When you spend most of your days living in a hospital as a training doctor and work 24/7, picking the right destination for any upcoming vacation becomes as important as the decisions you make to save someone’s life. After researching different destinations- and Oh boy do I know how to research- one random picture was more than enough to know that I’m packing for Bali.
For those of you who don’t know, Bali is an island located in Indonesia and is part of the Coral Triangle area famous for its largest biodiversity of marine species with a warm tropical climate, making it a highly targeted destination for anyone who loves discovering the under-sea wonders. On the internet, you will find tons of references telling you where to go, eat, swim, party and relax in Bali, all the “IT” places to visit, but nobody tells you that it can be the place where you’ll find your soul again and reconnect with yourself.
No picture can capture the beauty of this island, its purity and its holiness. Maybe it’s true that the Gods are watching over it. Everything had a different taste: the air was lighter, the sun was brighter and the sky was definitely clearer, even my soul was there to heal and to get away from all the culminating daily stress.
In Bali, every day I was waking up full of energy to have my breakfast by the pool, which usually included a “Pitaya”, a red dragon fruit with a light sweet and refreshing taste. And then I would sit down to read or tan, or to take a walk across the white-sandy beaches in Denpasar, the famous Balinese capital. I almost forgot how blue an ocean could be.
It would rain on certain days, and oddly enough I wasn’t running inside to hide. I stayed outside and danced under the tropical rain.
You connect with all your surroundings and feel that you are part of a bigger force that assembles all the elements together.
But don’t think that as I healed my mind, I forgot to try the massages; after all my body truly needed the relaxation from all the on-call nights at the hospital, so I went for the best, the AYANA’s Spa on the rocks overlooking the Indian Ocean, because as per their website “nowhere better encapsulates heaven on earth”. Trust me fifty minutes of the AYANA Fusion massage with their special herbal mixture of three healing gingers will take you to heaven at the speed of light.
In Ubud, the “cultural heart” of Bali, located in the central mountains of the island, you get to experience the voice of the untouched nature, the purity of the jungle, and encounter those naughty monkeys that come to steal anything you’re carrying. And then, you meet the locals; I have never come across such humble and loving hosts. They are always smiling, always ready to help or assist you when you are lost or even trying to take a simple picture.
On certain days, I used to watch them going to the temples with little gifts to their Gods. They weren’t that fancy, but they were all what they had and they were so happy to share it.
In Bali, it’s hard not to remember all the basics of life. It awakens you. It reminds you that you don’t need much to be truly happy. All you need is a lot of love and bit of simplicity.
So next time you want to find your soul, you know where to go.
Marie-Therezia Hadchiti
Instagram: @therychoux
