warrensburg, missouri

I've been traveling for years to foreign locations. I've had two blogs dedicated to sharing my photography and telling the tales of times abroad. But here's something I haven't done... created a post and shared stories about home.

It is the most simplest of ideas. To me, home is so normal and it is so bland. Why would anyone, including me, want to read stories or indulge in pictures about the middle of America?

One of my most amazing experiences was when I spent half the year studying in Auckland, New Zealand. New Zealand, as you can only imagine, is one of the most gorgeous pieces of land. It has everything from rolling green hills, snow-capped mountains, beaches, etc. If I could choose to live anywhere again, I would pick this very place.

So, why is it that every Kiwi I encountered asked me how I could have possibly wanted to come to New Zealand to study? The locals were bewildered and couldn't believe that anything exciting was of their land - their home.

If we can think of our home as a beautiful and exotic location, I believe we would be able to experience something incredible and possibly feel a greater sense of appreciation in what we consider mundane.

So, here is to Warrensburg, Missouri - the town I spent four years in during my time at the University of Central Missouri getting my Bachelors degree in public relations. Don't let this fool you, I'm still here... but for only 27 more days. Graduation is upon me and for the most part, I'm terribly excited. This was the perfect time to step outside, walk around my town, and appreciate all that it has given me.

Warrensburg is home to around 16,000 people - with 11,000 or so of those people being students. In most senses, Warrensburg is a college town. It's a ghost city when school isn't in session with students being back in Kansas City or St. Louis.

Featured below is downtown Warrensburg which consists of a few streets and the infamous Pine Street. Pine Street is where the young folk of the town go to get drinks, dance and be far too loud. After I turned 21, I spent many Thursday nights on this street bouncing from bar to bar with my friend. Numerous hangovers later, my inner-old woman kicked in and I spend most Thursday nights in front of my fireplace playing sweet music and editing photos.

The Amtrak train station goes across the whole country. Many students take the Amtrak to Kansas City through Columbia all the way to St. Louis. 

Thank you, Warrensburg. Your small town coziness provided me and my friends with the atmosphere we needed to make it through our studies and create memories to remember for all of the years.

gili trawangan, indonesia

INDONESIA! Ya know, that place where Julia Roberts rides around on a bike & teaches a medicine man English & falls in love with that dreamy, Brazilian dude? THAT IS HERE.

The flight was long and extremely grueling. I, accidentally and unknowingly, booked a flight to Bali from the south of Thailand that included an 18 hour layover in Singapore. I took it upon myself to make it as fun as possible and do what I referred to as the "impromptu Singapore trip". You can take a look at the blog post and comical video I made here. 

So, after we spent a very weird 18 hours in Singapore, we finally made our way to Bali. We arrived late at night and did what every foreigner does when they land in an Asian airport - bargain and negotiate with the taxi drivers who will inevitably attempt to scam you. This is where its really important to do your research before you go traveling. I'd been in Asia long enough to expect such behavior and negotiate a better, more fair (but probably way too high) price for a taxi ride. 

Our taxi driver asked us "which hotel, ladies?" and we, as backpackers of the land, said "we don't have a hotel... take us to a good area and let's find one!". Luckily, our taxi driver was in good spirits and helped us find a good place to stay. Many places in Bali were already booked up so we had to stop at several joints before finding one to stay at. Advice here : book your hotel in Bali BEFORE you arrive.

Bali is, however, not where my friend and I stayed. Many of the friends I made in Thailand traveled in Indonesia before me and said to skip Bali... go to the Gili Islands. I had never heard of the Gili Islands but I received nonstop recommendations to check them out. "Bali is super tourist-y" "Skip over Bali and spend your whole time in the Gili Islands." So, we did. 

The next morning, my friend and I woke up and hopped in a cab headed toward the dock. We were told to find a "speed boat" to get from Bali to Gili Islands. Now, when I say "speed boat"... I mean it. This boat traveled entirely too fast. Like "are we going to make it there alive" "omg I think I'm going to be sick" fast. The boat ride lasted 45 minutes (45 minutes too long...) but we did arrive safely. 

There are three islands that make up the Gili Islands. The one that was recommended by most is called Gili Trawangan or, more commonly referred to as, Gili T. HOWEVER... if I could do it all over again, I would skip Gili T and head over to one of the other two islands. We stayed on Gili T for 3 days and by the end of the first day I was already complaining about it being too loud and full of partying foreigners. I asked someone about it and they said "Yeah, that's why people come to Gili T. It's full of drugs and alcohol and people wanting to get fucked up." If you know me, you'd know that this is exactly 100% opposite of what I was wanting to spend my time doing. 

If you're looking for more of a laid-back, relaxing, wine-sipping by the ocean vacation - go to Gili Air instead. I didn't visit Gili Air due to an unforeseen diagnosis of Dengue Fever on my poor, poor friend. Speaking of which, here is a no-shame promotion of a hilarious video my friend and I made of her in the hospital being diagnosed with Dengue Fever. PSA : wear more bug spray than you think you should.

Bintang is THE BEER you drink if you go to Indonesia. It's their pride & joy, I think. Although I have only been to 2 different countries in Asia, I know that their beer is absolutely not something to be that proud of. European beer and American beer is FAR better! 

You can catch more footage of me at the Sweet and Spicy Indonesian Cooking School in my video up there. This cooking class was so wonderful. I took it alone and was nervous it wouldn't be fun but the cooks and I had such a great time together. The place serves beer (Bintang, of course) and they crank up the tunes so everyone is having a blast. I cooked a total of 7 Indonesian dishes with 3 Indonesian cooks for around 25 USD - ABSOLUTELY worth it. 

Did I mention that the Gili Islands were EXTREMELY small? Gili Trawangan is the largest of all of the islands yet, there are still no cars or even motorbikes. Your only options for transportation are bicycle (which you can rent for around 5 USD for 24 hours) or a horse-drawn carriage. The horses are small and decorated so beautifully. 

The ever-so-famous Bintang beer.

Here I found a couple of workers lounging on a giant pile of God knows what. 

Indonesia is such a beautiful part of the world. I can't to go back and spend more time exploring.