire island and cycle over to the smaller, even more remote Nusa Ceningan. Both of these tiny islands offered beauty, adventure, culture, and a place to put up your feet. Here are 9 things to do and see if you go!

I'm not going to sugar coat this experience. The reality is that I had to fight my way out of a frighteningly strong current while diving in Bali. I haven't told many people about it yet, but I think it's important to share both the happy and scary moments of travel. I arrived in Bali and immediately traveled out to the islands for some diving. Nusa Lembongan was supposed to have some of the best diving in all of Bali. If lucky, I would get to see manta ray and maybe even the elusive, giant sunfish called "Mola Mola."

The most exciting part of my 7 dives turned out to be an unexpected encounter with an insanely strong current while on my last dive of the week. I even lost a fin battling my way out of it with my guide and buddy at my side! At best, this experience was a great lesson in how to (a) not panic; and (b) get yourself out of a strong current while diving. At worst, it was a rude reminder that THIS IS THE OCEAN and it can be unforgiving.

I did my research before arriving in Bali. I only had 2 weeks there before I would return to the USA. I had to make it count. I found out the best diving in Bali was located on the smaller islands to the east. In particular, Nusa Lembongan would have exactly what I wanted. I found out ahead of time as much as I could about how to get there. I landed at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar at 2 in the afternoon. In only a couple hours, I was across the Badung Strait sipping a mango smoothie on the sand and watching the red sun dip over the sea.

Below I've put together a little question and answer style post about what I learned, both from my prior research and from my first-hand experience, getting from the airport to Nusa Lembongan. There's lots of advice on how to make this process go smoothly if you ever decide to go! If not, you'll get a look at the whole experience which includes insane drivers, unsafe boats, and digging through a mountain of flip flops.

When I visit a country, I like to open myself up to the culture through its food. If the food is served at a place locals frequent rather than a tourist trap or if the food is ordered for me by a local, I know I’m getting an authentic experience.

In past posts about my eating experiences in Portland, Iceland and Germany, I was able to name what I ate or at least describe what I ate fairly easily. The numerous, unfamiliar ingredients used in Thai cooking, the complexity of the Thai names for dishes, and the poor English translations usually meant I had no idea what I was eating half the time.

Near the end of my time in Thailand, I booked a $7 bus one-way from Chiang Mai to the city of Sukhothai. Sukhothai was the capital of Siam Kingdom in the 13th and 14th centuries. Buddhism boomed there at that time resulting in the construction of many monasteries and other structures. Today, the ruins of the old kingdom are a UNESCO World Heritage site. The area is expansive and has well-maintained roads and pathways throughout making it best viewed by bicycle! I had the chance to spend a whole day there just before leaving Thailand.

I loved spending time in Chiang Mai. I even went back and spent two more nights there after living in Pai for a week. Available all over the city are opportunities to go on jungle treks and hill-tribe tours in the surrounding Northern mountains. But I did not need to do any of these to fill my time. I had already spent over a week in Chiang Mai, during which time I met a monk at Wat Chedi Luang, drove a motorbike up Doi Suthep, released a lantern into the sky at the Yi Peng festival, and celebrated Halloween as a Walking Dead zombie. If these activities weren’t already enough, here are three more experiences in Chiang Mai I enjoyed.

When I decided to go to Pai, I only meant to spend up to 3 days there—but I ended up spending 7 nights! The main reason I ended up staying so long was Jimmy. Jimmy is a 25 year old, Rastafarian Thai man from the southern islands. I met him on the night of the Festival of Lights in Chiang Mai and randomly bumped into him in Pai on my first night there.

Jimmy took me all over Pai on his motorbike and introduced me to his friends at Sunset bar. They all became like family to me. I had a great time with them…well, except when I tried a little snack they were eating one evening!

Throughout my first two weeks in Thailand, I kept hearing people tell me about a place called Pai (pronounced pie). “Have you been to Pai yet?” “Are you going to Pai?” “Oh, you have to go to Pai!” I learned it’s a small, hippie town with a feeling not unlike the Thai islands. The only difference is it’s located in the Northern mountains surrounded by rice farms. I’m not always one to do what everyone else is doing, but I loved the life on Ko Tao so much I was craving more of the island feel.

I booked a van for the equivalent of $4.50 along the insanely windy 3 hour route between Chiang Mai and Pai. I had no plans once I got there. I figured I’d spend 2 or 3 days just to feel the place out. I'd find out what to do and where to go after I arrived. Being completely open to seeing and doing anything, I ended up staying 7 nights and having an awesome time! In fact, I want to go back. So this is my list of reasons to visit Pai, or go again!.

“I can’t believe I almost missed this,” I said aloud to my new friends as we walked down the sidewalk toward the Ping River. Above us, thousands of golden, twinkling lanterns were floating up and taking to the winds across the night sky, morphing and expanding along the thermals like a galaxy of stars. Just a few days earlier, I had made the decision to skip out on what would have been a much-too-short motorbike trip around the Mae Hong Son loop.

