By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
Misplaced in history books, misspelled by many early travelers. Sumatra the biggest island of Indonesia is still unheard to many explorers. My story starts January, 2019 when I met Sadi on the beach of Batu Bolong, Bali. He was a surf instructor from Sumatra. Neither I knew anything about Sumatra at that point, nor that I was about to fall deeply in love. I can only speculate if it was a coincidence or destiny but the way Sumatra sounded on my lips was incapsulating. I was drawn to explore. I never expected a place to have such power over me, contrary I’ve always been critical towards people who told me that a place can change one's life or make them feel a certain way. Yet here I was losing myself the moment I stepped out the gate of Bandar Lampung airport. Sadi’s friend Matt picked us up and drove us to Krui, West of Sumatra. Of course, I never cared to check and the boys forgot to mention the long six-hour car ride through the jungle and the mountains… which of course would have been breathtaking if not for the heat and the exhaustion after an already long flight from Amsterdam. Losing myself in the jungle and the sound of the ocean was never my plan, it might have been my secret desire but it was too ludicrous to even consider as an alternative reality to my lifestyle. You see, I’ve always been a workaholic, an achiever, a go and getter, a punk, definitely not an Instagram beach babe. When you come from a harsh post-soviet society, you have to achieve the dreams of your parents, live the opportunities of an oppressed society. Understandably coming from such background your dreams have to also be limited to the possibilities to that reality. There was no space for miscalculated decisions, so I took a well thought through path of becoming a creative in advertising, a career where there is no money was not supported in my family. I did everything to achieve financial freedom and have a stable job, always having money to cover my rent, my food, my bills, enjoy life's pleasures, but things you couldn't afford, buy things to make myself happy... Palm trees in the back, the ocean up front, wind blowing in my hair, sand between my fingers, the beach break creates little water droplets that fly in the wind and gently land on my skin. Mandiri beach and it’s infinite space opened a long lost treasure box from my childhood, reminded me of longing, adventure, the places my imagination would take me while trying to escape the sad and lonely reality of my childhood. Sitting there, staring at the ocean I suddenly had all this room to dream, all this space to be curious. In this empty space, the small town of Krui, simple village life I heart the call of home. That’s where my heart stayed. Ever since I emerged myself into the unknown. Left Europe and ventured to Indonesia. Trusting not the data but my heart. What am I looking for? Well, that’s the beauty of the unknown, you just have to trust that your heart is leading you in the right direction.