That time I trekked a volcano in Indonesia

Hello everyone!

Glad to have you back on the Australian Dream blog. I know it’s been pretty dead on here lately, but I have a special story to tell, so I’m bringing it back to life for the occasion. 

For those who don’t know, I just returned from a trip around Indonesia with my Mom. Indo is about 3 hours from Perth ($400 return ticket Perth-Bali) which is why its popular vacation destination for Aussies.  

The whole trip was fantastic, but the highlight was undoubtedly hiking up the Rinjani Volcano, the second highest summit in Indonesia (3700m). It’s no Everest, but believe me it’s still pretty high!

While the soreness in my legs has subsided, I still hold vivid memories of the adventure, and today I want to share some of those with you. Here we go. 

As I’ve written here before, I don't like to travel in the same way as most people do. I dislike anything "touristy", for me to fully enjoy something there has to be a bit of challenge to it. Laying on a beach is nice, but it's not memorable. Climbing a mountain is.

We started out our adventure on an early morning in Sembalou, a small town on the island of Lombok. We met with our fellow trekker, a Dutch guy named Rinsan. Also there was our Indonesian guide, Aman, and our 2 porters. 

Looking at the Rinjani from our meeting point

We received the customary briefing to explain our itinerary for the 3 days/2 nights trek, and then it was time for some trekking!

Heading into the clouds

I’m assuming most of you haven't yet had the opportunity to go on such a trek, so I’ll briefly explain how it generally goes.

The days start early, around 6:30am. We each carry our own backpack containing our personal items (snacks, clothes, books). Meanwhile the porters have the much more challenging task of carrying the water, food, and tents. At the start of the journey, their load can weigh up to 50kg. 

Considering these guys weigh only about 60-65kg, it’s absolutely incredible the speed and agility with which they can climb while keeping a perfect balance. Oh, and they're all heavy smokers. Go figure...

Trying out the porters' "device"... Imagine climbing a huge mountain with this!

The first day of the trek was definitely the hardest, with a steady climb over a period of about 6 hours. 

The first 3 hours were relatively easy, and we were all chit-chatting away, soaking up the atmosphere.

After stopping for lunch, it was time for the challenging part of the day. Properly warmed-up from the morning session, I put on a Gareth Emery podcast, and decided to turn on the jets. 

I started passing everyone ahead of me (there were other groups trekking up), including the porters, who gave me incredulous looks. I doubt they were accustomed to having Westerners pass them on this highly steep part of the climb.

Not too say that it was easy though. I was actually working so hard that at some point, there was a constant stream of sweat coming down the lid of my hat... As if someone had left a water tap open! I didn’t care though, I was in the zone and loving every minute of it. 

After 3 hours of that, I finally reached the top of that part of the mountain. An epic Armin van Buuren song blaring in my headphones, endorphins rushing through my veins, I was astonished by the view that lay before me, and behind me.

Looking ahead at the lake in the crater

Looking back towards the valley

I stood there for a few minutes, basking in the moment. Massive grin on my face. Yet another prime example that the best moments are those that come from challenging ourselves, from pushing past our comfort zone.

I got back en route, and a few minutes later I arrived to campsite for the night.  A truly special place to spend a night. 

Camping up in the clouds

My mom arrived a bit later, and we enjoyed the scenery together while our porters were setting up the tents and preparing the food. Admittedly, that type of service is greatly appreciated after such a grueling day. We rested for a bit, then ate an Indonesian noodle dish around the campfire. 

Not a luxurious dining experience, but very cool nonetheless!

 After the meal, something really odd happened. I got up, and felt this sharp pain in my knee. Uh oh. I still don't understand what happened, but here I was about 2500m from the ground, barely able to walk. Not good.


I popped some anti-inflammatory meds, and went to bed. We were set to get up at 2am to climb up to the summit in time for sunrise, so I had to hope for some sort of miracle in the next 6 hours. 


2am came around, I got up and... the pain was still there. I had to accept that I wasn't going to be able to get to the summit. Fortunately, everyone was coming back to camp for breakfast after sunrise, so I could just wait for them here... Well by waiting, I mean go back to bed and sleep some more :P


Eventually, everyone came back down, exhausted but thrilled on the sights they had seen. I couldn't help but be a bit sad of having missed out... But I had more to worry about. My knee still hurt like hell, and we were about to begin a 3h hour descent into the crater to go swim in the lake. 


As you probably know, going downhill is very demanding on the knee joints, so I knew I was in for a ride. Over the first hour of descent, the pain got worse and worse.... Until I realized something. If I walked without bending my knee past a certain point, the pain was reduced by about 95%. And so began my new walking style, which was must ressembled the "gangsta limp"! 

Stoked to have found a solution to my knee problem!!

We eventually arrived to the lake were set to have lunch. While the guide was preparing some food, I opted to go in for a dip. It was quite special because that lake was formed after one the old chimneys of the volcano erupted, and then collapsed on itself, thus creating a crater. Over time, it was filled with water and created a lake. 

Up next, it was time to head towards the hot springs located nearby. It wasn't very far, but what a cool place that was. 


Imagine, all in one spot, 1 beautiful water, 3 hot springs  baths, some monkeys playing around, and a view on the surroundings. Doesn't get much better does it? Actually it does... I chatted up a cute German girl while relaxing in the hot spring ;)

Most relaxing spot ever

Checking out the little monkeys!

After all this frolicking, it was time to get my gangsta limp back on and start climbing back to the other side of the crater. It was a good 3 hour climb but we all felt refreshed from the swim so it was no problem at all. We got up there and planted the tent in one of the coolest spots ever.

"Tent with a view"

Enjoying some quality Mom & Son time in front of the volcano

While everyone was relaxing before dinner, I still felt a bit disappointed that I had missed out on the first part of the day, the climb to the summit. I still had energy and felt kinda restless. So I did what I do when I feel that way.... I worked out :)  As you can imagine, I got a few funny looks but I didn't care!

