A Bali deep dive, where paradise meets adventure. This episode packs a punch with first-hand tales of navigating Bali's hidden gems and unexpected challenges. From going to the hospital with Bali belly to uncovering the secrets of Ubud and mastering the waves of Uluwatu. Plus, get exclusive insights on how Bali has transformed over the years and Kat's top picks for cafes you can't miss. Whether you're a Bali veteran or dreaming of your first visit, this episode is your ticket to experiencing the island like never before.
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A Bali deep dive, where paradise meets adventure. This episode packs a punch with first-hand tales of navigating Bali's hidden gems and unexpected challenges. From going to the hospital with Bali belly to uncovering the secrets of Ubud and mastering the waves of Uluwatu. Plus, get exclusive insights on how Bali has transformed over the years and Kat's top picks for cafes you can't miss. Whether you're a Bali veteran or dreaming of your first visit, this episode is your ticket to experiencing the island like never before.
Instagram @katshortsleeve
Tik Tok @katshortsleeve
Youtube Shortsleeve Travel with Kat Shortsleeve
Hello. Hello. And welcome back to the short sleeve travel podcast. I'm your host cat short sleeve. I have worked in wealth management for five years, got my MBA at Columbia business school all while visiting 40 countries at the same time. I'm obsessed with personal finance and travel and money because I realized if you can manage your money, that provides you power and personal freedom. I always try to make every trip feel first class without the first class price tag. Inspiring stories, curated guides, and insightful tips, short sleeve travel is your compass, pointing you to experiences that are elevated yet attainable. So are you ready to redefine luxury travel on your terms? Dive in with me and I'll help you fill in your life with as much travel as you desire. It has been too long. Happy New Year. Happy 2024. I have been constantly on the go, traveling so much recently, and I'm about to fill you in on just everything that is happening. But at the moment, I am sitting here in Bali. And I've been traveling for about the past eight weeks now at this point. I started off at the beginning of December, spending about 10 days in Berlin, Germany, and then went home to Boston for Christmas for another 10 days, and then went back to the Alps, and I had a ski trip with a bunch of friends. We were in Austria, and then went from there for more low key, Again, five or six days skiing in Austria, but this time we were in Kitzbühel, which is a little bit ritzier, more high end, kind of like the Aspen of the Alps. Some might say. And then flew from there, and the plan was to come straight to Bali, but some travel complications got in the way and ended up in Istanbul for 24 hours, which was honestly a dream. I had never planned to go to Turkey, it wasn't high on my list, and In recent years, Istanbul has started to creep up on the bucket list, but it wasn't somewhere I planned to go to this year. So that was an extra little treat, being able to spend a couple hours, or spend the day there. And I need to tell that entire story of what happened, why we got stuck there. I have been in Bali for the past two weeks now, and working out of this one villa, I'm here for another Almost two weeks and going to just explain to you in this podcast. What has been going on? And in the next podcast i'll be talking about istanbul and the following podcast after that doing a deep dive on austria and everything that went down there when we're skiing and then the next podcast after that is going to be all about comparing Japan versus the Alps versus the U S because I have skied in so many places at this point and have good perspective as to the differences and similarities between all of these places. And I have tons of advice and recommendations if you're trying to plan a ski trip. And so I can break that all down in the third podcast. So we have a ton coming up, ton going on, but I just want to bring it to present day. And in this podcast, I'm going to talk about a whole bunch of exciting things. So something that happened last weekend is I got extremely sick. I need to tell the story of going to the hospital here in Bali. I'm going to dive into all of my favorite things in Canggu and in Bali. Some of the worst things and things that you really need to look out for, as well as share my favorite cafes because If you ask for recommendations for cafes in Bali, I find that people will send you a list of 25, but I want to give you just my top, absolute must hits. And then finally, we'll end the podcast talking about 2019 versus 2023, so five years apart. I visited Bali and, uh, The differences are absolutely massive. There's been significant change, and I kind of want to talk about some of that, and finish with a review of Uluwatu as well as Ubud. Those are the two weekend trips that I've done so far, and I have lots of thoughts, lots of advice, and comments on those two places. So, let's get into it. First of all, I feel so lucky to be able to spend one month here in Bali. This is an absolute dream