Indonesia is kicking me out.
It comes as a shock and with a regretfully saddened heart that the day after tomorrow, (Thursday morning) I will have to leave my beloved home of 3 months, Bali, Indonesia.
"WHAT? Pleeeeease... NOOOOO!"
But Indonesia, why do I have to go? I just want to stay and live here peacefully and lovingly, I promise I won't be a problem... please don't break my heart!
I'm not allowed to stay... but it's not what it sounds like.
To me, it's the end of the world right now because for starters, I lost track of time and forgot that it was this week that I had to leave! I'm busy, I had plans... more than anything, I don't want to go and for that I'm heartbroken! But alas, countries all have these weird rules and regulations about how long you can stay in them (crazy right?) I am Canadian and therefore, I am not a passport holder of Indonesia. What does that mean for me?
Something we in the roaming citizens of the Earth (ex-pat) community call….
THE (dreaded) VISA RUN!
I am not the world’s biggest fan of the imaginary lines drawn in the sand all over the place that are attached to different rules, flags, laws and procedures BUT I do take them seriously and abide by them (I have friends who didn't feel the same and it didn't work out so well!) I am a peace-wanting, fun-loving, heart-opened traveler and I respect the rules of each country I visit and appreciate being able to be there in general but that unfortunately means that even if I play the game, and pay the money and wait the time and hire the right guys… I still have to leave the country after a certain amount of time... and I don't want to!
Right now, my two months I paid for is up and it’s a damn shame because I have to leave, and did I mention that Bali is an island... as in surrounded in water?
For over 3 years I have had to play this Visa Run game as I have traveled all over the world and lived and stayed in many countries that were not my own… but the problem is that (do you remember this?)
I HATE (a word I reserve for extreme circumstances only) flying!
I think I must have either:
- A) watched too many Final Destination movies as a kid (which is definitely true either way)
Or - B) had a bad experience with planes in a past life
Something has to be up because I am beyond consoling when I have to board one of those magical tin cans in the sky…
At one point in my life (actually it was right after my Dominican Republic experience- which I am currently posting about right now, check out the most recent chapter here: I had applied to be a flight attendant.
If you can believe this (and it really says something) I even got hired! I got hired for not only 1 airline but 2, and one of them was one of the biggest airlines in the world and took me multiple interviews to land. Obviously, I ended up having to back out because… oh… I don’t know… severe fear of being in the air!
Can you imagine?
I thought that if I faced my fear enough, flew enough, one day I would get used to it- I was WRONG! I have been on so many flights it got to be ridiculous to count. Some months I was flying up to 10 times... It was wreaking havoc on my heart from all of the panicking... gasping for air... sweating profusely... convincing myself that each bump we hit was the end of it all.
I am the chick on Bridesmaids who is losing her mind seeing strange things… thinking about the worst case scenario... staring out the window with gloom in her eyes... getting everyone else worked up ;) (Just kidding, that only happened once or maybe twice max!)
Did I tell you all about when I flew through A CYCLONE that was blowing through Australia from New Zealand into Bali? It might be why I decided I wasn’t leaving. It was the worst and most terrifying experience I have ever had- hands down. On a positive note there, I grabbed the woman beside me on instinct (thinking we were going down) and although her first language was Spanish and English was very limited, we ended up bonding immensely from that (perceived life/death experience!) So, I see it as a win in life despite it all.
Anyways, I am sure you get my point by now ;) I am going to be doing a little jaunt over to Kuala Lumpur for the later part of the week and aside from the flying part, I am excited to be in ‘KL’ again, I end up here quite frequently as it’s a main hub and I love their vegan options, I have a secret place I stock up on dates and Malaysia is a beautiful country.
After a couple of days I can fly back home, sorry to let my emotionally elevated outlook on this overwhelm you! When I fly back home, everything will be back to normal and I will be able to Steem normally again ;)
Don't you worry, I will tell you all about it- maybe even snap some selfies of my scared out of my mind face on the plane to share ;)
Hope you all have a great week!
If you see a plane up in the sky, I hope you think of me... wrists writhed around my armrest, screaming bloody murder inside my head ;)
I hope they invent teleportation soon!