Push-ups at 2700m altitude, felt great!

After a restful night sleep, it was time for the 3rd and final day of our adventure, the descent back to civilization. We had a bit of a surprise when we started walking and saw a group of about 50 soldiers run past us. Intrigued, we asked our guide what going on and he found out that the Indonesian army was having a training mission here that day. I thought it was going to be an uneventful day, but that was certainly spicing things up a little!

Chilling at a rest area with the Indonesian army

Everything was going nicely and I was actually getting a bit bored when, about 5km from the end when, we heard a strange noise coming from the distance. Unsure what it was, we looked towards our guide. All he said was: "Rain, big rain". 12 seconds later, a proper tropical downpour started. 

As is always case with this kind of rain, it sucks for the first minute, and then it becomes funny. We were soaked... and still stoked! With a torrent of water streaming down the hill, soldiers running past us, it certainly felt like a proper adventure! Perfect way to end the trek. 

The climbing crew, soaked, exhausted, but above all... happy :)

So here you have it, the story of that time I trekked a volcano in Indonesia. I do hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully I'll have another good adventure story for you in the next few weeks! Ciao!

Top 10 life-lessons from Down Under

When I set off for the Land Down Under 6 months ago, I set 3 goals for myself. 

The first one was to have fun and make the most of it. 

The second was to fully live and embrace the Aussie Culture. 

The 3^rd, and perhaps most important one, was to use this experience to help me develop as a man and strive towards achieving my full human potential.

As William James once said, “Most people live, whether physically, intellectually, or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness, and of their soul’s resources in general, much like a man who, out of his whole bodily organism, should get into a habit of using and moving only his little finger.”

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. James on this topic. Therefore, I decided to use my 18 months in Australia to consciously work on my mental, physical, spiritual, and relational capabilities. At the age of 24, I believe I am at the perfect stage of my life to do this. I am old enough to understand the world around me, yet still young to shape my ways and beliefs in a way that will help me get the most out of my time on this planet.

I have been on this self-discovery and personal development journey for 6 months now, and decided to take a moment to look back and appreciate the progress I’ve made.  I feel extremely blessed about how things have gone so far, and I decided to give back by sharing the top 10 lessons I’ve learned in 2010. I’m hopeful that each one of you will benefit from at least a few of them.  

#1 Our mind is our best ally

“Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world.” –Emerson

“The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.” –Darwin

In life, there’s only one person we’re going to spend every minute of our life with. It’s not our husband/wife, parents or siblings. It’s ourself. Based on that, doesn’t it make sense to devote some time to getting to know our mind better, to gaining better control over it? I believe so, for it is our mind that determines our perception of the world. By improving our mind, we improve our world.  The quality of our life literally depends on the quality of our thoughts.

Have you ever met someone who just always seems jovial and in a good mood? Someone who is always positive, always thankful for what they got instead of sulking about what they don’t have? We all have the power to be such a person.  Of course, just like anything worth achieving in life, it’ll require take a lot of effort and time. In fact it’s probably a life-long quest. But each minute invested in harnessing the power of our mind will bring rewards infinitely greater.

Our ability to monitor and selectively control our thoughts  allows us to always stay in the optimal mindset in any situation. Once we gain control over our mind, we can replace negative thoughts by positive thoughts (we can never have negative and positive thoughts at once- it’s one or the other). We can also  focus on “controlling the controllable” by letting go of all things we have no control over and directing our cognitive energy towards the things we have control over .This enables us to be more effective while greatly decreasing our stress level.

As such, I believe mind control is the only way to reach our full potential, to be as successful and happy as we can be.

The activities that have contributed to gaining better control over my mind are the following:

-Daily meditation. Whaaat? Yes, I do meditate every morning and it actually works. And to be honest, once you get the hang of it, it’s actually quite pleasant.
-Reading spiritual books and blogs (zenhabits.org, tinybuddha.com), mostly from the Buddhist philosophy.
-Reading personal development books and blogs (ridiculouslyextraordinary.com, http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/).
-Yoga, which strengthens the mind-body connection.
-Mindfulness, which is the practice of being fully present in the moment, aware of our thoughts and what’s going on around us.

#2 Everything is interconnected

When we make one positive change in our life, it creates a domino effect that positively impacts all the other areas of our lives. 

For example, when one starts to live an active lifestyle he/she will start having more energy and feeling better, which leads to having more positive thoughts, which will leads to having less stress, which leads to better sleep, which leads to even more energy, which leads to having better relationships with others, which leads to more confidence, which leads to more achievements... and so on...

One positive change creates a virtuous circle and leads to a more happy and fulfilled life.

#3 We can be whatever we want to be

 “I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavour.” –Thoreau

“The growth of the human mind is still high adventure, in many ways the highest adventure on earth.”  -Norman Cousins

Many people believe that we are born a certain way and that our personality is set. Their thinking lies along the lines of “This is just the way I am, take it or leave it.” This mindset is incredibly limiting and unfortunate.

 The truth is we all have the power to shape ourselves in the way that we want to. Whatever personality trait we desire can be developed, and any negative trait can be slowly eradicated.

I believe that to achieve greater success in life we need to work harder, but not in the way we generally think of. Granted, we can work harder on our relationships, on our jobs, on our projects, and that will yield results. But more importantly, we must work on ourselves. Every minor improvement we make on ourselves will radiate on every single sphere of our life. We can be as great as we can dream. 

All it takes is constant work and dedication to making ourselves a slightly better human being every single day. 

#4 Feed your mind and it will feed you

Since I got here, I haven’t watched TV. I just took it out of my life habits. It gave me a whole lot more spare time, which I’ve decided to re-invest in “character building” activities. Reading self-help, spiritual, inspirational, challenging, enlightening material.