of mine. If you've been following along with the travel stories and the travel chronicles for a little while now, you know that I was actually supposed to come to Bali back in September. So to rewind a little bit, what happened is I flew from Boston at home, where I'd packed up a bunch of checked bags and carry on suitcases, and I spent a weekend in San Francisco. I had one of my best friends come up and visit me, and we went to Napa Valley together. And we had a little girls weekend. It was such a nice time to be able to explore Napa for three days. And that was going to be just a long layover before heading on to Bali. We had our entire weekend in Napa. Had the nicest time. Lots of wine tasting. And just hanging out. And then Sunday morning, she went off to the airport I had a few hours to kill before my flight that night to go on to Bali. It was around 11 o'clock in the morning and I decided I wanted to spend the day going down to Big Sur so I got in my car, the rental car, it was a Jeep Gladiator, so it's kind of like a Jeep pickup truck. And I, Wanted to stop and grab a burger. Actually, no. I wanted to stop at Starbucks because I wanted to grab a coffee for the road trip I was going to do. And then as I'm pulling off the highway, heading to Starbucks to go through the drive thru, I see that there's an In N Out. And I think, perfect. I'm in California. I'm not here that often. Let's go to In N Out. Unique opportunity. Whatever. It's Sunday morning. Who cares? Just gonna grab a burger and fries. So I race over to In N Out. And I'm still thinking I'll head to Starbucks afterwards and grab a coffee. But I, I parked my car right outside the In N Out. Go inside to go grab a burger and fries. I'm in there for four minutes, and as I'm paying at the counter, I turn around and someone at the front door of the In N Out is screaming, Who has the Jeep car outside? Someone's stealing all of your stuff. And I run out there, long story short, these four guys with masks on, took, they smashed the windows of the rental car and took everything that I had. All of my suitcases, my checked bags, my laptops, my headphones, everything, and my passport, and it was gone. Um, and so I was left there with my phone and my sunglasses, because that's what I had brought in with me to go get a burger. And then I realized, well then I called the police and did the police report, and then I had to drive the car back to the airport with a smashed window. That was a whole thing. Had to fill it up with gas. It was quite the afternoon, quite the experience. Not the best, that's for sure. Um, but something always does seem to happen on my travels, I realize. Some sort of disaster. So a little bit par for the course, I guess. But anyways, I ended up going back to the airport, got a new flight, flew back to Boston, because of course I couldn't travel then onto Bali. And so I went back to Boston, went back to my family, and just needed to rebuild. You know, I didn't have face wash, I didn't have a toothbrush, I didn't have anything. So I needed to rebuild, cancel the credit cards, get a passport, and that was Bali trip number two. Or that was attempt at heading to Bali. And so that was in September, September 10th. Fast forward, now I'm here in Bali, finally. I've actually made it over here, and it's way better than I could have ever expected it to be back then. I've now been able to travel here with someone, and originally I was going to be going alone, and I'm staying in a much more gorgeous location that I would have been last time. I'm so much more stable and comfortable and I've been working on my travel company and so things are just a lot more figured out at this point and I'm so grateful that I didn't end up in Bali on my own in September when I had planned to. It's pretty wild to think that I was going to be here on my own and just how much has changed in four months time. Things just really seemed to turn around. while I never wanted to have all of my things stolen and have all of that happen, I guess had it not happened, I would have come to Bali and maybe I wouldn't have had the best experience. So many people on TikTok and the social media were saying, it's a sign. You can't go to Bali. Don't go to Bali. All your things were stolen. But I'm glad that I just picked up. Figured it out, repacked, reorganized, and still decided to come over here. And not let it all get the best of me because we've had such a nice time being here. But I said that something always does seem to happen on my trips, and what I mean is some sort of disaster does seem to strike. I mean, when you travel as often as I do, I guess you're just bound to have these things happen, but Obviously when I was in San Francisco having everything stolen, that was one thing. That was pretty intense. I didn't even tell this story because people online would have been so brutal to me, but when I was in Montreal, Canada, back in November, October November, just a month and a half after the San Francisco incident, my car was actually smashed into again. So the rear window It's ridiculous. How does this happen? I have such bad luck. But the rear window was smashed and again, some more things were stolen. I mean, people