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.