Infinite Love with Kate
Infinite Love with Kate
S4: Ep: 60 Dancing with Destiny: My Balinese TaS4: Ep 60 le
What if overcoming your deepest fears could unlock a world of adventure and self-discovery? Join me, Kate, on Infinite Love of the Goat, as I recount the thrilling final day of my Bali escapade. From celebrating my best friend's birthday from miles away to an adrenaline-pumping underwater helmet walk, my journey in Bali was nothing short of transformative. With Ahmad's expertise guiding me, I was immersed in Bali's vibrant tapestry of culture, history, and mouthwatering cuisine. Overcoming my ear issues to explore the underwater realm felt like a triumphant redemption, especially after my harrowing snorkeling experience in the Bahamas.
As I unwind poolside, I revel in the bliss of spontaneous choices, like savoring a mesmerizing Balinese dancer performance instead of a planned outing. Preparing for my long flight back, I share quirky insights about navigating deep pools and indulging in the luxury of a private one. With humor and gratitude, I contrast the opulent Southeast Asian airports with the more rugged O'Hare Airport. This episode is a heartfelt reminder to believe in yourself, break free from the chains of self-sabotage, and pursue your dreams with relentless passion. Don’t miss this inspiring tale of self-discovery, laughter, and the beauty of taking action.
Hey everyone, it's Kate, and welcome back to another episode of Infinite Love of the Goat. Before I even begin, I want to give a big shout out to my best friend at home, whose birthday is today. Well, I think it's today. Obviously, being across the world, time change has really, really messed with my head. So, wherever you are, as long as it's July 14th, I wish you a happy 44th birthday, my friend. Okay, where do I even begin today? Honestly, I'm in a very zen mood, somber, maybe a little bit, as I'm already packed, and I'm quite tired because I was laying on all day enjoying the full life of my last day here in Bali, indonesia. What an incredible experience. I don't even know where to begin, honestly.
Speaker 1:A lot of self-reflection took place, a lot of laughter, a little bit of setbacks, but nothing too crazy but, most importantly, a lot of recentering balance and peace, relaxation. Everything on vacation is supposed to be rejuvenation of the soul, pouring back into myself, and I did that. I did that for the entire three weeks. I did that when I wasn't feeling well in Singapore. I did that even here in Bali. In fact, bali was go, go, go, go go. I had an amazing tour guide, ahmad. This is a shout out to you. What a gentle soul. He just wanted to make sure I was so busy and I saw as much of Bali as I could and he gave me that experience and majority of the time he didn't have to. He just added extra days into my already beautiful package deal and he took me all over Bali and I got to experience culture, arts, history, religion, spirituality and the views and the food cannot forget the food. I got to experience the hidden gems, the waterfalls. Then I got to experience the underwater world, the magic. I felt like scuba steve.
Speaker 1:It was funny, but I tried something new, I tried something different and since I can't go scuba diving because I'm already deaf in one ear and I have poor pressure and obviously I don't want to lose my hearing in my good ear, there was this underwater maybe I don't know what you would call it underwater partial scuba where you wear the helmet and it's connected to a cord that gives you, provides you oxygen, but you're freely allowed to walk around. So I said, why not? Was I nervous? Yes, um, I'm gonna give a huge shout out to alex, who didn't speak the greatest english but was so gentle, such a young soul and just you can tell he's like just in the prime of his life and he's such a young soul and just you can tell he's like just in the prime of his life and he's such a free spirit and loves to be underwater.