What I’ve found is that not only are those reading educational, they it also help me tune in to a “higher frequency”.  For the next few hours, it’s as though my conscious or subconscious is pondering on the material. The result is that I have so much more good creative ideas than ever before. The funny thing is that sometimes those ideas seemingly pop out of nowhere, but I think they come from my subconscious mind.

Hence, reading enlightening material (self-help, professional development, spiritual, and “challenging” literature, not novels or the newspaper) is literally food for though. You feed your mind great stuff and next thing you know it will reward you with great thinking. It’s simply brilliant.

#5 Don’t be afraid to think differently

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" –Albert Einstein

“People will always try to stop you from doing the right thing if it’s unconventional.” –Warren Buffett

Because something has always been done a certain way doesn’t mean it's the best way to do it. 

Recently, I’ve found that when we start digging, we often find that a lot of commonly accepted knowledge is set on shaky or even false grounds. While it is easier to accept the status quo, the only way that we will ever solve today’s society’s problems is by thinking in a different way that those who created the problems in the first place.  Challenging the status quo again and again is the only way we can ever move forward as a society.

Therefore, it is imperative to allow ourselves to challenge assumptions, pre-conceived ideas, and accepted truths, no matter how strong the resistance of the majority. Any idea that goes on to revolutionize the world is generally considered crazy in the early stages.

Just remember... once upon time, people would have you crazy if you claimed that the Earth was round, but it doesn’t make it any less true.

#6 Write everything down

One thing I’ve learned the hard way is that when you start feeding your mind and getting numerous ideas everyday, it’s crucial to write them down as they come. The human memory is far from foolproof, and I’ve unfortunately lost a few of the ideas that popped into my head. To prevent that, I’ve started writing them down in the “Notes” application of my iPhone as soon as they come. An added benefit is once you’ve written down an idea, it gains substance. It’s not just something in your head, it is tangible. It’s the first step towards making that idea a reality.

#7 Action is all that really matters

“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit at home and think of it. Go out and get busy.” –Dale Carnegie

“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get us and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.” –George Bernard

Reading, thinking, dreaming, meditating... it’s all nice and well, but action is the only thing that actually counts. I’ve written a full post on this (which can be found here http://phil-theaustraliandream.blogspot.com/2010/11/actions-separate-people.html), but this is so important that I felt compelled to re-iterate it.  Sometimes when people start internalizing, they can become more passive and it compromises their relationship with the outside world. Too many great ideas are thought of and not acted upon (we are all, to some degree, guilty of this).

In order to achieve anything, the most important step is the first one. Once we get a project in motion, even if we don’t fully know what we’re doing, we’re already halfway there. Somehow, once we commit to a project, things start falling into place, as if the universe conspired to help us, and all that is left to do is be persistent and good things will come.  

Action is what separates people who achieve, from those who wish they had achieved and spend the rest of their life thinking “what if”...  

#8  No money, no problem

I moved to Australia with 2000$ to my name, and a few people thought that was foolish of me. Perhaps it was, but it also turned out to be greatly beneficial. Not having much money thought me 2 things:

1-     

A frugal lifestyle:

Basically, I’ve learned that stuff really isn’t what makes us happy. People, experiences, accomplishments are what really make us happy. And we don’t necessarily need much money for any of them. Studies consistently show that after a certain point, about 40,000$/year in developed countries, there is no correlation between income and happiness. Take a minute to consider this. Generally speaking, whether you make 50,000$/year or 1,000,000$/year has no real bearing on how happy you’ll  be. I’m the poorest I’ve ever been this year, and quite possibly the happiest I’ve ever been, so I tend to agree. I don’t own a TV or a car, I don’t ever eat at the restaurant, I don’t buy clothes, I rarely buy more than one beer when I go to the bar... And I’m still super happy. Go figure!

2-      Creative money-making:

The other thing that living on a tight budget is teaching me about falls in line with the old adage that “necessity breeds creativity”. There are countless ways to make money out there if you keep your eyes open, spot opportunities, and find creative ways to exploit them. I am still in the learning phase of this but I intend to do a lot more of it in 2011. For now, I am currently in the process of getting a job that will pay me 60$/hour for doing fun and easy work. Nothing is confirmed yet so I won’t get into the details, but once it goes through I’ll let you know. And I can assure you you’ll get a good laugh out of it!

#9 Hedonistic vs Eudaimonic happiness

There are two competing theories out there as to what makes humans happy. Hedonistic happiness is derived from eating, drinking, lounging around... Living “the good life”. Meanwhile, eudaimonic happiness is derived from achievements, from developing ourselves, from pushing our limits, etc. Once upon a time, hedonic activities used to make me happy but something inside me has changed over time.

For instance, given the opportunity of spending a day laying on the beach drinking cold beer, or spending a day climbing a mountain and pushing myself to get to the top, 9 times out 10 I will choose the mountain. Laying on the beach is fun, climbing a mountain is fulfilling. To me, fulfillment reaches a much deeper level of my being than merely having fun.

Clearly, we need a bit of both, but generally speaking I believe eudaimonic activities contribute much more to my happiness than hedonistic activities. That’s why one of my most important resolutions for 2011 is less partying Friday/Saturday night, and more Saturdays/Sundays spent doing cool activities such as surfing, spearfishing, cliffjumping, sailing, biking, running, hiking, camping, exploring, writing, reading, etc.  

#10 Superhealth 

Last but certainly not least, over the last 4 months I have come to realize that there is such a thing as “superhealth”. If you look up “health” in the Oxford English dictionary, it is defined as “the absence of illness or disease”. I find that utterly ridiculous. Not being sick is the bare minimum threshold.

