The popular term that has been around is called “Post Umrah Depression”, but, personally, I prefer to call it the void.
Rather than depression, which sounds too much, void seems to be a more suitable word for the feeling.
That feeling of constantly missing something that can’t be described. The ambience, the struggle, or the excitement of preparing for the Umrah. I missed them all.
The two months of arranging, researching, and making endless inquiries for the Umrah trip were one of the most exciting periods, which had been missing for a while. I always loved travel planning, but the level of excitement for this Umrah was very much above average compared to any previous trips.
On social media, I was constantly torn between resuming my typical content consumption to ‘returning to’ the typical day mood and craving any footage of Haram.
To return there quickly is not the solution. Four times going there, I understand that real work is not when we are in the most peaceful place on earth. It’s when we return home. It’s how we bring all the virtues we have there to our real life here, and that’s not easy. I found myself releasing some heavy breathing occasionally.
There should be an explanation how to deal with it and how long this will last.
The initial schedule was arriving in Madina around 9.30 morning, but then, six hours delay made us has to deal with 10 hours of layover and arrived at 21.30.
A flight with 100% punctuality and no delay history, yet, it delayed for 6 hours, ONLY on the day we departed. Instead of arrived early as planned, we had 10 hours of layover in the airport, wasted and doing nothing. Even the transit hotel plan missed us.
Half of the day was abruptly taken by unexpected event, half of them was more for Umra preparation, it left us with a full day in Madina. but Allah made this brief time spent in Madinah sufficient for all things that the heart yearned.
Arrived in Madina exhausted and unfocused. Alhamdulilah we chose the right hotel after changed it for few times. At least, something was right.
Nabawi has always been tranquil and beautiful. I only had few main itineraries in Madina other than regular pray in Nabawi. Visiting Quba, Raudah, and Rasulullah Biography museum.
Entering Raudah now needs some permit and it is quite hard to obtain. It seemed too good to be true until it turned out happening on the last minute. Even how smooth the visit was left me speechless.
It reminds me of one of Rasulullah SAW saying : “What has reached you was never meant to miss you and what has missed you was never meant to reach you”.
In this Umrah trip, we experienced both.
Umrah bound to Makkah using Haramain train and the Umrah process itself Alhamdulilah went smoothly.
The real struggle was when dealing with the bucket list.
In few previous umrah and Hajj, pray in the ground floor with Kabah view was a regular thing to have. Doing daily Tawaf on the ground floor is easily reachable. Returned to Haram afrer 13 years, it’s totally different situation to deal with.
It tortures me to certain degree on this trip until I spent almost 30.000 STEPS just to execute what has been fixated on my mind which becomes one of the bucket lists in this trip.
Constructions are all over the places and many access blocked. You can’t just enter from any gates to have what I want to have. More blocked access for woman too. Beside that, maybe as it’s getting closer to Ramadan, it’s been quite crowded.
I spent the whole first morning trying to figure out this, then continue the quest between zuhur and asr. Couldn’t stand the thought of coming here from thousand miles away just to accept things at it is without any proper fights.
Hajj was crowded and I even managed to do this for every prayer time I did in mosque, not easily of course. The voice inside kept saying, « Haji aja bisa masa umroh ngga ». Such thought can be poisonous, but I’d rather consider it as fuel.
When I finally figured it out, then I understood that I couldn’t have everything due to current situation and had to compromise a bit.
Such understanding can only be accepted knowing I have done the best possible thing through these thirty thousand steps.
Knowing what you want is indeed a blessing and a curse.
Umrah with Kid
I have been sounding several times to my travel members that we would plan for an Umrah trip once my daughter reached akil baligh age. The time when she’s considered an adult in Islam.
But then, plans changed, the calling for Umrah came faster and after a long search, the only way forward was to execute the plan.
I have told her many times that Umrah trip is totally different with any other trips that we have been through. It will be tough, it will be harder, and it won’t be a trip to the park and playground.
She once again, showed her maturity beyond her age in traveling. Dealing with long hours of layover, anxious and exhausted parents without any complaints which is the total opposite of her mother. I wish I could be as easy going as she is, a little bit.
As she has survived any kind of walks and hike, from beach to mountain, she endured all the walk and hike in this Umrah trip.
Taking children for Umrah for the first time, I learned that we should really set a realistic expectation for them and for us. Certain standard that allows them to enjoy their experience without compromising the parents standard of ibadah. We have gone far for that, after all.
So, what I did was in Madinah, we went all the way for five times prayer since the hotel is nearby and it was manageable.
While in Mecca, she only went for five times prayer in Zuhur, Maghrib and Isya altogther. Tahajud and subuh only for parents, and she just woke up once adzan subuh heard. Even her parents were leaving and doing their own thing separately.