are going to say don't leave anything in your car, but The situation was that I checked out of a hotel, I left a couple coats in the back seat, took everything else with me, and someone who was homeless smashed the window because they wanted to grab the, uh, the coats. And it was pretty surreal coming back to the car for the second time, seeing the window smashed, but, um, in a two months apart, but you kind of just have to pick up, keep moving, and now every time I walk to my car and I see that the window isn't smashed, I'm pleasantly surprised and very happy, so I guess that's a silver lining. Anyways. Oh, also, when I was in Mallorca this summer, I crashed a Vespa. That was a disaster. Um, I had to pay a thousand dollars for that. And then last time I was in Bali five years ago, I also crashed a Vespa. Maybe I just need to stop driving Vespas. I think that might be the solution. But when I crashed the Bali Vespa five years ago, I had someone stop short in front of me and I swerved onto the grass. And then once I hit the grass, I just flew off the bike, actually straight into a sewer system. So I landed in a ditch on the side of the highway in a sewer system. I just roll with the punches at this point. I never cry over spilt milk, just let it happen and pick up, keep moving on. Very, um, adaptable, I guess you could say. But, that brings me to Bali, so what has happened this time, I decided, my body decided, to get Bali Beli upon arrival here. So, I've been here for about five days, I want to say, maybe four days, and I'm here with someone and we had eaten all the exact same things the entire time, but then Friday night. I Started to notice that my stomach was a little bit upset and I thought you know what drink just drink some more bottled water Head off to bed, and then I woke up at night Saturday morning around 2 a. m And was very feverish super cold super hot chills sweating and Again, just having to go to the bathroom constantly not feeling great And so then I, because we have a three bedroom, three bathroom villa here, I decided to move into one of the other bedrooms, and I noticed that my fever was starting to get higher and higher, and so I was just drinking water, and having to get up and go to the bathroom, and feeling very nauseous, and my stomach was cramping, and then started to have a headache, and I didn't know that this was a phenomenon, but I guess when you have really high fevers, you feel as though you've slept a really long time, and you feel like you're completely Out of it, like, out cold, but then you're waking up very constantly. So I would feel like I was in a deep sleep, but then I was waking up every 12 to 20 minutes. And would check my phone and realize I hadn't been asleep very long, even though I felt like I had been. And then finally it got to 8 o'clock and I just realized I could not handle this anymore. It was kind of intensifying, I was in so much pain, I couldn't really think, my head was so foggy. Um, it was really, really intense. stomach cramps and just major fatigue and so I decided I needed to get an IV at that point because I was losing so much water through sweating and through going to the bathroom and it was pretty dangerous so I was looking up people that could come to the villa who could come and give me an IV here and it was going to be about two hours to have someone who could come here and I couldn't even wait that long and so I decided to get on the Vespa. Go around the corner. Luckily just two minutes away from here There was a kind of a medical outpost clinic and I went there and they were able to see me so I waited in the waiting room for about 10 minutes and then went in and Met with a doctor told them what was going on They took my temperature and I had a hundred and two and a half degree fever Fahrenheit. So 39. 2 degrees Celsius pretty high and I was So hot so cold and had chills just covering my body and the doctor was a bit worried After asking me questions, and they thought that it was potentially a bad parasite. And so I then Did all these tests and I got an IV and had four bags of fluid pumped into me and With the different bags of fluid it came all these different medications and vitamins and infusions and things to help with stomach and nausea. about 10 minutes into having the IV, I started to feel better. then again, I started to feel really, really bad and was in and out of sleep. Couldn't really keep my eyes open. and then once the IVs finished, I really actually didn't feel good. So then came back home, got straight into bed, was absolutely exhausted from. Um, all the anxiety. I'm, I have such a fear of needles. I was not excited to go over to this clinic and have a needle put into my arm. I was worried that they didn't know what they were doing. And then when you have all this fluid going into you, you, your arm starts to feel really kind of painful and swollen and it's just pretty uncomfortable. So came home was very stressed that entire time and fell fast asleep kind of slept the whole day. And all you can have at that point, Um, you can only have white rice, toast, and banana. And it was pretty sad. I was taking little baguette toast, uh, pieces, and using them as