Instead, I met a Thai local named Samart who graciously hosted me for the week. I had the awesome opportunity to meet many of his friends, employees, and volunteers—a mixture of Thai locals and other travelers—who work with him at his bungalows outside Chiang Mai. Several of them had come into the city just for the Yi Peng and Loy Krathong festivals.

During these last 3+ months of travel, I have found the solo travel lifestyle to be a perfect way to deviate freely and openly. Without surprise, I have spent very little time traveling alone. Even traveling between locations, like my overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, I have rarely been by myself or kept to myself. I meet couples, other solo travelers, old friends from back home, and locals. I strike up conversations, exchange contact info, and sometimes I even temporarily combine travel plans. But not being tied down to people in a permanent way has led me down alternative paths to other exciting adventures.

In this post I am going to highlight one of the best parts about solo travel through a moment when I was in Thailand and my plans with another traveler went awry. Why would being a solo traveler be a good thing in this case? Read on to find out.

I was going to call this post “Monks and Motorbikes” but then I realized you would all picture monks riding motorbikes around and that would have been completely inaccurate. My in-depth post about my interactions with monks will have to come later. Instead, this post is about the day I got over my fear of riding a motorbike which included a ride up to a Buddhist temple near Chiang Mai.

West of Chiang Mai is Doi Suthep-Pui National Park. Just before the Doi Suthep mountain summit (1676m) is the temple Wat Phra That Doi Suthep—a famous Buddhist pilgrimage site. Other travelers staying at the Julie Guesthouse suggested going there as a fun day trip. They mentioned songthaews and buses as the means to get up there. “Or you could just rent a motorbike,” said one traveler.

Many of my friends and family back home are aware of my affinity for costumes and cosplay. Naturally, one of my favorite times of the year is Halloween—where you can dress up as anything you want, party until dawn, and eat lots of candy. What’s not to love?

When I realized I would be in Thailand for Halloween, missing out on all the fun parties back in New York, I was determined to find a costume to wear and party to attend. Halloween is not typical to Thai culture, so I was expecting to have to deviate the norm a bit to find a suitable costume and party. To my delight, I ended up receiving a zombie makeover, attracting the attention of many Thai locals with my undeadness, and partying with Thai people and other backpackers until the wee hours of the morning. A Halloween worthy of my high standards.

There was an excitement in the air each morning at the Big Bubble resort just after the sun had broke over the bay’s southern hills. Five of us divers would scramble to gather equipment and load it onto the small boat to carry out to the big boat where a large group of people would meet us from a neighboring resort. We’d travel out to our location, anchor up to the mooring, then jump in and descend.

After 3 days of these diving adventures, it was time to do something different. But I was not ready to leave the island yet. I ended up staying for an extra two nights. During this time, I got to experience more of the island life, connect with the local Thai people, swim and snorkel at the beaches, and celebrate a new friend’s birthday.

When I left Bangkok for Ko Tao, I had no idea what I was going to decide to do once I arrived at the dive resort where Astrid works. I have always wanted to take a SCUBA diving course and get certified, but I never thought I’d do it in Thailand. Between the excellent instruction I received, the great underwater visibility, and the diverse tropical fish and coral reef, I made the best decision to learn to dive off the shores of Ko Tao.

After the 9 hour bus and ferry ride from Bangkok, one of the Big Bubble resort taxi drivers picked me up from the port. Five minutes later, we arrived at the resort where I met KaiNui who is one of the master divers at Big Bubble. He introduced me to a list of dive options and their prices. The open water diver certification course involved watching a video, receiving short instruction in the classroom, and going on 4 dives, 2 the first day which were mainly training focused and 2 the following day which were for fun and practice. The course cost about $300 USD and included 4 nights’ accommodation in their bungalows. Normally there are up to 6 other divers in each training group, but because it was low season for tourists on the island, I ended up having a private instruction for the group price! You cannot get this kind of deal back home, so I was immediately in.

Before coming to Thailand, I had done an exorbitant amount of research on what to expect, what to avoid, and what to absolutely see and do. But as a rule in life, and also when I travel, I try not to have hard and fast expectations about things—I like to let my first-hand experience influence my impression and direct my path. This is how I create my own personal norm, tailored to me.

Pretty much every person and blog said something along the lines of “avoid the tourist trap of Khao San Road” or “go to Khao San Road just to experience it, but don’t stay there.” I decided to go against this advice completely by, instead, booking my first night of accommodation in the center of it all. I had researched some good, reasonably priced hotels in Bangkok and the one which stuck out to me was called the Rikka Inn. It was calling my name—literally!—and so I didn’t care about its location or its higher-than-usual price compared to the guesthouses in the area. I just knew I’d need a good night of sleep after the 11-hour flight from Munich.