Speaker 1:Anyways, he he was giving me all the sign language, which I understood easily, and he reassured me that you could pop your ear wearing this helmet, because all you have to do is stick your hand underneath and then be able to blow, which is great, because it was a little intense even for me. So you're going down the stairwell, you're already in the water it's freezing, you know. You don't have time to think about it though. So you're in the water. This weighted helmet is just kind of taking you down, but you're, you're reminded to go very, very slow, and alex is kind of, you know, guiding you, but I honestly felt like he was like shoving me down because I was going too slow, whatever it. It cracked me up and it also distracted me, I guess you would say, which I needed, because I was feeling the pressure immediately and it was a lot, and when my left ear started filling up, I wanted to go in that little panic mode, not going to lie. But I landed and I immediately I was doing the jaw thing where you're supposed to just, you know, shift your jaw, then swallow. But I immediately remembered I could pop my ear, so I did. And he must have known I was a little panicked because I wasn't looking directly at him, I was just trying to get my ear to pop. So that happened. And then I realized, as I turned to look, I am in the ocean, walking on the bottom about, I would say, 15-20 feet below, just chilling amongst all of these absolutely gorgeous fish gorgeous.
Speaker 1:I don't know if I mentioned my last episode that I've had the worst luck with snorkeling. We've tried in so many different countries and it has not worked out in my favor. And my worst experience was the bahamas. We were right off the keys and it was three foot waves. So once you actually get your butt into the ocean while you're choking now this was my first experience historically while you're choking because the waves are coming over your circle, so you're constantly gagging on salt water. You look below, which is very intense. I don't know if anyone realizes how intense it is to stick your face into an ocean. It's not like sticking your face into a pool where you can see the end all around you. But, yeah, the ocean and how far it goes down and how long it goes.
Speaker 1:And I had finally caught a shark in the corner of my eye which everyone seemed to want to like, frolic towards not me. It wasn't a moment of here, kitty, kitty, it was. I am going to backpedal fast the other way, which I did. So then I poked my head out of the water this is is still in Key West and I realized I'm watching these waves suck people in. There's only a tiny, tiny entrance to get to the stairwell of the boat because of the waves and because of the current, and one false move and you're going to whack your head or you're going to get sucked under. Either way. It was terrifying. So I was like you know what? I'm okay, I'm just going to still snorkel, I'm just going to stay over here away from that shark, I'm going to pretend I'm really looking down at fish, but really I'm not. I'm just praying. At this point I'm praying underwater.
Speaker 1:That was my first experience, and any other time we've gone Hawaii it was poor weather so we couldn't go. I forget where else we went. We went somewhere else and it was just, it was bad weather. It was bad waves, currents, everything. The point is, don't give up. And I got to experience in Thailand the clearest of waters and that was amazing. So, of course, when Ahmad took me to this waterfront, I realized there wasn't that many people. So I was kind of lucky and I got my own private boat. Again, I just felt blessed in such a strange way. I felt like the queen, with all of these accommodations that just worked out in my favor. It was wonderful and not anything I desired or needed, but because I was exposed to it, it was gratitude. It filled me up with gratitude and I got to experience these events differently, more intimately because it was just me. More intimately because it was just me.
Speaker 1:So I'm underwater for a half hour with Alex and these fish. When I say the colors, oh my God, there was these dark, blue and yellow fish. Nemo was down there. Then there was this turquoise fish, huge yellow fish, and you could hold your hand out and they come up to your hand. It was surreal and I just remember feeling on top of the world. It was timeless and I wanted to make sure I stood there in the moment to remember it, even though Alex wanted to take a lot of video pictures of me and I couldn't speak to him. I just chose to ignore him for a couple of minutes and just stood there quietly with gratitude. Him for a couple minutes and just stood there quietly with gratitude, basking in the wonders of our world, especially underwater.
Speaker 1:So here I am, still in reflection, still in gratitude, grateful that I chose to take advantage of this journey, of this three-week adventure that I could have easily said no to or I could have minimized and shortened because of fear of money or anything, time away, homesick, and I didn't feel any of that. My mom had asked me she goes, did you feel homesick at all? I said no, actually I didn't. I felt very relaxed and I trusted everything about my intuition. In fact, I trusted it this much that I was supposed to go out to dinner last night. Ahmad said he would pick me up and take me to the beach for a seafood dinner at sunset, and of course that always tells me sunset on the beach and the ocean, hello. But my intuition told me not to and I had to sit there and reflect and make sure I wasn't just being afraid or lazy, and when I say lazy I don't mean just lazy, I mean I enjoyed myself.
