Expect the unexpected

by Chantale Roch (Australia)

I didn't expect to find Australia

Travelling to Bali in Jan 2020, I was going with no expectations. I looked at it as a time to have a nice relaxing holiday with my boyfriend...and it was exactly just that. My boyfriend and I love exploring new places and going on adventures and as expected we went to places that we’ve never been to before. Now, in all honesty, I was expecting something to happen to me while we were out exploring what nature was like in Bali. But, in fact, I had a personal revelation which was something I was not expecting. If you’ve ever been to Bali, you would know exactly what the streets looked like. Shops everywhere with people trying to pull you in to buy their products. I never fully understood why they wanted our business so badly and then it hit me. They rely on us tourist to give them business and it’s their only means of survival and feeding themselves. We had a personal taxi driver that told us, that the government doesn’t help people who have no jobs. This hit me hard. It actually made me feel grateful for the life that I have and the very fact that I have a job that’s able to feed me and keep me sustained. My story may be a little bit different to someone else’s travel story but I think each country we go to, has something to offer us...personal or not. It’s all about being open to the idea of learning new things and broadening our horizons. Besides, who doesn’t love a good life lesson right? Always expect the unexpected.