chips to scoop up white rice, and I would eat that every three or four hours and go right back to bed. And, it sounds pretty bad, but then I, and also TMI, but I woke up and, at one point, the shirt that I was wearing, and it was a thick cotton shirt, it was completely drenched, so heavy, full of sweat, like, My body was freezing and I was actually glad at that point because I knew that my body was really fighting and trying to get this thing out of me. So then that night I ate a little bit more rice and had some banana and again just slept through the entire night. So kind of was sleeping for 36 hours. Woke up the next morning and was finally realizing I was okay. That weekend we were actually supposed to go down to Uluwatu on Saturday morning when I had woken up and needed to go straight to this medical clinic hospital situation. And so instead of going to Uluwatu, I couldn't believe this. I woke up on Sunday morning and thought, you know, I don't feel great, but I do want to use the weekend because I'm working here all week, Monday through Friday. And so I wanted to still maximize the weekend time and decided it would be a good opportunity just to head to Ubud for the night. So I still wasn't feeling great, but, you know, I packed up the bags, packed up two backpacks, one that could go inside the scooter, one that would go on my back, and we would drive from our place here in Chengu to Ubud. It was only about an hour and ten minute ride, so it was nice to see the scenery. I love driving around. Most people actually don't recommend taking a Vespa going from Canggu to Ubud, but I thought it was really nice because you see so much and you can stop along the way and have a coffee, have a coconut, stop at some little stores, and really be exposed to the outdoors that way. Once you get out of Canggu, which is very commercialized and very western with all the buildings and infrastructure, and you get out towards Ubud, it's much more jungly, rainforesty, so it's nice to have the Vespa to be able to cruise around. I understand people find the Vespas pretty dangerous, and considering that I've crashed two Vespas, you'd think I wouldn't want to do it, but I still think it's the best way to go, and I really wouldn't do it any other way. So every weekend trip we go on, we take the Vespas. I know I mentioned I would talk about Ubud at the very end, but while we're here and because it kind of fits in with the story, I'll just explain. So, Ubud is the heart of Bali, Indonesia, and it's really famous for the lush landscape it's kind of the spiritual hub of Ubud, and where a lot of people who are very into yoga, yoga retreats, they'll go to. It's famous for these stunning rice terraces and I went in 2018 and visited these rice terraces. They were so lush and gorgeous and really raw and very natural. But now in 2023, they're just so commercialized, so touristy. And there are people trying to collect money from you at every single stop of the way. Asking you to take photos with, you know, like the rice terrace baskets or with the different swings in the rice terraces. And it's so commercialized. Um, so I recommend avoiding the tegalalang rice terraces. I recommend avoiding those at all costs, honestly. And just trying to find other rice terraces that are more remote, more natural. And if you just cruise around on a Vespa, you're going to find some of these. That's way more worth it than going to the Tagalalong rice terraces, which are supposed to be the most picturesque and breathtaking and traditional. But just avoid those, It's so touristy, it's brutal. The second most famous thing that you'll find in Ubud is the monkey forest. Now this is something that you actually should go see. This is a natural forest sanctuary where you'll have so many long tailed monkeys. Make sure you keep hidden all of your flashy things. So any earrings that you might have on or bracelets, you actually want to put them in your pocket because monkeys are known to just run right up to you, grab your earrings right off you, or grab your purse and they're really quick. The third thing that you'll find in Ubud that is most famous is the arts and craft market. So it's very cool to see these local markets. It's a delightful experience in my opinion. You find a variety of homemade goods, textiles, paintings, sculptures, bags, clothes. All sorts of fun things. But it's not the highest quality stuff and I've noticed that from 2019 to now, it's just gotten so much more touristy, kind of low end. Crafts and so it's great to go see it and it's fun to buy a couple things of course I always buy a rattan purse when I'm there. It's like a woven kind of bamboo looking bag. I love getting those it's really nice, but you don't need to spend all your time there and They're much better more cultural things to do than to walk around the markets forever and ever which it's so easy to just get lost But you'll notice that the stores do just sell the same things It's kind of mesmerizing and all consuming going into these markets. You just want to keep exploring and exploring. It's, it's like sensory overload and really fun. But set a time limit, go for an hour, and then go do something else. Um, something I