Speaker 1:It was one of my first days off of not doing any type of adventure in sitting poolside and I laid out all day in the sun and swam in the pool and then had my little coconut waters poolside. I was so relaxed. It was crazy how relaxed I was and I enjoyed it. But I knew it was time to get ready and so I did. I went back in, showered and I made the attempts because I was determined to go. There was nothing that really wanted to stop me. But as I got out of the shower and I thought about things, and I thought about how lucky and blessed I was to not experience any serious illness Bali belly, I guess, is a big thing that tourists can be impacted by and I made sure to take all the precautionary advice, which was malaria pills, charcoal pills. I got a lot of vaccinations, probably too many, but I still did it. And anyways, I took all the necessary precautions. But minus my bad spicy food that pretty much burned a hole in my stomach, that was it. That was the only downfall.
Speaker 1:Something in my intuition told me not to go and I just kept hearing it over and over again, like do not chance this, you're risking something and you know you have what I call it. I call it the devil, the angel of the devil, and any other time you can easily talk yourself out of something and they say that's what happens, though, is usually when something good's going to happen, is when you're talking yourself out of it. But you really do have to listen to your intuition, and I've been saying this lately that my intuition is on point and I've truly been following through with it. So I sat there and I asked myself simply like am I afraid? Am I just being paranoid? And no, I just kept hearing do not go Cancel it, just enjoy yourself. And I did that.
Speaker 1:I ended up making it to the dinner here, which there was a Balinese dancer performance music, and that was extraordinary. So it all worked out in my favor anyways, and I got to experience something beautiful and don't get me wrong, would I have loved to see a sunset? Yes, but have I seen many sunsets on the beach? Yes, so fast forward to today, and I got to enjoy another full day of laying out, basking in the sunlight, swimming in the pool, even in my private section of the pool, when I was getting too hot and I knew I needed to get in the shower soon. I decided to take a little dip outside my patio, and this I actually liked because I could actually touch the ground. I am short, I'm five foot, so this pool here has no real shallow end. So basically, I was hanging onto the wall for dear life, and normally if I'm in anything that's very deep I'll have like five floaties between my legs or my arms to keep me afloat comfortably right, who doesn't? So I enjoyed being able to sit in the private pool and stand and it goes up to my shoulders, which is perfect, and the sun's still beating down on me. I probably could have hung out there most of my day, honestly, but I really wanted to lay out and there's only chairs where off my patio. So yeah, but it was a great way to end it, because then I jumped right into the shower, got cozy, waited a while, then ordered room service, because here's the thing I am leaving tonight at 10 pm. I am normally in bed by 10 pm at least.
Speaker 1:On vacation I have been, and this is going to be interesting for two reasons. One, my flights are longer going home than they were coming here. Two, I will be grateful. Once I'm all settled into the airport in Bali, I will make sure I get on the plane, I have my mask and then, once I'm on the plane, I will light out and that's a nine hour flight to Doha. Doha I only have two hour layover, which isn't bad because it still gets me moving, and you need that when you have such a long flight. You need to get up, get moving. I'll probably go brush my teeth and grab something to eat a coffee, something normal, something filling but I also know that I'm going to be on a longer flight, so I'm sure I'll get two meals, if not well, at least one. So, yeah, I'm this one I'll be wide awake for, because I'll probably have slept the whole night over flight, which now leads me into my 15 hour flight. Yes, yes, yes, I said it 15 hours.
