“It is beyond a doubt that all our knowledge begins with experience,” my lecturer said soundly, quoting philosopher Immanuel Kant whose moral principles was on today’s agenda. Slightly hangover from last night’s bonfire party I was not in the mood for a 9 a.m. discussion about my morals. My salvation could only be found by the seaside with a fresh breeze and a chilled Bintang – the local brew that surprisingly enough gives my friend Corona a fair fight. The great weather annoyed me, because that meant that all the good sun beds would be taken and the bad ones would be twice as expensive as usual – and while I was not opposed to Australian surfers putting on a show, I did mind the loud Brits blocking the view. After three months as a philosophy student in Bali I’d declared myself less of a tourist and more an in-between individual; not quite a local, but familiar with the locality. The island of Bali lies in southern Indonesia, and is nothing short of a blessing and a curse intertwined. The beaches alone are reason enough to take on the roughly 17 hour flight: While my local beach, Ku De Ta, is always crowded and forever inhabited with locals giving you unwanted surprise foot massages and trying to sell you sunglasses and (for some unknown reason) homemade crossbows, Bali can undoubtedly sport being home to secluded sand miracles. Soaking up the sun at Padang Padang Beach – strangely remote despite Julia Roberts putting in on the map in Eat Pray Love – will to this day be as zen as I have ever been. The rumble of my fellow students rising from their chairs brought me back to present time which seemed to be the end of today’s class. Heading for the beach, I exited my should-not-even-have-one-star hotel, which houses nothing but bad wi-fi and a cockroach I decided to name Bob. “Transport?” a male yet feminine voice echoed to my left for the umpteenth time. I politely shook my head to the toothless driver wearing a fake Polo shirt. His car was blue with a bird on it, but not the right kind of blue and not the right kind of bird. Bluebird is considered the safest option for tourist, but due to their popularity all other taxies copied them. Getting anywhere in Bali by anything else than a car is a lost cause, since the buses tend to have a spoiled brat complex and only arrive ‘when they feel like it’. “Transport? Taxi? Helicopter?” the driver continued, completely ignoring my rejection. While Bali has left side driving like the UK, that is as similar as it gets. The police, corrupted to the core, will ticket any tourist on a scooter they can find, while the family of five balancing in one seat with no helmets will drive by without a care. They do not have any money to spare. I walked the familiar Jalan Bereban leading to the main street of Seminyak: The urbanized area where fashion boutiques, luxury villas, Circle K’s and high-class restaurants neighbours “magic mushroom” dealers. Despite the imperfections and contrast between cultural heritage and tourism invaded modernity, I’d take Seminyak any day over Kuta – plagued by tacky bars and penis-shaped bottle openers. Still, Bali’s spiritual centre (and my favourite place on planet Earth) is undoubtedly Ubud. Also a victim of the growing tourism, the town shows off more coffee bars, spas and luxury resorts by the hour, but the local food markets, art galleries and the overgrown palm tree jungles surrounding thousands of rice fields makes any human believe that world peace is still achievable. Finally in place at the beach for some panic end-of-holiday tanning and not-so-religious meditation, I pondered the amazing spirit of the Balinese people. Never had i experienced more genuine and overall joyful, respectful, wise and relaxed creatures despite their poverty, hardships and corrupted government. All though I did not belong here, I still felt at home. The greatest knowledge adapted from all my experiences is that imperfection is beauty, and that sometimes, belief is a lot stronger than knowledge. Like Immanuel Kant said: Science is organized knowledge, but wisdom is organized life.