definitely would not do that I did this pastime in Ubud is the Balinese dance performances. Performances. Okay, maybe you should go see it and go stay for 15 minutes, but these traditional dance performances I thought would be a great way to kind of experience the culture, but I'm going to be honest with you. It will make your ears burn. The sound is not very nice. I went to the symphony orchestra a couple of months ago and it's music to your ears, the beautiful string instruments. And I just want to say that this Balinese dance performance is the exact opposite. It's heavy metal drums and it's intense sounds. So. Maybe go see it, but don't feel the need to stay for the entire two hours. That's for sure Another thing I would actually avoid is the Ridge Walk So this is a very famous walking trail that is supposed to have panoramic views of a abudes Landscape and it's become so so popular. I did it at sunset and it was insanely overcrowded. There are so many people You don't even want to take a photo because everyone is just Instagramming all over the place it It's very cringe, in my opinion. What I'd recommend is try to find a very traditional, local, small cooking class. This is a great way to learn about local cuisine and the culture, and do something where you can participate and actually actively be involved. I really like that. The other thing I would recommend is going to a yoga or wellness retreat, either for a day or, if at all possible, go for three days. Abood being the center for spiritual and physical wellness. There are so many different yoga studios and wellness retreats that you can go to relax and rejuvenate and just learn something new. And what a cool place to do it from. The people who are running these courses and these retreats are so passionate. You don't need a ton of time in Ubud. One or two nights is going to be plenty. Which is why it was good for us just to go for the night there. Oh, I don't know how I almost forgot this. The best thing to do in Ubud is to go to the waterfalls. Dissimilar to the rice terraces, even if a waterfall is going to be famous or well known, it's okay and you can still go to it. It's not going to be too overrun. But try to make a day out of waterfall hopping. So, pin on your map. Maybe three or four different waterfalls, and you hike down to them, you can go in them. Make sure you're wearing shoes that can go in the water because a lot of times you'll have narrows where you actually just need to walk through the water in order to get from one waterfall to the next. I don't even really have a recommendation as to which waterfall to go to because they're all exceptional, and I've visited about ten at this point. They're really, really nice. Highly recommend a day of waterfall hopping, and do it yourself. You don't need a guide or anything. It's very, Tracked out and you won't get lost. Now like I mentioned, during the weeks we are working from this villa here in Canggu, which is the heart of digital nomad life and where all of the best cafes are going to be. Very western and very developed at this point. Now the other weekend that we had here, because we've had two at this point, one where I got sick and we went to Ubud, and the second we finally made it to Uluwatu. And I was so excited to go to Uluwatu because it's supposed to be the new Canggu. It's supposed to be a little bit more up and coming, a little bit more off the beaten path, raw and natural. And while that is true, I have some thoughts. Uluwatu is the southern part of Bali, just south of Denpasar and where the airport is. It's known for the breathtaking clifftop views where these cliffs just drop straight into the ocean and it's supposed to have a very vibrant surf culture. And while that's true, I was so excited to go down to Uluwatu for surfing and it was a very bad experience. I went to the most popular beach for surfing for beginners because while I've surfed a good amount, I'm still definitely a beginner. I went to Padang Padang and had a two hour private lesson. My instructor was incredible. His name is Bintang, which is the name of the beer here in Bali. He was incredible, but the surfing was awful. The amount of trash in the water was It was insane. It was pretty disgusting and you couldn't paddle even twice without hitting a large piece of garbage in the water. It was honestly really, really wild. And the water was contaminated with jellyfish. They were everywhere. Again, you paddle twice and you Touched a jellyfish. I got stung on the face and on the legs and the arms with these jellyfish. It was a pretty tough experience. And that's fine. I can deal with the jellyfish because they're not super powerful and strong and intense here. They're, it's just small stings where, you know, after 30 seconds it goes away. That's fine. I can deal with that. But surfing in the trash was awful. I mean, the beaches here in Bali. They're pretty hit or miss, but most of them are misses because the pollution is astronomical. It's insane. It's really, really intense. And so I've looked for a place where I can go and do a beach cleanup. And I'm going to do that actually in two days from now, just to try to help out a little bit, but the waters, I