Someone who drives to work, sits at their office all day, eats processed food, drinks 4 cups of coffee to get through the day, carries around 20lbs of extra weight, has no energy left at night to do anything but sit around and watch TV might not be sick but there is absolutely no way that person is healthy. Sadly, that description represents the average person in the Western world nowadays. I strongly believe that it is critical that we, as a society, change our definition of health over the next decade. As baby-boomers get older, we will be faced with the consequences of that lifestyle and trust me, they will be disastrous.

To me, health means so much more. It means waking up and feeling awesome, having high levels of energy all day, it’s looking the way you want to look, it’s being able to perform well in all the activities you do and not get tired doing it. I guess we should call that “superhealth”.

I’ve been doing extensive research on the subject since I got here. I figure that since I only have 1 life to live, I might as well feel and look as good as possible while I’m here. The way I see it, superhealth is the only way to truly live life to the fullest.

I feel so strongly about this concept that I have decided to devote a whole new blog project to it. It is called “100 Happy & Healthy years”.  On this blog, I will write weekly articles on what I believe are the 4 pillars of superhealth: super-nutrition, an active lifestyle, spirituality, and self-development. You can visit my new blog here: 100happyandhealthyyears.blogspot.com. 

Check it back regularly and I promise you will learn things that will, if you apply them, lead you towards a more enjoyable, fulfilled, and prosperous life.

Thanks, and have a super day!

Phil

Fast Times in Byron Bay

Have you ever experienced the feeling of walking into a town you’ve never been before, and instantly feeling at home there? As if you had just found that place on earth you’ve been dreaming of all your life?

It had happened to me a few times before, but never quite as strongly as it did when I arrived in Byron Bay. It was truly love at first sight. 

Imagine a small surf town that has amazing surf breaks, gorgeous beaches and scenery, a chill atmosphere, friendly people,  a really healthy vibe (the town has like 5 health food stores and 0 fast food chains restaurants) , a vibrant nightlife (fun bars and great live music acts every night), some unbelievable trails for running , and to top it all off.... fun gorgeous girls everywhere. Can you say Heaven on earth? 

The only unfortunate thing about all this is that we only had 48 hours in Byron Bay. Clearly, there was only one possible course of action. Make those 48 hours as unforgettable as possible. 

Here is the story of our short but oh-so-sweet stay in beautiful Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia.

On the 6^th of January, Matt and I set off from Surfers Paradise, a great place in its own right, but overdeveloped and too commercial for my liking for the short 1 hour drive to Byron Bay. We arrived there sometime in the late arvo, drove around for a bit looking for a hostel to sleep in that night. 

1 hour and 4 different hostels later, we had to face the fact that the whole town was booked out. We were going to have to be a little creative about this sleeping situation. 

I could see Matt was worried about this predicament of sorts, but personally I was getting quite excited about all this. I love adventures, and I could clearly see an epic one looming ahead. I had no idea where we were going to sleep 8 hours later, but I knew one thing. Those 8 hours were going to be unpredictable, really fun, and perhaps even a little wild. 

We started weighing our options, and the one to emerge from our discussion was to park the Jeep in the middle of the town, and “set up camp”. Meaning, we were going to put all our stuff on the front seats, put the back seats down, lay down our foam mattress in the back, and hope for it to be relatively comfortable.

Operation “Transform Jeep into a bedroom” was going smoothly until it started raining. Not a little light rain, a friggin’ tropical downpour . There wasn’t much we could do at that point, so we took cover. While we were waiting for the rain to subside, we cranked up some tunes, poured ourselves a few rhum & cokes, all the while thinking that things could be a whole lot worse!

Once the rain stopped, we finished organizing the jeep, and upon testing this new set we agreed that after a night a partying we would have no problem sleeping there. Delighted about this realization, we started walked the 50m that separated us from what Matt assured me was the wildest bar in Byron Bay, Cheeky Monkey. With every step towards the bar I was getting a little more excited, and then, my excitement reached its paroxysm as I saw a sign indicating that it was Wet T-Shirt Contest night at Cheeky Monkey. Haha! This was going to be one hell of a night :D 

We got in, ordered a couple pints and started chatting up some of the fellow patrons. It was all good fun but somewhat tame until the MC got on stage and exclaimed that as a warm-up for the Wet T-Shirt Contest, they needed 6 contestants to come up on stage for a Trivia Contest. I instantly started jumping up and down to show my interest and next thing I knew I was up on stage with 2 other dudes and 3 girls. The MC then explained the rules: each contestant was going to be asked a question and a right answer would get them through to the next round, and a wrong answer would yield two options. The first one was to get off stage and be out of the game, while the second one was to take off one item of clothing and make it through to the next round. Woah, definitely a good way to spice things up!

The game got underway and slowly but surely everyone started getting wrong answers and taking off some clothing. Eventually, other contestants started getting off stage and it got down to me and this cute British girl.  Oh yeah, at that point I was only wearing my boxers and she was only wearing panties and was trying to cover up her boobs as best as she could with her arm haha!

Hahah just thinking back about it makes me laugh! The whole time I was up there I just had the biggest grin on my face. Here I was, half drunk and half naked, in my dream town, on a stage in a bar in front of about 200 people, playing trivia against a topless girl. Priceless! 

The girl and I went back and forth, knowing that we had no room for mistake because, well, we only had 1 item of clothing left each! Then, the MC  asked me the following question:  “At the 1996 Olympic Games, which country came second in the medal count”? I started thinking... “All right, 1996 that was in Atlanta, so the USA would have won it for sure... but who came second?” Everybody in the audience was screaming out answers... Germany, China, Brazil, Russia...  This was a sports question, my forte, so I decided to follow my instincts. “Russia” I uttered confidently into the microphone. 

