BALI

HOW IT CAME TO BE: After typhoons and mountains, I came to Bali wanting to be by the beach!

LOCATION: BALI, INDONESIA

FOCUS: ORPHAN DAYTRIP, BEACH CLEAN UP, AND ANIMAL WELFARE ORGANIZATIONS

LOCAL PARTNER: Mission Pawsible, Bawa Bali, Little Steps Matter, Bali Orphan Day Center, Sungai Watch

TOTAL DONATED:  $6000+

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THE GOOD, DIFFICULT, and the LOVELY:

After a fairly heavy month in Vietnam working with typhoon disaster relief, I really wanted a change of pace, and thought Bali sounded like the ideal location to recalibrate a bit. A tropical location I'd always dreamed of seeing, with unmatched beauty, and a deep surf culture.

It was all I dreamed it would be, and more! ...and then less...

*This page is for the first half of my stay, and the second half  is on Bali #2, but this part of Bail was:

1) A day of surf and sun with some kids from an orphanage in Ubud

2) Street dog organizations

3) Beach clean up

I signed up for a surf camp and hostel, and found my way to Kima Surf camp in Canggu (Chain-goo). What a vibrant little place - both the town and the camp!

Canggu was a sleepy little beach suburb not more than 5 years ago, but after Covid, and the invention of digital nomads, it exploded into a crazy touristy/surf town. Traffic is insane, there are tourists and surfers everywhere, and I loved it. I joined a gym, got back on a surfboard, and started planning the next few weeks.

The best part of all of this, is since everyone here is a transplant and have only been here a few years, the town is open and friendly, and everyone welcomes a new friend. My gym trainer introduced me to his girlfriend, hooked me up with an amazing massage therapist for my back, and the hosts at surf camp became fast friends. Within one week I had community, and they all felt like long time friends.

I'd reached out to the surf camp before I got there, told them what I did, and if they had anything that we could do together, and boy, was it incredible! They'd been wanting to bring kids from Ubud at the Bali Orphan Day Center, which is over an hour from the beach. Some of the kids had never been to the beach, and they wanted to connect them with that part of their culture, and give them a day on the beach with surf guides and fun.

It was this outing where I quickly met with disaster. My joyful soul thought it was 20 again, and thought I could workout like I was 20, and surf like I was 20, but my body was in my 50's, and there was a disagreement brewing. Gym in the morning, on a surfboard in the afternoon, broken nose, and shredded rotator cuffs by the evening.

After a very difficult night, I made my way to the hospital for an MRI, and was given the "your rotator cuffs are torn off - surgery immediately." Super big bummer.

So I put everything on hold and got on a plane to Bangkok - with their fancy hospitals and world class surgeons - and went under the knife.

From a joyful day on the sand in Bali, to torn rotator cuffs, a broken my nose, and back in Bangkok for surgery, well yeah, all that was unexpected and kind of sucked.

At least the hospital was super fancy...