mean, it's really quite a mess. So if you're coming here to do a whole surfing experience, just be mindful of that. And maybe, I don't know if there are different times where you can go and maybe a high tide, there's less trash than at low tide, but wow, it was really intense. Some of the first people who moved to Canggu back in the day before Bali became popular have now moved down to Uluwatu because it, because it's a little bit less developed, kind of higher end, these gorgeous cliffs, you have more of the natural wildlife there you'll notice because, I mean you'll see monkeys are running all over the place where in Canggu you don't have that. Slightly less developed. Slightly less westernized, but still lots of places where you can do outdoor activities. Padel seems to be picking up there like no other. So this is a fun racket sport. I've played a good amount in Canggu, and a club that I recommend going to to in Uluwatu is called The Ground. We played there one night, as well as the other, I forgot the name of it, but it's this big Padel club right in town. Played at both of them, but The Ground was really, really nice. So you can rent a court there. We met a couple of people and played a game with them, which was really, really nice. And also, our accommodation is called The Groon, G R U N, with the U with an umlaut. Highly recommend that. So, it was a kind of a treehouse. Hotel, so everyone stays in these different villa tree houses and you're right in the heart of nature. There were tons of bugs, tons of spiders, not my favorite, but um, you're kind of in the heart of it. Surrounded by these massive, gorgeous trees with huge leaves and there's a, an infinity pool where we had lunch one day and had pizza and fries and all the healthy things. And you overlook just rainforest and this tropical jungle scape. Onto the ocean. Really, really beautiful spot at the ground. The service, um, could be improved upon, but they're also in the middle of nowhere. And it was such a beautiful location. So I recommend that. I was excited to go to Uluwatu for the beaches, because in Canggu, the beaches are entirely overrun. There is so much trash, and so I was looking forward to going down to Uluwatu for that. And if you read online, it will say, go to Uluwatu, relax on some of the most beautiful beaches, like Dreamland Beach, and Thomas Beach, but I visited every single beach, and again, they were just overrun. So many people, people taking Instagrams all over the place, like lots of photography going on. It was really not relaxing. I mean the water and the cliffs, it's beautiful to watch the waves crash against these cliffs. Similar to what you'd find in Hawaii, but the tourism is just so intense. I, I wouldn't go back actually. Maybe I'm slightly jaded because at one of the beaches, I, I lost my brand new gold and diamond earrings, 14 karat gold diamond earrings in the sand. Um, no, I'm not jaded from that, but that, that, that was unfortunate. But as you can tell, I seem to have unfortunate things happen all the time. This podcast needs to be titled like a series of unfortunate events, but I did lose my gold and diamond earrings. So if you are in Uluwatu and you find them, let me know. Someone is going to be very happy when they stumble upon those. I want to touch a little bit more about the differences between 2019 versus 2023. Coming to Bali five years apart, I have experienced, I realize there has been significant change. With increased tourism over this time, the island has become much more commercialized. And the infrastructure, the ground level infrastructure just isn't here to support all these people coming. I also think that with COVID, there are many more remote workers. And so many more people are coming to Bali and spending extended periods of time here, which is creating increased pollution. And with infrastructure not being the priority here, it's just kind of tearing apart the island, it seems. I also find that the increased cost of living is going to be impacting the local communities, kind of pushing them out of these areas, and it's becoming much more westernized. I'm very grateful that I was able to visit here in 2019, because had I visited for the first time in 2023 or 2024 like this, I'm not sure I would have liked it nearly as much. I have had such a nice time, but Bali has been, top of mind, a place I've wanted to come back to for so long, I expected it to be the exact same as it was in 2019. I didn't realize how much it would have changed. And it's pretty drastic. I will say, I don't think you should avoid coming to Bali, but just try to pick your areas, know what you're in for get some inside scoop as to off the beaten path, things that you can do, because you'll have a much better time doing that 2023, 2024. I really wanted to visit Nusa Penida, which is where everyone goes and takes that same photo above the dinosaur peninsula type situation. It's this island just off of Bali, and I thought that that's something I really wanted to do. And now that I've gotten here, I've realized that I much more want to just go rogue, go remote, find my own experiences here. not really follow someone else's itinerary. And going to Nusa Penida, I