Uluwatu to Nusa Lembongan, Making New Friends at the Beach!

Today I traveled to Nusa Lembongan from Bali and I will admit, I am sad to leave mainland Bali. I kinda wish I could’ve stayed to see more of the island and just done a day trip to Penida and be in Lombok by August 10th for my boat trip. But I need to trust myself and my planning. There was a reason I wanted to come here, and I just need to have more confidence and courage to spark up a conversation and make a friend here. I know that will change the trajectory of my time here if I had someone to experience the island with me. I am staying in a private room which makes finding friends a lot harder, but it will push me to continue to work on my ability to reach out to people and be social when it's most important.

I began my day in Uluwatu, packing up and leaving my hotel to catch the ferry to the nearby island. I got food delivered to my place, a bowl of porridge with fruit from Ulu Artisan and it was delicious. Another meal I added to my list of recipes I hope to recreate when I get home. I had to borrow a spoon from my homestay hosts because it came with nothing which is probably partly my fault for not checking a box as I ordered it in a hurry. I inhaled the bowl, finished packing, then ordered myself a car to the port. I could have ordered a bike and held onto my luggage while riding up there, but for an extra $10 I gladly splurged so I could enjoy the luxury of reading or resting in the backseat while smoothly being brought to my destination. It was well worth the premium when in the grand scheme of things that’s the cost of maybe half a decent meal in America. 

I read the whole ride, surprised I didn’t fall asleep, in time to check in way too early for my ferry. They said to arrive an hour early for the check in process, it took about 2 minutes for me to mark my attendance and tell me to be at the ferry 15 minutes prior to departure, So, I ended up spending the next 45 minutes at a cafe across the street drinking a small cup of burnt coffee. I did my time at the cafe, feeling better about being early rather than late, and treating this as a learning lesson you truly don't have to arrive that early. I walked over to the ferry 15 minutes before departure like I was told, and it was packed in there. We got called onto the boat and after a quick ride, we arrived at Nusa Lembongan. We had to take an even smaller boat to land because the water was too shallow and there was no dock to take us to the beach. I was nervous about getting my shoes wet but we got brought right up next to the dry sand thankfully.

On Nusa Lembongan, there is no online taxi service, so with my hotel being only a 10 minute walk, I made my way there to check in and drop off my heavy luggage. Part of me feels in a way under qualified to stay here because you can only get around by foot or motorbike and I still don’t have the courage to get behind the wheel. So we will see how this stop goes, hopefully I will find a way to get myself around, however that may be.

I grabbed a late lunch and a dessert shake Bali Eco Deli, a restaurant on the popular strip of the island. I have a feeling I will be eating here a time or two because there aren't a ton of vegan options and it was a great meal. I need to stop getting extra add ons because I could make each meal very affordable but then I add a drink, fruit, and dessert (because it is also very inexpensive so it seems so cheap to get) but in the aggregate, it really racks up the bill. To give you a bit of an idea, for my lunch I ordered the scrambled tofu which was about $4, a great price for a meal! But then I also got the fruit platter for $2, coffee for $2, and then the peanut butter chocolate shake for dessert for $4. All super cheap individually but in total my meal is now $12, still a great price but with some discipline I could've kept it at the $4, a true steal. I do need to remember I am only in Bali for so much longer and I deserve to treat myself here and there, but need to be a bit better about not doing it every meal. 

My next stop was the beach, as I make each travel day a true rest day as it's much needed when you move around so much and the "travel" part of traveling takes a toll on your wellbeing. When I got to the beach, I noticed a girl that I saw from the cafe and assumed she was a solo traveler as well. I thought it would be so great if I could join her and her friend at lunch, but that would be so crazy just pulling up a chair on their meal, so I let it go in mind. It's crazy now seeing her here that I thought I just had to sit by her and spark up a conversation, as it was too wild of a coincidence. There was a spot open next to her so I sat down there, hoping that I would build up the courage to literally just speak words out loud in her direction with hopes she kindly responds. After about two hours, I finally had the guts to say something. I wanted to read which was why I didn’t say anything right away, but I started getting worried that at some point she would up and leave so when the sun slowly started to set and I practiced about a million times in my head what to say that wouldn’t be awkward, and then I finally spoke up.

She was so sweet, her name was Livia and she’s from Switzerland. The other girl she was with at the lunch spot was another solo traveler from the UK and they met at their hostel. She kindly invited me out to dinner with them both. I was so proud of myself that I found a way to make friends without being in a hostel. I was so nervous for this island and not staying in a social space, but with courage and the experience from this trip so far, I know that making friends is what makes each stop worthwhile and the most memorable. For my own survival, it was necessary to force myself to go out on a limb and just speak up on the beach and pray they accepted me into their friendship. 

We went to dinner at a greek place, and we talked the whole time about books, haha. All of us avid readers and kindle owners, we talked about book recs, book clubs, and all things of the sort. The UK girl, Maegan, was super outgoing and kept the conversation lively. She has been traveling for more than six months and has a few more ahead of her, planning a year long Asia trip for a while now, and props to her for it. I thought three months was super long, but there are some troopers out here doing much more than that. We stayed at the restaurant so long chatting and it was so sweet that with one sentence on the beach, the first I said to Livia, I changed the trajectory of my time in Nusa Lembongan and I now have some friends to experience the island with. We planned out our day for tomorrow, we would rent some scooters and drive around the island seeing it in the best way we could.