Speaker 1:I arrive back at O'Hare by 2.30pm, which I already know. O'hare Airport is nothing like these airports. I have been spoiled, rotten, coming out this way. Doha is rated the number one airport in the united united in the world sorry, forgive me. So you can imagine. Singapore is rated top five. Thailand, bucat, another one rated high. So you can imagine, you could literally imagine, picture it, picture the amazingness of the experiences I've had at these airports. And then I got to come home to O'Hare, oh boy. So I actually factored in like at least an hour and 40 minutes to the time I actually could go grab a taxi home. Yeah, but I don't care. Again, still grateful, I am dreading.
Speaker 1:Not going to lie, though, anyone else besides me wear comfy clothes on an airplane. When I say comfy, though, I don't like to be cold, so I'm talking sweatpants, a hoodie, I have a t-shirt and shorts on underneath, but comfy, like oversized comfy. That's how I roll on planes that I know I'll be on for a very long time. But when I left, chicago had, you know, mediocre weather. It wasn't too bad. What I'm coming home to, I guess, is like a heat index of 114 degrees. I feel like I'm just bringing Southeast Asia back with me. So there's that. I am going to give a shout out to my neighbor who is already lowering the AC for me, but I get to come home to a house, an empty house. My cat won't be there until probably the next day. I'll have to go pick him up, but I don't know if he'll even want to come home with me.
Speaker 1:Guys, because I've been getting pictures from my parents Well, mostly from my dad and Charlie has just enjoyed life at my parents house, especially with my dad and his favorite dog, lucy. I thought Charlie was going to hate it. Charlie became the king of that entire castle. My dad sent me the cutest picture of him. He's got my dad. He's a very special man. He has this big wicker basket brown wicker basket big, not little big and he calls that his snack basket. Yes, my dad has a snack basket and there was Charlie laying in his snack basket, looking all handsome, and I just sat there. If anything, I missed my cat. Not going to lie, I did. I missed Charlie, but I just want to say thank you. Thank you for listening, thank you for joining me on such an adventure. I still can't believe I did it.
Speaker 1:I still I'm just so proud of myself. Honestly, I love that I'm at a place where I can be that proud of myself. I love that I'm at a place where fear does not stop me. And that's the other thing I was reflecting on is my next moves in life, what I desire for myself, what I desire to let go of, what I desire to work more on, but what I desire to come back into my world, into my life, what I'm ready for, what my heart's ready for, and there was so much and I just I started journaling and reflecting just about life and everything and what I hope for for myself, for my family, for my friends, for the world. All I know is, when I get home, I do have a couple more weeks off before I go back to work and I think I'm going to take that time to truly map out what I desire most in this upcoming year and also reflect and write about all my accomplishments. There's been so many, and they're personal, they're intrinsical accomplishments. I love that, don't you just love celebrating yourself and others? I love celebrating life. I love celebrating other people. I love encouraging other people.
Speaker 1:I had a friend post something about wanting to see a play. I was like do it. Then she kind of made a chuckle she's a girl, have you been? I was like I've never been to that play. But do it. You want to do it, do it.
Speaker 1:Don't let your desires, don't let life get in the way of your desires. You want something, go for it. Don't let fear, doubt, shame, guilt, I mean. Don't let it stop you, don't let it get in the way. It's doing that on purpose. It's testing you to see how much do you love yourself? How much are you going to listen to what your soul desires and what it needs? Do it.
Speaker 1:I can't say this enough Don't be the person that gets in your own way. Don't self-sabotage your dreams. You are worthy of it all. But until you start believing that you won't reflect that, don't sit in the comfortable and stay there, especially if you're uncomfortable. Do the uncomfortable thing and get yourself out. Get yourself moving, get yourself motivated. Thing. It gets yourself out, gets yourself moving, gets yourself motivated. Go after your desires. Go after what you truly want for yourself. Don't let yourself be the one that gets in the way. That holds you back. You are worthy, you are love. You are light. Keep shining bright Until then. Thank you for joining me on another amazing episode of Infinite Love on the Go. No-transcript.