just already know, yes, you'll get this beautiful photo, but everyone has taken that exact photo, and it won't be the experience I'm expecting. It's going to be overrun, super touristy, super commercialized, tons of people just selling sarongs and bracelets and drinks along the way, and that's just not what I'm really in for, so I'm going to miss that. Now quickly I'm going to run through my favorite things, the worst things, and then when it comes to the cafes, like I said, people will give you 20 recommendations, but I just want to give you my absolute must dos. So, some of my favorite things that I've done here in Chengu. Number one, I have to say, playing Padel. You can go to a bunch of different social clubs, like the Bali Social Club or Jungle Padel. and pick up a racket and play with some people. It's super social, such a great activity. I absolutely love doing that. You can play with all different levels. So we played with someone who was a very beginner, someone who is an expert, and then us two who, we are just middle of the road. Athletic, have played a couple times, but not super intense. And you can all play together and have a really nice time and chat during the game. Unlike tennis, you can't really chat with the other person that you're playing against. Second favorite thing is going to the different bazaars for bracelets. So right before this trip I had been in Istanbul, which has the biggest and best bazaar in the entire world, which is a, like a covered market. And I think that's made me want to look for more bazaars here and have really enjoyed finding bazaars and haggling for a couple bracelets and a couple pieces of clothing. That's been really fun. Third favorite thing is the Crate Run Club. So every single day at 6am a group of people meets at Crate and they'll do a 4K or an 8K. It is so much fun, the best way to meet people. I've made a couple friends that way who I've played Padel with, met up with at sunset for coconuts and um, and people that I'm actually going to connect with again and see when I'm going to be in London in a couple months. Fourth best thing is staying at this big villa. It's a three bedroom, three bathroom villa. There's a masseuse, a private chef, a gardener, daily housecleaning. It's insane and it's very affordable. Some more of my favorite things, I've developed an absolute coconut fixation. I always wanted to be able to like coconuts. I thought it was kind of cool when people would order them and hold these big coconuts and just enjoy the water. And I know that they're so good for you. And for some reason, now that I've been here, I've had this hyper fixation. And you can have coconuts delivered for 10k, which is about 50 cents. And I'm obsessed. They can deliver them right to your villa, wherever you are. You just text this number and they zip on over. oh, but my recommendation is always make sure it is super cold. And make sure it is a super green coconut because those are the best. These kind of brought me back to life when I had Bali Beli. It was so sweet. Our housekeeper brought two of the coconuts to the house, and that's kind of when I started liking them. And now I'm going to have to figure out how to get these coconuts in Boston, because coconut water, just out of a can, is not the same as drinking it straight out of the coconut. Another major highlight for me has been the people. They are just so friendly. The locals are warm and hospitable, and Always having a smile on their face. There's such a delight. The culture here of warmth and kindness for one another is incredible. Another thing I've really liked is the poke. It is great. It's not Hawaii good, but it's very good. Fresh. It's been very enjoyable. I've enjoyed the shopping. I thought I would be absolutely obsessed with the shopping. My first few days, I went to a bunch of different outlets and stores here. Not outlets. It's boutiques and stores and found some swimsuits that I'd never really seen before, cool styles and colors, and I wanted to buy them. And when I look back, each of the swimsuits is about 90, which is pretty expensive. So you're not saving really. A lot of the swimsuits are made in Australia. So it's high prices, nice material, but a little bit more expensive than you probably should pay. But because I'm here in Bali, I just think, Oh, it's cheap. I'm going to get it. But to counteract that, the other thing that I've really enjoyed is having the chef at the villa. It'll be 40 for two people for the entire night of having them come and clean and cook and chat with us, which is so nice. And it's always a four course meal, which is incredible. So those have been some of the absolute best things. And the worst, let me run through some of the worst things. Number one worst, just such a bad taste in my mouth after surfing in Uluwatu. Like I said, because of the jellyfish and the trash. Number two worst thing is going to be the yoga, actually. Yoga, everywhere you go is about 90 minutes. It's so long. Never go to yin yoga. Y I N. I didn't know what that was. It's essentially yoga where you just sleep on the mat for 90 minutes. I had to leave halfway through one of the classes. I was just like, what is going on? Get