The MC flipped the card and said “The 1996 Olympics were in Atlanta and the USA won... and that year, 2 countries boycotted the Games. China was one of them... and the other one was... Russia! Hence, in 1996, it was Germany who finished second in the medal count at the Olympics”. Noooooooo. Hahah, oh well!!

I put my clothes back on, got off stage and headed to the bar to get a beer (all this thinking had made me thirsty!!!) and got congratulated by everybody on the way there. You could just feel that the vibe in the bar had shifted and that it was about to get real rowdy. Oh, and the wet t-shirt contest was still up ahead!!! PLL (Percentage of Loving Life) was sky-high!!!

The rest of the night was just great, I got to witness my first ever wet t-shirt contest and it was as entertaining as I had imagined it. Eventually the 2 finalists took off their tops and it became sort of a topless dancing contest. The crowd was going off and everyone was having a blast.

Once that was over, the staff cleared up the stage, the lights went down, and the dancefloor got out of control. I was totally enjoying the new found semi-fame I had earned from my trivia performance, and I was just all over the place dancing it up with everybody. Rowdy Phil was truly in fine form. Matty was out there ripping it up as well and we were loving life... Until we went up to the bar for a refreshment, and the bouncer tapped my shoulder and said “Your buddy’s had too much to drink, he’s outta here.” I tried to argue but then I looked into Matty’s empty eyes and realized that yeah, he was gone. I gave him the keys to the Jeep and told him I’d see him at some point in the next 12 hours. 

I grabbed my beer, went back on the dancefloor and to my utmost surprise, 10 minutes later Matty had reappeared with a new t-shirt and a cheeky smile on. All I heard him say over the music was “I’m back baby!!!”. Hahahah! 

From there, I’ll have to admit that things got a little blurry. I ended up befriending a lovely local girl and once the bar closed, we decided to go on a nice stroll on the beach. It was great fun, we really had some great conversation. I really feel like we got to know each other better while at the beach!

Eventually it was time to head back to the Jeep and I got lost in the middle of the town but somehow made it back to the Jeep around 5am and got “into bed” with Matty who was passed out cold. 3 hours later I woke up with a sore neck and sweating because it was like 35 degrees in the jeep. Only remedy was to pop the trunk open meaning that until we got up, people would be walking by us on their way to the grocery store. They probably had a good laugh looking at those 2 dudes sleeping in their underwear in the back on a Jeep. I know I would have ;)

The next day I was admittedly feeling a little rough. However, I am a strong believer in  getting up and being active to get over a hangover.  Hence, I headed off to the beach with my surfboard to catch a few waves. They were huge that day and paddling out to the break turned out to be a bit of a mission, but once I was out there, everything felt right once again. I ended up staying out for a good 4 hours, surrounded by some unreal surfers, just taking it all in and trying to ride the best I can in those 6-7ft curlers. 

 

I came out for some food, and next up I set off one of the best runs my life. Right next to the beach in Byron Bay is a small mountain with a lighthouse at the top. I started climbing the mountain and was getting a bit tired when I had one of the coolest sights of my life. On my left, a cliff overlooking the ocean and the beach. On my right, luscious vegetation and palm trees. In front, this gorgeous fit girl running down in front of me. If that wasn’t enough, exactly at that moment, a black Lamborghini rolled past us. Palm trees, ocean, beach, beautiful girl, beautiful car, all in my field of vision at once. All this amplified by the endorphins flowing through my body. Wow. 

That night we went out for a few drinks a place called Woody’s Surf Shack. While it was a slightly less eventful night, I was quite content sipping my drink and watching the surf videos being shown on the flat screen TV’s all over the bar. Having spent 4 hours earlier trying to simply catch the waves, I was mesmerized by what some of the guys out there can do on those waves.

The next day, unfortunately, it was already time to kiss Byron Bay goodbye. On our way out, we stopped in a place called Nimbin. I’m sure some of you will have heard about it... While I won’t get into the specifics , let’s just say it is a small hippie town in the middle of nowhere that could be described as “the Australian Amsterdam” haha! Strange place, but it was good to see!

 

All in all, the Byron Bay adventure was a massively positive one. So much so that I’ve promised myself I’d be back sometime, somehow. There is a company called Power Super Foods for which I would love to work and that has its offices nearby, so I’m thinking I might go there for a few months after my MBA. I’ll be graduating in November 2011, and I really don’t see myself going back to Canada at the start of Canadian winter/Australian summer, so... who knows, Byron Bay might be my next destination!

My wonderfully odd Cricket experience

G'day everybody!

How are things? I hope you're all getting in the holiday spirit. For me it feels a bit strange. My brain doesn't quite comprehend that it's December 24nd and 35 degrees outside. Compounded by the fact that I spend all day working outdoors, it just doesn't feel like Christmas is tomorrow. Doesn't matter too much, I'm loving this endless summer of the long sunny days!

I wrote some time ago about my resolution of embracing the Aussie culture, and as you might know sports is an integral part of the local culture. During the winter season, it's all about the Australian Football, and now that summer is in full swing, it was time to immerse myself in the Australian summer sport of predilection, Cricket.

Now, as most North Americans, I had always perceived Cricket as this weird sport that looks like baseball but on a round field. I had also heard something about test matches being played over 5 days, which just seemed ridiculous.

You might remember that about a month ago I had watched a Cricket game on the UWA campus, but it had been casual watching at best. And there were about 12 spectators on site so the atmosphere wasn't exactly electric.

No, I needed to see Cricket on the highest stage, a match involving the Australian National Team. The real deal.  Luckily for me, since 1882, Australia and England engage in a biennial cricket contest called The Ashes. Played over the whole month, The Ashes are comprised of 5 test matches, which last 5 full days each, and are contested in 5 different cities. Australia and England alternate at the series' host.

