Navigating the unfamiliar once you embark on an adventure.

Each water spout coincides with an individual chakra. The blessing and cleansing began with a release of an om followed by rinsing the water over your face, consuming the water, and letting the water flow over you. This is the ritual and essential. This process you repeat at each spout but one (which is used for cremation.)

Independence is a feeling you experience the moment you get on a plane alone. Where you’re going is certain, but where you will land is unknown. You may arrive at self-awareness, and in doing so, pave a path toward adventure. As a traveller, the way to learn more about yourself is to go outside of what’s comfortable to transform.

For all of January 2019, I spent time in Indonesia. I was nervous to head out on my own. I was certain that even as a confident solo female traveller I would still have to take extra precautions. Watch out for my safety, communicate with people that didn't speak the same language as me, and manage to absorb as much culture and experience as humanly possible. I noticed when I told friends and family that I was going away they would ask me if I was going away to “find myself”. I know travelling my own country has shaped my personal growth, so I understand why they asked me that. It’s commonly assumed that you gain a greater sense of self when you leave home. Home is a space where you are loved, safe and things are familiar. When stuck in one place fail there is a failure in understanding that someones capacity to feel safe and at “home” can be found in the unfamiliar.

I went on a tour of a water temple in Ubud. Ubud is a region in Bali that is known for being a spiritual centre. I made my way into Ubud by cab. I travelled from Canggu to Ubud with two Dutch boys. Both of them were eighteen and just finished high school. I found it curious that they were playing the same game on their phone while we passed lush jungle. En route nestled in the lush greenery were locals residing in their thatched roof homes. I was shocked by the disconnect and that they were more caught up in their screens then what was passing by outside our car window.

I walked 40 minutes through central Ubud to my hostel. Incense filled the air as I avoided stepping on offerings. The hindu presence in Ubud is particularly poignant which is why it is the hub for spirituality, wellness and yoga. During my time in Ubud, I went to a water temple called Tirta Empul Temple. In this temple there is a sacred fresh water spring. Locals and individuals from far and wide come here for chakra cleansing. When I walked in, I was surprised at the amount of tourists in the temple. There were certain sections that only authorized monks to enter. I was interested in being blessed, but also felt conflicted. Conflicted because as a western woman and as someone who has immense respect for Hindu and Buddhist culture, I wanted to treat this sacred space with respect and not impose place in a space I wasn’t welcome. I initially felt as though I was appropriating this space. I was assured by the temple representative walking us through our cleansing that all were welcome, even those who didn't practice Hinduism. Spending time at the temple I felt incredibly welcomed, loved, warm, and grateful. 

When I made the decision to travel I was taking a risk. According to Yvette Reisinger author of the book called Transformational Tourism: Tourist Perspectives, “[travel allows] the development of awareness of one’s own existence and connection with self and others, [and] require[s] one to become more sensitive to the surrounding environment and the world”. Prior inhibitions that would have set me back in the real world like going up to a stranger and saying; “Hi, what is your name?” no longer become exercises riddled with anxiety. They become exciting prospects each time I entered a new homestay or hostel. Reisinger also outlines that as a traveller moves physically over time and space an inner psychological journey begins and one’s awareness increases (2013). After the first month of my trip spent in Bali and Lombok, Indonesia became home. I ache to return even after being back in Canada for a long time.

The travel transformation comes in adapting to the unfamiliar and belonging once you identify with a new place, space and people. That sense of belonging is ever present when you return from a trip. You belong even when the backpacks are long put away and you find yourself caught up in the loop of everyday life. Go up and talk to people in your own city and break the cycle. Do what’s unexpected and what you once did with such ease in the placed you traveled to. Reconnect with yourself and others in your own country. You never know how this could lead to another adventure in a strangely familiar place.