Allie's Got Seoul: Bali

And finally we reached our long-awaited destination: Bali. How happy we were to see…beds. After muddy jungle treks, dusty volcanos, and a few too many sunrises, it was time to relax. In the black sand beach town of Pemuteran we lounged in chairs, bathed in hotel swimming pools (okay, just me, I had refused to take a cold shower for days) and snorkeled the island’s premier reef. It went so well we even drank arak (Balinese liquor) with our snorkel instructor later in the evening. All in all a great stay…until…Robin’s iPhone met the Bali Sea. It never made a full recovery. RIP.

Next stop, Ubud. My "hippie gourmet" paradise complete with yoga, spas, and shopping. We hit the jackpot with a gorgeous, two-room, second-story guesthouse for a bargain price, complete with 5am crowing roosters. When I think of Ubud I try to recall what I did besides partake in trendy health fads…but my memory is clouded by too much amazing food. I believe we practiced yoga in a fancy barn full of hipsters. And at one point I’m pretty sure a monkey jumped on my head and tried to steal my coconut bacon (a food that may give you more of an idea what Ubud is about…) I obviously fought that monkey off hard.

I’m not going to list off all the divine culinary delights even though I really, really want to…

But let me say, there are unbelievable things you can do with coconut, avocado, cashews and fresh vanilla bean. I crave creativity.

Though all Indonesian coffee is unfiltered, one day I literally drank shit. Will you believe me if I tell you I went out of my way and paid extra to drink coffee beans that had passed through the digestive track of the Luwak rodent? Mmm, flavor…

In case of a lack of tuna, I had been carrying a supply across southeast Asia. When you’re only carrying 15 pounds, you gotta prioritize, ya know? All so Rob and I could have the perfect tuna sandwich on the beach. Tuna day finally happened in Sanur. We collected the essentials: an avocado, a packet of mustard, freshly baked bread, and our preferred Cokes. Pure bliss.

Last stop: Kuta. We procured our autumn tans to the soundtrack of “Hello, massage? Hello, manicure? Hello, ice cream?” Finally, we took to the long board. Our chiseled instructor did not distract us to the point that we were unable to learn to surf. We both stood!

After a month of (too) many different beds, so began the 54 hour journey back to Washington. Bali--Kuala Lumpur, where we slept in the low-cost carrier terminal across café chairs (diva bed, haaay!) KL--Seoul, to pick up my year’s worth of belongings and sleep homelessly in the Korean bathhouse. And lastly, Seoul--DC in a direct albeit 13.5 hour flight. It was the longest leg, but six movies and nearly twice as many glasses of wine made it rather enjoyable.

Then I got off the plane in America……