Esalen Massage & Bodywork 175-hour Training in Bali in 2024

Just time for a brief note as I change planes in Philly. Flight to Qatar is boarding. It's overbooked, so it'll be completely full. There goes the dream of being able to spread out a little bit. But there are far worse problems in the world.  On a positive note - people are fundamentally kind. Two men cut me off in line boarding the Pitt/Philly flight, and another man was kind in acknowleding that to me. Two or three passengers gave me space to get my overhead bag rather than rushing right past. I dropped my traveling companion, Teddy, out of my bag, and a man rushed up behind me to return it to me. Just now, I went to fill my water bottle and a woman spoke to me. She recognized me from the Pitt/Philly flight and is on this next flight with me, as well. She and her newborn are not going to be sitting with her husband, so she is feeling overwhelmed. I hope I can help somehow. We're all in this together, truly. But flying has changed in the 60+ years since I first traveled by...

  Teddy and I are headed out at long last! It's been a not-entirely-pleasant last several days running into hurdles as I already shared. But the planning is done and the trip has finally started. We're sitting in the Pittsburgh airport, ticket in hand, two bags checked, security cleared (which was actually fun - not busy and a couple really pleasant TSA agents), at the empty gate. Passport in hand and visa awaiting me in Bali. As tired as I am, I think I'll be able to sleep on the two long flights. This first one is just an hour or two to Philly. In about 48 hours, I'll be landing in Bali, "God willin' and the creek don't rise."  Why a picture of me with my late canine partner, Ms Be Haven? Because for many years, she was with me on every flight. I'm more anxious than in the past because I don't have her by my side today. She was good for me. She gave me a reason and a way to stay calm. Wow, do I miss her! But I suppose that's why I dragged...

Nothing goes easily or smoothly all the time. This is real life. So a few hurdles among many errands and lists have left me exhausted. But all this driving has given me time to ponder how much can change when just six weeks passes, particularly the next six weeks. I'll land in Bali on Thursday, and Groundhog Day is on Friday. It's my favorite holiday, and I will check all the groundhog readings in WV and our surrounding states to see if my guess of an early spring is correct. I'm not the only one who has already been hearing spring birds in the mornings.  Daylight savings time change will happen while I'm gone, as will Valentine's Day. The vernal equinox will occur just one week after I land on terra firma. So, as soon as I unpack, I'll need to mow the lawn, power-wash the back porch, and look for hanging planters. Then green beer will flow on St. Patrick's Day less than a week after I get home.  Looking over the calendar, I see that I'm going to miss Na...

... I will have landed in Qatar and found may way to the gym/pool (if all goes as currently planned). I will have left home about 24 hours earlier. "It's a long way to Tipperary."  Today is my last day at work for nearly two months (I have started scheduling clients on or after March 20th, if you're wondering). Tomorrow I pack up my office gear. At home, I already have my suitcases out and a large laundry basket full of various items to pack. I have to remind myself of moderation as things pop into my head that I'd like to take with me - "simplify." I expect subsequent, extensive, international trips will be easier as I cut my teeth on this first one (note reference to "this first one" which suggests that I might have an urge to repeat this sort of craziness sometime in the future). I am particularly grateful for the assistance of the staff on the ground in Bali as they help me with ground transportation, visa application, housing questions, an...

  In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun!

My class doesn't start until February 4th. The class and accommodations are all at Mimpi Resort . Mimpi is sold out until February 3rd, and I'm arriving a couple of days early to get some sleep and acclimate myself a bit. So arrangements are being made for me to stay at the Bananaleaf Hostel  nearby until the 3rd. I like the simplicity of the hostel, and I'm really looking forward to having that experience. I've never stayed in a hostel, so why not have my first hostel experience on a tropical island, right?  They have what I need - a bed, a pool, a shower, food, nice people, and it's a safe place for me to stay. And, really, it's on Bali Island. Kebahagiaan, kegirangan, dan suka!  Saya akan senang di Daun Pisang Asrama!

 ... I'll be on a wide-body airplane heading from Philly to Qatar with hundreds of other people. At this point, it's a surrealistic dream.  I have an eight-hour layover scheduled at Hamad International Airport in Doha, considered to be the world's most beautiful airport. It's massive. I hope/plan to take advantage of the spa facilities there so I can work out, stretch, swim, shower, and possibly have a massage, too. It may sound indulgent - and, in fact, it is - but my main concern is the effects of two flights back-to-back, both of which are about twelve hours.   In the meantime, I continue to learn to speak Bahasa Indonesia. I have multiple sources to learn from thanks to the digital age. It's a surprisingly easy language to learn, enjoyable, too. I'd love to keep up with it after I return but confess that I don't know if there are any Indonesian people in this area. Flooding the language part of my brain has brought some Spanish back up to the surface. I ...

  And now that I have your attention, there's nothing brilliant to say. Just a few bits for now. First, my travel has changed a little. I'm leaving on January 30th, arriving in Bali on February 1st. Yes, three days door to door (Fairmont WV to Mimpi Resort ). About 48 hours, but with a long layover in Qatar and Bali being thirteen hours ahead, that makes for three days. At least it's afternoon to afternoon, rather than wee-morning to late-night. I just received an email that at the end of our four-week class, we've been invited to spend a few days at the  Biosphere Foundation  to help with a watershed regeneration program and to help clean the water/beaches of Menjangan Island (about five miles off the coast of Bali). Here's a great reggae song showing the work I'll be doing on Menjangan Island  if I join them. I'm not sure yet how I will spend the extra week I am staying after class is over.   Now back to my overwhelmed brain and stacks of notes and files....

This is what I'm preparing to attend:   Esalen Massage & Bodywork 175-hour training in Bali, Indonesia And this is what I look like tonight, doing so.  A bucket list item of mine for years has been to get a passport, so a few months ago, I applied for one. I had no particular travel plans but simply wanted to have one. My passport arrived on December 12, 2023. The next day, I received an email about a class I'd dreamed of taking for years, and I realized that I could check off another bucket list item - taking the Esalen massage class taught in Bali by Ellen Watson - if fear didn't stop me. I spent the next two weeks doing some research, learning all the details involved in such an intense and distant trip, and making some big decisions. With trembling hands, on December 26th, I finally hit "send" on my class and airline reservations. On the 27th, I had a meltdown. That's a huge commitment of my time, energy, money, and courage, but the trepidation faded ...