We did not know what this year would hold for us. As of this very moment, I am sitting in my office looking out at a perfect view of the sunlight filtering down through the green leaves of the trees, a perfect blue sky, and bird song fills the air. And to top it all off, the butterfly migration is in full swing. There are butterflies gracefully arcing through the wind every which way. This is paradise, surely?
The sunsets from the villa those first few days were unlike anything I have ever seen - and it only got better from there. With an incredible time ahead of us, we settled in for a night overlooking the boats lighting up the reef-peppered waters that surround Labuan Bajo.
This was honestly one of my absolute highlights of the entire week. I had never done this before in Bali and getting to wind through the jungle, under waterfalls and through caves was so epic.
The ride to the rice terraces from our villa is bright and vibrant - just like everything in Bali. From Ubud, it only takes around fifteen to twenty minutes to ride to Tegallalang Rice Terrace.
The villa has this insanely beautiful view of rice fields that are out of the main area of Ubud, which means that it is peaceful and quiet. The rice has been planted for a few weeks right now, so it is literally only just starting to sprout up out of the ground. Already it is so vibrantly green, it almost does not look real. Yet here we are!
Four to six hours long - depending entirely on how often you stop throughout the day - Samoeng Loop takes you past waterfalls, vast valley views, towering mountains, cafes - some of which are amazingly set down in the streams so that your feet dip in the cool pebbled waters while you eat and drink - and fruit and vegetable farms.
Over the last few months, we did research on potential places to move to, the pros and cons of each of these locations, visa qualifications, must-see sights, etc. Australia will always be home, but we can have homes away from homes, too.