This year, Australia was set to play on their home turf in the cities of (in order) Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne over the whole month of December and into earlier January.

Clearly this was the perfect opportunity for me to watch some world-class cricket and really understand why Aussies love this strange sport so much! But much to my chagrin, tickets for the event were way out of my financial range. I would have to come up with a plan to "beat" the system.

The solution eventually presented itself in the form of a job ad by promotion company called Wingman which was recruiting temporary staff members to promote their client, Vodafone, over the Perth leg of the series. Perfect! 1 short application form and 1 phone interview later, I was the newest member of Vodafone's promotional team.

My job consisted of standing at a booth where Vodafone customers only had to give us some information in exchange for a small radio commentary headset. Basically we were handing out free stuff to people who were loving life because they were outside watching the Cricket in beautiful weather. There were 2 of us at the booth and once we were past the initial rush when people came in, the rest of the day was quite chill. Hence, I had plenty of time to sneak off and go enjoy the Cricket will the girl I worked with stood guard at the booth.

What I was supposed to do for work...

...what I was actually doing :)

Everytime I sat down around the oval to watch the match, I would strike up a conversation with someone close to me so they could help me understand the countless intricacies of this sport. Over the course of the 4 days I ended up working, I finally came to understand the game.

The Western Australia Cricket Association Oval

Believe it or not, I can actually read that board now

I thought about trying to explain the sport of cricket to you, but I really didn't know where to start... Then I remember a passage in Bill Bryson's famous booked "Down Under" where he brilliantly describes the sport of Cricket through his American eyes:

"Imagine a form of baseball in which the pitcher, after each delivery, collects the ball from the catcher and walks slowly with it out to centre field; and that there, after a minute's pause to collect himself, he turns and runs full tilt towards the pitcher's mound before hurling the ball at the ankles of a man who stands before him wearing a riding hat, heavy gloves of the sort used to handle radioactive isotopes, and a mattress strapped to each leg. Imagine moreover that if this batsman fails to hit the ball in a way that heartens him sufficiently to try to run sixty feet with mattresses strapped to his legs he is under no formal compulsion to run; he may stand there all day, and as a rule, does. If by some miracle he is coaxed into making a misstroke that leads to his being put out, all the fielders throw up their arms in triumph and have a hug. Then tea is called and everyone retires happily to a distant pavilion to fortify for the next siege. Now imagine all this going on for so long that by the time the match concludes autumn has crept n and all your library books are overdue. There you have cricket."

Even if Bryson's description is a bit cheek-in-tongue, it's actually quite accurate. The craziest part about this part to me is how long they play for! Everyday, for 4-5 days in a row, they play from 10am to 6pm. As far as rules go... well each team alternates batting, but instead of being like in baseball where after 3 outs it's the other team's turn, now the bowling team needs to take 10 wickets from the batting team. This can be achieved by "bowling" the batsman which means throwing the ball and hitting the stumps with the ball. (Examples here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjZdaVmz_kg), by catching the ball before it hits the ground once the batsman hit it, or if the ball hits the batter while he's standing in front of the stumps.

The funny thing is... taking 10 wickets generally takes about 6-7 hours. This means that on a good day, a team can bat all day. Hell, on a good day, the same player can bat all day (while I personally didn't witness that, Mike Hussey, an Aussie batsman, did manage to stay on for 4 hours, facing something like 150 bowls before being put out). No wonder it's called a "Test" match as it really tests players' ability to stay focused for very long periods of time).

What I came to realize while I was there is that the reason Cricket is so popular is all about the atmosphere. Imagine the scene... you're going there for the whole day with a few of your friends, the sun is shining, the cold beer tastes like heaven, everyone around you is loving life. Families bring picnics, hardcore supporters are chanting and waving flags. It's one big social gathering where the match serves more as a background than as the main focal point.

The bar line-up at... 10:30am. Who needs coffee when you can have a cold beer?!

 With 3 of the numerous dudes who rock up in costumes and get progressively more rowdy as the day goes on!

The "Barmy Army" aka the hardcore British fans who flew all the way here to cheer on their team

Funny story... As the week progressed, I got really good at navigating around the oval and sneaking into all the VIP sections. On day 2, I was sitting in the best section of the whole oval, right behind the stumps. I was eating my lunch and minding my own business and eventually I got up to go back to work. Only problem is... nobody had told me you weren't supposed to get up a certain times to avoid distracting the batsman. To make matters worse, I was wearing all red, the same colour as the ball. The result... the referee had to stop play twice because I was distracting the batsman! The commentator on the radio apparently pretty much called me an idiot in front of millions of listeners and said I should get kicked out for my behaviour... Oops!! Hahahah..

All in all though, a truly stellar few days and it made me realize that working at events is a really fun way to watch cool stuff, while getting paid for it. Sweet deal! I will definitely be partaking in some more stuff like that in the near-future so hopefully I'll have a few more stories down the road.

All right, I'm out, time to go crack open a nice cold beer and throw some shrimps on the barbie (no joke!).

Merry Christmas all!

Much love,
Phil

PS I guess I should mention that Australia ended up winning the match 577-311 and the series is now drawn 1 win, 1 loss, 1 tie for each team so things are heating up as they are headed to Melbourne!!!

The 2 most important questions in the Universe

Catchy title isn't? Well, there is no false advertising on this blog, so I will indeed share these 2 precious pearls of wisdom with you. But before I do so, allow me to give the 2 questions the introduction they deserve.

I strongly believe that there is (at least) one major problem with today's Western world mentality. Everyday we are trying to do more, share more information, be more connected. This whirlwind of activities, stimulation and information may be entertaining, but it also prevents us from doing many useful things. One of them is: taking time to reflect on the path we're taking through life.

If you're working long hours, pleasing your boss, and building good connections... You must be on the fast-track to success, right? Perhaps so. Perhaps not.

