It’s incredible what thrusting yourself outside your normal routine can do for you. So, much so that I think I’m going to start routinely spicing it up a bit.

Our first stop in Bali was the coveted Ubud. It was where we spent most of our time here last year, saving our trip from the disappointed taste in our mouth from the south.

There wasn’t much work to be done in Ubud, at first, but this was because there was so much to do, so many adventures and fun to be had.

A typical day in Ubud, went a little like this:

+ wake up

+ yoga

+ breakfast

+ go on an adventure

+ eat lunch (Ubud has so many delicious offerings in this department)

+ hang out, swim, work, go on another adventure

+ dinner

+ bed

After eight nights in Ubud, we ventured North, to the coast, finding ourself in a calm villa just west of Lovina.

I thought life in Ubud was slow paced, but boy was I pleasantly shocked with how chill the north coast was. Here is where I started to find my groove, establishing a routine finally. And getting so much inspired work done.

Our days up on the North coast looked a lot like this:

+ wake up and make a cup of coffee

+ go out to our balcony to write in my journals

+ start my work for the day

+ eat breakfast

+ either work more or go on an adventure

+ eat lunch

+ swim, play ping pong, continue working

+ eat dinner

+ watch a movie, play more ping pong

+ go to bed

I loved having plenty of comfortable spots around our villa to sit and work, not to mention just being able to take a quick break from work by jumping into the pool.

From there we drove almost three hours east, to Amed.

We only spent a two full days in Amed, but we had a lot of fun in the ocean while we were there, which was an nice change from the pools, not that I have anything against pools, we had a pretty awesome one at the house we were staying at.

Amed went like this:

+ wake up

+ head out to the front deck and watch the fishermen come in

+ journal

+ eat breakfast

+ go scuba diving or snorkeling for a few hours

+ find some lunch

+ head home

+ take a dip in the pool and work for the afternoon

+ dinner

+ bed

After our time in Amed we headed back to Ubud, bringing the trip full circle. It felt so good to come back to a familiar place, to recognize the streets, to go back to our favorite spots here again while discovering new places at the same time.

And that’s where I’m at right now. There’s three days left and it’s much of the same schedule, except for we’ve found that delicious balance between work and play.

I am pleasantly surprised with some of the "lessons" that have come out of this trip and I’ll be writing about those soon enough.

Bali, you have my heart. I’m already thinking about when I come back to you next time.