I receive several emails a week about doing yoga retreats abroad. The most common question is, “Should I do a yoga retreat in Bali or India?” For background, in 2013 I did a three-week DIY budget yoga retreat in Ubud, Bali, and in 2014 I completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh, India. While I enjoyed … Read more
After my three-week yoga retreat in land-locked Ubud, I was craving ocean air. So I booked a ferry ticket to Gili Trawangan, a tiny, teardrop-shaped island off the coast of Lombok. Though Gili Trawangan (or as it is locally known, Gili T) is geographically close to Bali, culturally it’s worlds away: most of the islanders are … Read more
When the same company that owns the Grand Mirage asked me if I would also like to review the Samabe, their brand-new luxury suites and villas, a Bali all inclusive, I couldn’t believe my luck. My parents are fans of luxury hotels and as a kid I stayed at hotels like the Ritz-Carlton, The Peninsula … Read more
On my last week in Bali, I decided I needed to break up my serene yoga and coconut water routine with something a bit more… adventurous. So I signed myself up for an early morning trek to Mount Batur, Bali’s most active volcano. When my alarm jolted me awake at 2 a.m. (the earliest alarm I’ve … Read more
When I was 16, back in 2007, I read Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert’s New York Times bestseller. And then I read it again. And again. Needless to say, Eat, Pray, Love firmly put Bali on my map of dream destinations. And seven years later, I finally ventured to the island I had read so much about.* And … Read more
One of my goals at 23 was to get in the best shape of my life, and where better to do so than beautiful Bali? But as a budget-conscious backpacker I knew I couldn’t afford a $1,500+ packaged yoga retreat- so I devised a plan to do a yoga retreat on a budget. More specifically, I … Read more
Remembering my three weeks in Ubud, Bali, makes my heart hurt a little. Because I kind of wish I could stay forever. Something about Bali just got under my skin; from the daily Hindu offerings to the the eerie, repetitive rhythm of the gamelan to the ornate family compounds. Out of all the places I’ve been … Read more
It’s no secret that I was unhappy for the first month or so of my Asia trip. Okay fine. I was inexplicably miserable for the first month of my trip. I descended into a dark place where I battled depression, anxiety and an overall despair for the future. For a while I seriously considering flying … Read more