You're most probably on the fast-track to somewhere. But to success? Not necessarily. You might be headed in the wrong direction at full speed. And that's a dangerous proposition.

You'll move up the ladder and become more "important", but ultimately if you don't enjoy the place where you spend most of your day, you're not really "successful". You might have power and money, but you won't have true success. At least not in my book.

That's why I believe that it is critical to take a step back. Pause for a minute. And take a good hard look at the direction we're headed to. Are we headed nowhere fast? Or are we methodically making our way towards our goals and aspirations.

Our academic system does a fairly good job at teaching us how to learn, how to think critically... But it thoroughly lacks in the department of helping us figure out what we really want to do with our lives. As a result,  most of us go by trial and error...And unfortunately this process eventually leads many people to give up searching for their true calling and settle for an unexceptional life.

But this can be avoided. It's not going to happen overnight, and it's going to require some soul-searching. And possibly a certain degree of risk. But it'll all be worth it in the end.

All right so... what are the 2 most important questions in the Universe?

The first one is, "What do you want to get out of your life?".

The second one is, "How can you help others in a way that no one else can?".

Simple enough, but not necessarily easy to answer. I don't claim to have life all figured out (far from it!) but I'm fairly certain that finding the answers to these 2 questions is a quantum leap in the direction of true success and true happiness.

I consider myself very fortunate that through my experience in Australia I have been able to find my 2 answers. I don't think moving away from home is absolutely necessary to find our true self, but it sure as hell helps. There's just something about being in a new environment, surrounded by new people, that forces introspection and leads to better self-knowledge.

I'm currently reading an absolutely incredible book called "The Art of Non-Conformity: Set your own rules, Live the life you want, and Change the world". The book's premise is to show the reader that it's possible to step out of the mold, and to live the life that we dream about. We don't have the live a conventional life, we don't have to live the life that others want for us.

Our life is a journey and we have the power to shape it the way that makes us truly happy.

I would say so far it is one of the most influential books I have ever come across, and I definitely recommend it to anyone. It can be purchased here: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Non-Conformity-Rules-Change-World/dp/0399536108. I have to warn you though. This is a powerful book that will make you re-evaluate the way you live your life. But it will also inspire you to something better, something more meaningful.

*Edit* You can also download the condensed version of the book for free here: http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/files/2008/06/worlddomination.pdf

Enjoy the ride.

Until next time,

Phil

The Tourists and the Travelers

As many of you know, I broke my nose surfing on my second day in Bali. Obviously it wasn't the most thrilling of experiences, but being down with a facial injury has also had its upsides. Namely, I've been able to take some time off, and relax while observing the world around me, and reflecting on a few things.

One of those things was, what do I really like about traveling? I mean, there are a lot of good reasons to go traveling to foreign lands, and everyone has their own.

For some, it's the local culture and food. For others, it's the socializing and partying with like-minded individuals from around the globe. For a few, it's simply the feeling of getting away and living a "parallel" life for a while... What is it for me? What aspect of traveling really gets to me (and has made me somewhat addicted to this lifestyle)?

Well, for one, I know that it has nothing to do with going to tourist hot spots. Simply put, whenever I'm somewhere surrounded by hundreds of pictures-snatching tourists, I just feel like this is the commercial experience. The easy way to see things. The one that's sold to you at an overpriced charge and doesn't paint the real picture of the country you're in. Take a bus somewhere, get off the bus, take a few pictures, check off the box. Good job.

For me, the beauty of traveling is in the experience. It's in going to weird and hard to reach places, and doing it a way that few would attempt. It's as much about the destination as it is the journey. 

I know there's quite a few people who think like me out there. Those for whom the ideal vacation involves climbing some crazy mountain, cycling for kilometers on hand... Just doing something that includes some degree of risk and uncertainty.

The best day I had in Indonesia was last Thursday, when I decided to go kayaking around the Gili Islands.I was staying on Gili Trawangan, the first off 3 smalls islands off the coast of Lombok. While Gili T has its fair share of tourists, Gili Meno (the middle one) is almost deserted, and Gili Air (the one closest to the coast) is inhabited almost only by locals.

Gili Trawangan in the foreground, with Gili Meno and Gili Air behind it

I decided that it would be shame to only see one of the 3 islands during my stay there. I asked around, and learned that there was a boat tour that allowed to see the other 2 islands. I considered it for a second...Take a boat, get off the boat, take a few pictures, check the box. Naahhhh. Not my style.

Instead I went to see one of the locals who rented out kayaks and asked him if he thought it'd be possible to kayak to Gili Air, the furthest of the 3 islands. He retorted that no, it wasn't really possible because there are strong currents between the islands and large waves around them too. Not possible eh? We'll see about that. Half an hour I was getting on my kayak with some provisions of water and banana, and a firm intention of proving the locals wrong.

I started paddling out towards Gili Meno, where I figured I would stop briefly to explore the deserted island and get a bit of rest. It didn't seem like it was that far... But if you've ever kayaked, you know that it gets tiring quickly, real quickly. It's literally, 1 minute you're paddling and you feel great, and the next you have no choice but to stop and take a breather. Kinda like that time I raced my bike against those 2 guys and ran out of goon-induced energy.

After half an hour I got fairly close to Gili Meno, and once I got closer the waves picked up and almost carried me to the island. It was awesome to ride them like that, but I also knew I would have to fight them on my way off the island. But that wasn't a pressing matter. I just wanted to get to that deserted island and see what was there.After laying on the beach for a few minutes, I set off to explore and saw some pretty cool things. Lots of fruit trees, including some which were totally unknown to me.

Anyone know what that is?!

