One advice to live by: Go where your heart takes you, do the research beforehand but remember to let yourself live in the moment...in the adventure of life. 

Ask the Locals

Often times, I'm still a tourist in my home country. Hence, I usually ask the locals: neighbours, family members, travel guides, front desks of hotels, and street vendors. We were at my uncle's place in Sentul City, a few km outside of the city centre. I've never been to this part of Jakarta and fairly so, this was a new development that boomed in the last few years. We had less than USD $50 in our pockets and wanted to do something fun but cheap. My uncle and his neighbour suggested taking a hike up one section of the housing development, and we'd get a view of the township. 

We walked about 5 km from the house to a different section of the gated community, and realized it was a steep hill we needed to go up to reach the highest point. A street vendor selling water and snacks by some houses attracted our attention so we bought 3 bags of chips and 2 water. We walked up the streets, stopping at guard houses to ask for directions, and eventually made it to a clearing where rock steps led to this...

Untouched land with wild grass reaching past ankles, the "Sentul City" sign and an unobstructed view of houses in gated communities and rivers and trees. The air was cooler and the sun blistering hot...and the experience priceless. Thanks to my uncle and his friend, the security officers giving directions, and the street vendor for our nourishments. 

A Planner

Before going on this trip, I planned. I planned the time we needed to leave the house so we get to the airport at least 2 hours before take-off, I planned locations in Jakarta we would go to for lunch and dinner for the first two weeks, I planned what I should take to get to places, and I even planned how much I should have to last a week.

Sometimes plans go awry, sometimes itineraries are not followed. And that is fine. Perfectly fine.

We had an itinerary, list of dates from our transfer in Hong Kong to arrival in Soekarno-Hatta airport and the day we go to Bandung to meet my grandmother. It had contact info for Cathay Pacific (both office in Jakarta and in NYC), Blue Bird taxi, family member cell phones, and some stores we usually frequent. This was followed for the first few weeks, then things were tweaked like times and locations. We found out about GoJek, a company doing deliveries and cab services (similar to Uber) and their contact added to the itinerary. Restaurants no longer open = crossed off. New places, new stores = added to the page.

Be prepared for deviations. For changes, for things not going according to plan. 

The previous post of the two pictures, that was not in the itinerary. It was pure adventure, straying off a path and finding something beautifully flawed: Nature. We did plan to meet my grandmother in Bandung, taking a bus to arrive late evening, eating dinner then heading home. We did plan to eat lunch at a bakery/cafe nearby, did plan to go to ITB (International Technology University of Bandung), did plan to leave the next day bright and early. We did not plan to watch sunrise at the top of a hill, did not plan on walking through dense forests and getting lost, did not plan to walk through a park...and most certainly did not plan to see the most amazing sight of thick fog-like clouds creeping along the bottoms of trees and breathing in fresh dewy air.

Sometimes plans go awry, and you make the best of the situation. You might find something worthwhile...or maybe the whole experience is worthwhile on its own.