me out of here. I thought I was going in for like a nice yoga workout. And I like a workout class, maybe this is the New York side of me, I like the workout class that's 45 minutes, 50 minutes, 90 minutes, that's my entire day, it's way too long, I can't focus and do that for that long. Third worst thing, maybe this should be the first worst, but Bolly Belly, I don't recommend it, and if you can avoid it at all costs, please do so. I didn't brush my teeth with the water here, I didn't drink the water, I didn't eat the fruits, yes I did, but whatever, I don't know how I got it, no clue. Fifth worst thing that I did not expect, the cafes are too loud. Um, they're right off the street, so super close to all motorbikes zipping by, and they oftentimes have very loud music. Of course, if you're going to tribal or zen, those are specifically for working from home, and they won't have music playing, but they might have construction five feet away from you. Take it from me, that's something I experienced. Another really awful thing is the beaches. are just so polluted with trash. Kuta, Seminyak, hard pass in my opinion. I'm being kind of brutal right now, but it's the truth. I am very out on the nightlife and the beach club scene here. If I want to go out and party, I'm going to do that in New York City. It's just not really the vibe for me here. I know people enjoy it, but it's definitely not up my alley. Continuing in the vein of being kind of brutal, the traditional dance. Made my ears bleed the traditional dance the music. It was cool to see I'm glad I went, but don't stay longer than an hour And something I also really didn't enjoy is right off the streets you can go to these local Places for massages, and they are not experts whatsoever You can get a one hour massage for five dollars before tipping them which always tip a hundred percent 10 for a one hour massage. It will make their day. It will also make yours, but just don't go to those places. Try to find someone who's entrusted. Someone who's actually a masseuse can give you a good massage. Um, I went and had a face massage for 30 minutes and the person just rubbed my face in circles and didn't do any of the pressure points. And then I got a second massage after that with the actual good masseuse that I know and trust. So she came to the Villa and it was 13 for. 90 minutes. I only actually did 60 minutes, but just paid for 90. So anyways, those are some of the worst things. And then I guess because I'm scared of Vespas when I crashed last time, that's not something I absolutely love anymore. Finally, let's finish off with the best cafes. This is what everyone always asks about, so I will share for you four. People will give you 25 30 places, and you need to look them up and sift through it yourself. Let me give you four. So number one, I'm obsessed with Rise and Shine. Their brekkie burrito is to die for. It's so good. And the banana green smoothie with extra protein. Get the vanilla protein in there. I mean, I think it's the best smoothie I've had in my entire life. I had one this morning and now that I'm talking about it, I want to go back and have another. Number two, BGS. Go for coffee, go for the vibes. I get a hot oat milk latte. Insanely good. Best coffee I've had in Bali, hands down. And everyone comes there soaking wet after their surfing. And they come, they drive up with their Vespas and they have their surfboard on the side of the Vespa. It's a major vibe. I'm obsessed. Number three, also obsessed with Crate. The portions are huge. The prices are extremely low. It's all open air. It's such a vibe, such a cool spot. Again, I saw Crate when I was here five or six years ago. And There wasn't much infrastructure around it, not many stores. It was kind of in the middle of a field, like, totally on its own, and now it's just in the middle of a major hub. So, that's the place where I go for the Run Club as well. Cannot recommend Crate enough. People go there to meet each other. Kind of hard to work from there because the music is a bit loud, but love Crate. And finally, to finish off, Tried and true, this place is so good. I went here when I had Bali belly, and they took the best care of me. They can create custom meals for you and are so flexible, so nice. I've been here about ten times in the past two and a half weeks. It is called 12 Urban. They have a five stars on Google. I don't know any other place that has five stars on Google when you have thousands of reviews, but the food is incredible. Takeaway is small portions. Not that's a bad thing, but the portions are smaller. And, honestly, that kind of wraps up the past two weeks in Bali, and I'm so excited for the next episode to dive into Istanbul, and then to dive into the Alps, and then also dive into comparing skiing from the Alps, Japan, Western US. I have so many thoughts, so many recommendations for all of that, so stay tuned! But thank you all for tuning in and for keeping up with me. You can find me on any social media platform. At cat short sleeve, please reach out to me. Let me know what you liked about the episode, what you didn't like, what you want to hear about next time, and I'll see you soon. Thank you all. Cheers.