I eventually felt rested enough to attempt the second (and hardest) leg of the trip, which would lead me to Gili Air. As anticipated, leaving Meno proved to be quite tricky, and I almost got flipped over by the waves a few times. It definitely gave me a few good scares, because flipping over would have meant a sure death for my camera.

Once out in the open sea, it was more of the same. 5 minutes of glorious paddling, followed by 2 minutes of pure exhaustion. Rinse and repeat. It was also around noon at that point, and the sun was scorching. Not much shade to hide in on a kayak in the middle of the ocean...!

After a good hour of labor, I started getting close to the island and felt a surge of motivation.

Gili Air looming ahead

At that point I figured that if I just got a nice steady pace and didn't take any rest, I was less than half an hour from the beach. I ate a banana, drank some water, and got in the zone. No Gareth Emery podcast this time, but the sound of the wind and the ocean isn't so bad either ;)

30 minutes later, my whole body drenched in sweat, my whole upper body burning in exhaustion, I finally reached the island.

My adventuring vessel

A broken nose is only a handicap if you let it be one!

The journey was certainly a challenging one, but the destination was incredible. Gili Air is unlike any place I had ever seen before. The locals who live there still adopt the same lifestyle as their ancestors did. They live in little huts (without electricity), have a few chickens and cows who graze around freely, and pick their fruits from the countless fruit trees scattered around the island. A simple but authentic way of live.

One of the most "pimped out" huts of the island

I walked around for about an hour and it felt wonderful to witness a place that is still untouched by modern civilization. No trace of globalization here! The locals looked at me a little funny when our path crossed (my face cast might have had a role to play in that) but I just said hello and they didn't seem to mind me.

I picked a couple of mangos from a mango trees and maybe it was because I had picked them myself, but they just seemed to taste better than the ones from the grocery store. I also tried some unknown red fruit I found.. It looked and tasted delicious, but 5 minutes after eating it, my throat was burning in agony. Oops!

After exploring the island and marveling in this, it was time to hop back onto my kayak and go back to the modern world (well, relatively speaking!) of Gili Trawangan. I won't get into the specifics but that ride back was bloody hard. No longer drawn by the mystery of the island in the distance, I just felt tired and sluggish. I was even starting to get sunburned, which is an absolute rarity in my case.

I thought about giving up and calling over one of the scuba diving boats nearby to get them to give me a lift back... But deep down I knew I would regret it if I did. I set off on this adventure to have an adventure and explore a new land, but also to push myself while seeing what I'm made of. And giving up is not how I want to define myself. So I just put my head down and paddled until I felt my arms were gonna fall off..... And I finally got there..

Upon returning my kayak, the locals called me crazy for doing what I had just done. While I felt pretty drained, I also enjoyed that distinctively sweet feeling feeling I get when I do something  people said I couldn't do!

From there, I grabbed my towel and laid down on the beach for a minute..... Closed my eyes.... and woke up 2 hours later! Happy days.

Overall, I feel like traveling can be seen as a metaphor for life in general. The same principle applies: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. You can choose to take the easy road, but the reward will be commensurate. Alternatively, you can go for the hard way, and try to do something challenging, something different. Believe me, the latter is infinitely more gratifying and ultimately, enjoyable.

Adios!

Phil

The World is changing... Fast!

Globalization is one of the words we hear thrown around all the time these days. We all have an idea of what this concept refers to... But does anyone really understand it?

Over the last few days in my trip through Indonesia, I've been able to witness Globalization in action. Trust me, it is real. And it is happening FAST.

For the first few days I was in Kuta, which is the main city in Bali. I couldn't wait to get there and experience the world-class surf and the paradisaical beaches. The good news, the surf is indeed world-class and the beaches are beautiful. The not-so-good news is... when you're in the ocean, looking towards the beach, all you see beyond the palm trees is giant cranes and the McDonalds arches. Not exactly my idea of a paradise setting.

When you go around the city, it becomes quite clear that there isn't much left in terms of Balinese culture around these parts. Tourist shops by the 100's, all trying to sell you the same crap, make up the bulk of the landscape. Hungry? McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, and Hard Rock Cafe are there to satisfy your culinary desires. But make sure you plan enough time to get there... because chances are you'll get stuck in traffic. Yes, traffic. In Bali. WTF?

I went to a Temple about an hour out to find some peace and quiet, and I was appalled to find that between the parking lot and the Temple, you have to walk about 400m through some more toursist shops. That was just too much for me. Enough with the touristy crap.

That's why I headed to Gili Trawangan, a tiny little island in the middle of the ocean. Only 700 people live here, and  there are no cars, no scooters, not even police. The only law they have on the island is "Be nice to other people" Definitely the right kind of place to relax and forget everything. No such thing as stress or hurry here around here!

I'm loving it here... but I'm still finding some very obvious signs that Globalization is reaching even the most remote parts of the globe. For instance... Every young person here is on Facebook. And they're loving it. Consider this for a second. 7 years ago, Facebook was created as an "elite" social network for Harvard students only. Now, young Indonesian guys are using it to try and seduce girls from the next island over, Lombok. Also, everyone on the island has a cellphone. Everyone. I didn't even have a cellphone 5 years ago

Yesterday, as I was having lunch in a little "local's" place, I struck up a chat with one of the guys. We ended up talking for a while, and he confided in me how recently he had met this girl from Texas, and now they were having this "affair" over Skype. Wait, what? This little Indo guy has a Skype-girlfriend who lives in Texas? They say the world is more connected, and thus a "smaller" place than ever before, and I can't really think of a better example of that.

This has been truly eye-opening and I'm left pondering on the consequences of all this. Surely, this helps raise the Quality of Life level of most people here... at least if we measure it in terms of GDP and technology. But it seems clear that their local culture is getting diluted through it all...

So I wonder, are all these changing for the best? Are they positively impacting the one measure that really matters, happiness? What do you think?