Indonesia | Day 1

For the last few years, I've been lucky enough to take a trip with my brothers and father. By that, I mean we drive 38 hrs to our property in Baja Sur where we camp in the desert and surf every day. It is desolate, to say the least, and it is quite extreme. There are rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, black widows and coyotes... just to name a few. But there is something so beautiful about this barren land. Each morning, I watch a huge orange ball rise out of the ocean, silhouetted by hundreds of birds on their daily migration. We surf in warm, turquoise water with sea turtles and dolphins. The locals from the nearby village have adopted us; we are no longer 'gringos' but locals ourselves, and are invited to all the family gatherings where we try to speak each other's languages, mostly just laughing and using a lot of body language. This is all such a gift...

But more important than all of this is the time we spend as a family. No distractions of work and computers or phones. We talk. We talk about our lives and what we haven't had time to say to each other over the phone as we maneuver through our busy days. We talk and we laugh and we enjoy each other's company, getting to know the year we all lived since our last trip together, and how we are changed from it. 

But we're not doing that this year. Instead, we are heading to Indonesia. I'll admit I am a little sad we aren't returning to our haven in Baja... it has become a pilgrimage of sorts that my spirit yearns for. But it's time for an adventure, one wrapped tightly in a blanket of the unknown. We have no set plan, and perhaps that is the best way for us. I know that at some point we will be visiting our property, a slice of paradise on the beach with our own break out front. I'm quite positive there will be travel by van, by small aircraft, by rickety boats, and loud motor-bikes. I envision waves, some that I will be comfortable riding, some that will scare me and challenge me in a way I can't imagine, and some that will force me to sit and stare at the sheer power at a safe distance away on the beach. But the one thing I can say with complete certainty is that this trip, this adventure with my family we are about to embark on, will change each one of us forever.

This is a short video I put together from blackberry phone clips from our trip last year...

Friday is For Food

I love good food. In fact, besides photography equipment, that is where the majority of my funds go. Good food and fine wine. I love the millions of flavors of cheese, from nutty to pungent to fruity. I love the sound of biting into an apple or a carrot, I love bread fresh from the oven. More than anything, I love when flavors dance together and create something new that surprises my palate. I love snacking, I love sitting around eating course after course with good people and lots of laughter. I love picnics and packed lunches on road trips. I love the smell of a sizzling bbq. I absolutely adore trying new foods in other countries, ecstatic to find ones I love and disheartened that I can't get them at home. I just love good food. Period.

The problem is that good food doesn't always happen. I discovered this when touring Java with my brother a few years ago. Sticking to the remote parts in search of waves, most of the places where ate resembled the back porch of someone's home (in fact, I think they were back porches of someone's home!). The spice tolerance of the Javanese was out of this world, so without fail, I would end up with a plate of white rice. Returning to Bali felt gluttonous. Any sort of food you wanted at great prices. Pizza for 2 dollars or a sirloin steak for 3.

The next time I went to Indonesia, we headed east to Sumbawa, stopping in Lombok for a sunrise surf session. Some friends suggested meeting back at a restaurant on our way out, a cool place way up on the mountain. I wasn't expecting much, having understood that once you leave Bali, food variety and quality takes a drastic turn. I was surprised, to say the least, when we pulled into a beautiful open-air restaurant with relaxing music, stunning decor with cushions galore, and an aroma that instantly made my mouth water. The menu was a bit of a teaser of what was to come, but it did not let me down in the least. This salad was the beginning of one of my favorite meals in Indonesia. How could it not be with this view?

Take the bad and the good when traveling... and savor the gems in between. This day was a vibrant emerald.