INDONESIA
The People of Indonesia
You always think it’s going to be the places—the beaches, the rice fields, the yoga retreats you see all over Instagram. And yes, Indonesia is beautiful in a way that almost doesn’t feel real. But what stayed with me, what I still think about, what I try to explain to people when they ask how it was… is the people.
From the moment we arrived, there was a softness to everything. Our Grab driver let us connect to his bluetooth as we drove the 45 minutes to our yoga retreat. Something so simple but game changing.
Not slow in a lazy way, but intentional. Kind. Present.
We stayed at Arya Wellness Retreat, and it was one of those experiences that sounds cliché until you are actually in it. Everything felt taken care of before you even thought to ask. The food was amazing— some of the best meals I have had. Smoothie bowls, banana coffee (which I’m still thinking about), tofu poke bowl, fresh everything. It felt like a place you could just exist in, without needing anything else, encouraging you to slow down. To actually feel present. It wasn’t forced or overly curated, it just… was.
There was a day we went on a local visit, and it ended up being one of my favorite memories.
We visited a school, and the kids were so excited to see us. We played games, laughed, and for a moment nothing else mattered. It was simple, but it stuck with me. We were each given a student guide. Mine was a girl named Dekyah, she was 13 years old. She was quiet but kind. It seemed like she was the girl who always observed everything, that she understood more adult topics than she should, being mature in her age. She was grateful we were there, seeming content in the idea that strangers visit her school everyday, passing through what is her everyday. We would walk by classrooms and wave to the kids inside. Coming from the end of teaching in Thailand this made me very happy. The school put on a small dance performance for us and then turned into us on stage dancing to the macarena together. I tried to get Dekyah on stage with us foreigners but she was shy ( I still managed to get a big smile out of her!). I made an effort to get to know her and her likes and dislikes. It was important to me. At the end of our time at the school, Dekyah gave me a hibiscus flower and asked for my instagram. Something so small but so meaningful to me. She did not know that hibiscus flowers are my favorite flower and she did not know that that gesture would stay with me til this day. We are still insta friends and I hope that never changes. I love being friends with a sweet girl all the way in Indonesia.
Back at my wellness retreat, time would go by, but movement would be slow. Mornings of yoga, afternoons by the pool, nights of sound therapy, bellies full of meals made from whole foods. Even there, in a place that could easily feel detached from reality, it was the people working there who made it feel warm instead of polished. Always there to provide a genuine smile and felt as if they were there to be your friend rather than provide a service. Making this one of the most memorable parts of the trip.
We stayed in Nusa Penida for a bit too, and that felt different.
Very rural, very nature.
The hotel we were in was small, almost tucked into the trees. It didn’t seem like there was anyone else there, let alone the island. It was a place that once we were there, we were not moving unless we hired a car. So we ate almost all of our meals at the hotel.
We hired a car for a day trip around the island. The most windy, bumpy road I have ever been on, oh. my. gosh. we very much should have been scared for our lives but we knew our driver had been doing this since he was 14.
Even the small things felt meaningful.
I got to make a little silver ring, watching the process from start to finish. It made me appreciate something so small in a completely different way. I got to pick the design I wanted and then was given a lump of silver. I got matched up with a lovely older man named Made (mah-day). He helped walk me through the stages of making a ring. I, in my quirky self, made the experience joyful hah! Just being dramatic as we went through this process, being very animated, which levied up the whole store.
By the time we were polishing my ring we were outside just talking. Made said something that stuck with me, he said “you are one lucky girl”. He meant this because I was born in a country that gave me opportunities to make something of myself. He told me how his father was a silver smith so that made him be a silversmith, that his dream is to move to Australia to become a silversmith, but it is hard to move because he works 12 hours days, 6 days a week. His statement to me was not made in a negative way at all, he was saying it to remind me to not waste that opportunity I am given freely. I told him that I hope one day to visit his silversmith store in Australia.
The ring I made, that I still wear to this day, is a constant reminder to not waste my own opportunity, to not wait, and to do.
Everywhere we went, there were these small, quiet rituals.
Offerings made of flowers and incense placed outside homes, in the streets, on steps—every single day. Not for show. Just because that’s what you do. It made everything feel spiritual without trying to be.
These offerings are called Canang Sari, they are made for the gods of Hinduism. Placed outside a home or building every day to protect the property. They also represent respect and harmony.
At first it was interesting to see them simply laying on the ground where everyone walked, but we learned it was always placed at the entrance of the establishment.
And then there was the water.
The beaches, the cliffs, the way the ocean looked almost too blue to be real. Places like Diamond Beach felt untouched, like you had to work a little to get there, which made it even better.
But even in those places, where the views are what people travel across the world for, I kept noticing the same thing:
The people.
There’s a kindness in Indonesia that isn’t performative.
No one is trying to impress you. No one is rushing you. There’s just this underlying sense of care—for each other, for their culture, for the way they live their lives.
It made me realize how fast-paced and transactional things can feel back home. How often we’re just moving through life without really seeing anything.
In Indonesia, I felt like I was seeing everything.
If you asked me what made the trip unforgettable, I could list the places, the food, the experiences.
But really, it was the people who made it feel the way it did.
They’re what made it stick.
And they’re the reason I would go back.