If you have not been to Bali yet, this could be one of the many feelings that it can give you - Imagine getting used to waking up in your room. You wake up to the same sounds, to the same space and to the same lifestyle you have had. Then, one day you decided to take a plane ride to Bali. You arrive late afternoon and decided to call it a day. The next thing you know, you wake up to sounds of chirping, sweeping of floors, flowing water, ocean waves and maybe also a pretty decent bed.

You’re a planner, so you’ve already found out that it won’t be a cloudy day and you got up at 5:45am. You then put on a thin layer, grab your camera and head to the beach that is three minutes away from your hotel room. That is, if your stay is located in the east coast of Bali.

As you make your way through stairs and passageways within the area, you’re greeted by employees of the hotel with a bow and two palms together at their chests. You realize where the chirping was coming from, you see people sweeping floors with a newly chopped coconut tree stem, and the flowing water comes from the pond in a Balinese garden that has been set up in the hotel. As you get closer to the ocean, your five senses are flooded by sounds, salt in the air, and the beating of wind on your skin. Finally the sounds take over your thoughts and you can’t help but breathe in the rhythm of the waves.

You make it to the beach, and the sky looks like someone has taken a brush and painted an orange strip across the deep blue sky, separating the two different blues that connect at the horizon. You find a spot to sit or lay down, finding a little stillness after experiencing all the changes in energy. You watch the sun slowly rise and you think to yourself, “what a beautiful way to start the day”.

And that was just half an hour of a day in Bali.