Measures of success

We didn’t go there expecting culture, temples, and quiet beaches. Still, when our taxi driver dropped us of in the main street of Kuta, it took me a while to make up my mind about what to think of this place. Kuta is for the Australians what Chersonissos is for the Dutch: a legendary party destination with a bad reputation. Accordingly, the streets were filled with macho holidaymakers who wouldn’t think twice about pouring beer on others. On every block shabby t-shirts and bumper stickers that read ‘Up the bum no baby’s’ or ‘What part of deep throat you don’t understand?’ were sold.

Although we were going to celebrate my twentieth birthday there, drinking all day all night was not what we came to Indonesia for. So if we knew that Kuta was this bad, why did we even bother going there in the first place? The great surfing beach. Bali offers world class breaks, all year round and for all skill levels. Bali’s main beginners surf spot is located in Kuta. It is a beach break and offers perfect conditions for beginners. The waves break close to the shore, which means less paddling and no worries about getting shredded on a reef when falling. Even though we aren’t beginners anymore, Kuta was a great place to pick up surfing again.

Besides, we enjoyed the slightly more relaxed beaches of Legian. This beachfront town, located north of Kuta and south of Seminyak, is where we stayed overnight for four nights. It offered the same easy access to shops and bars, but gave us a less chaotic feeling.
Seminyak was more upmarket with mostly high-end restaurants and bars.
One of these elegantly designed venues was where, together with a German guy we met in our hostel, a Dutch friend of mine and two friends of his, we toasted to my birthday at midnight. During the day we visited Waterbom water park, where Wout took me by surprise. I hadn’t been to a water park in years, so I was extremely excited to be going there as soon as the surprise was revealed. The park was great entertainment for all ages, and also very well organized. It namely uses a form of a cashless payment system. We basically had to load our preferred amount into a wrist band and scan it for every transaction we made in the park. In this way we neither had to worry about carrying cash while going for the rides, nor had to go back and forth to the lockers to get money. In addition to all the slides that we had been to, we had been floating on the lazy river. So far, so good, but there was more to come!

In the late afternoon we went back to our hostel to take a shower and dress up. An hour later, the security guard opened the gate so that our taxi driver could drop us off at the entrance of Breeze, a restaurant overlooking the beach of Seminyak. We chose Breeze for my birthday dinner, and it was a great choice. The restaurant was absolutely stunning! The beach front setting, the great sunset views and the sound of the waves made this one of the most romantic places to dine. Our waitress, Mini, introduced herself and asked each of us our names. The rest of the evening she called us by name, which made us feel really special. We were impressed by the service, and the food was phenomenal as well. We both had the Wagyu Carpaccio to start. The main courses we chose were Confit Peking duck leg, and grilled fillet of snapper. Each of our meals were to die for, and we were both left full not being able to finish our desserts. Still, we were brought a cute, little birthday cake by the staff, including the security guard, who at the same time sang a birthday song to me.

To be honest, this absolutely was the best experience we had in Bali!

The last two nights of our trip we spent in Pecatu, a hilly town with limestone cliffs isolating small, short beaches. Here we have been taking the time to reflect upon the many joys and successes of the first year of our student lives. I do believe in resolutions, and this was such a fitting time to make them. Resolutions are often goals we set as personal markers of success, but what is the definition of success? People frequently use tangible items as its markers, simply because these are easy to measure. However, as we have been discussing what has made last year a success for us, we have realized that it has much more to do with the intangible. For instance, being able to combine our professional career with our best hobby: travelling!

“And then there is the most dangerous risk of all -- the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.”

- Randy Komisar, Monk and the Riddle: The Education of a Silicon Valley Entrepreneur