It’s often helpful for your friend circle to be at least partly comprised of pushers. We all at some point discuss travel plans with our friends, talking of one country or another, sights we want to see, restaurants we want to eat at, and experiences we want to have; but all too often nothing substantial comes of these chats and idle musings and we quickly move from someday to someday and bucket list to bucket list.
Pushers turn idle musings into words of action and you will constantly have an shrill voice in your ear whispering and eventually shouting: “Do it! Do it now! Buy the tickets! Take time off! Now! Do it now!” And annoying as it may be, you do in fact eventually end up at the boarding gate about to head off on your next adventure. In the middle of August 2018 that is where my sister and I found ourselves standing with our friend Jordan.
This would be one of those trips that was pushed in its entirety; from beginning idea to final destination and itinerary. Jordan had been looking at going to Bali for quite some time, attracted to the island by its scenic photographic opportunities and unique culture. Bali and the islands surrounding it were composed of sandy beaches hidden by rocky thousand foot cliffs, rice terraces, thick jungle and giant cascading waterfalls; all accessed by scooter and motorbike on narrow winding roads. Micah fresh off of quitting her job and me, easily persuaded to join in on an adventure, were prime candidates for being pushed.
Our flights were long and uneventful, apart from free seat upgrades resulting from a smoke caused flight change at the last second. Boise – Seattle, Seattle – San Francisco, San Fransisco – Taipei, and finally Taipei – Denpesar, 29 hours later we were at our destination.
Upon arrival we were promptly ripped off by a money exchange station and then we proceeded to immediately be ripped off by the nearest taxi driver. We weren’t completely unaware that we were being ripped off, but since our first lodging was on the Island of Lemongan and we needed to make the last ferry in time, we didn’t have a lot options to barter with. After paying our double or triple fares we were dropped off at the harbor just in time to purchase tickets. After wading out past the beach to the ferry, we tossed up our luggage to the locals operating the boat and climbed aboard.