Zuhur was at the mosque while Asr she stayed at home to have some early dinner to prepare Maghrib and Isya together at the mosque. Providing books during the waiting between Maghrib ane Isya worked well for her.
The only city tour I wanted for this trip only for museums and looked like it suits her well.
I hope this trip brings her joy, more experience and excitement as a moslem, and may Allah always guard her in every step of the way. Amin.
Epilogue
A trip (especially) to Holy Lands has always been about my meticulous plan and the reality that reminded me (especially) again and again the He is The One Who Decided all the results.
I often wonder should I be less invested in things so the expectation would be somehow not makes you devastated when things don’t go according to the plan?
I know all the theory.But, during turbulence it’s often hard to think clearly and stop the what ifs. I think this is the price of being quite opinionated and determined (In bahasa : sok tau and banyak mau).
His bounties are more than we deserve, but, the way it reaches us, I still need more training to get used to the suprise.
This trip is personally challenging. It is emotionally exhausting, dealing with the unexpected long delay, the crowd five times a day, yet it is also exceptionally rewarding.
To have all my bucket list ticked with certain degree of struggle, to witness all the little help from Allah through the strangers we met, to enjoy the trip at our own pace, the best duration of the trip, surviving a long delay, completing Umrah together, again, Alhamdulilah is an understatement.
I saw that the doctor somehow also enjoyed it in his own way. Hopefully, he also found what he’s looking for other than all the surpsingly good speciality coffee in these two holy cities. We also had a young smart mutowwif as a company and the discussion has been really interesting.
Despite the struggle and the crowd, I love Makkah more than Madinah. I love how quiet it is in spite of the loudness. I love how diverse it is. Madinah is literally tranquil, but Makkah has some level of peacefulness that Madinah couldn’t have.
In the end, May Allah receive all the worship, grant all the prayers, and give us many more chances to return to these blessed places. Amin.
Based on few experiences visiting the Holy Lands for Umra, Hajj in 2012 was one of my best experiences. Hajj is one with the crowd,super massive crowds, but it was when I experienced how peaceful solo travel among the crowd was.
I went with my late mum, but since she was not in good health, I basically wondered around Mecca alone. Not to say, I needed to take bus twice to go from our Maktab to Haram. Sometimes I needed to walk since the bus was full. Looking back, I realized how crazy was that. The best moment of life most of the time not the happiest one, but the hardest one.
Three times here, I had quite few experiences of any kind of Umrah. Ramadan, Private, one with really great service staying in the best hotels, and the government service.
I realized that I only enjoyed the time inside the mosque, the session of sitting and staring in front of Kabah, groceries in Bin Dawood, and bookstore hopping in Hilton. I didn’t really enjoy following the schedules set with so many people, going here and there. I don’t really like small talk which most people love. I don’t like uniforms. I don’t like people telling me what to do and what to wear, unless it’s mandatory.
At that time, the internet wasn’t like it is today. Only Yahoo Messenger and sms worked. Close to no distractions like what we have today.
After COVID-19, Umrah has changed a lot. Now, we can arrange our trips according to our preferences and pace.
After registering for Hajj together three years ago, the desire for Umroh grew. Umrah is part of the family long term plan. Since many years ago, the when is well-described but the exact time is a total mystery.
In spite of the uncertainty, For the past two years, I have sent inquiries to countless travel providers, sending them my terms and conditions and itineraries, and close to none have returned the message. It’s uncommon, but it’s doable if someone is willing to help.
Sometimes, I wondered whether we should just sign up for services that offered the best value and were closer to what I wanted. This is what happens if you have goals without a clear time frame. You even confuse with your own plan.
What I am certain, I want to arrange it personally. Our travelling habits over the past nine years have also influenced our decisions.
Four significant things that I wanted to decide on my own were:
Time
Duration
The flights
The Hotels
On the other hands, I want to outsource few things for which I lack the capacity, little knowledge and capabilities to handle independently.
This is Langit Senja’s first Umra experience and her father and I return after 13 and 22 years. There must be a lot that we don’t understand. No matter how much I read, with few experiences, we need proper guidance from a knowledgeable person to perform the Umrah based on Sunnah and Syariah.
I also don’t want to deal with handling and transportation during the stay.
It was a long, on-and-off search with no result until the green light appeared last year once we set the exact dates we planned to go.
Finally, one service gave me exact numbers for my travel conditions. It was precisely the kind of service I was looking for. They let the customers customise everything, and they will chip in to provide what we need. For our kind of trip, we pay for what they call LAND ARRANGEMENT (LA).
What’s included on the service it depends on the travel or the customers and price will follow. Certain travels have already specific package so you just have to choose.
This kind of umrah is what we call semi-mandiri. We have heard many Mandiri ones, but this one combines Mandiri and private ones.
My experience arranging this trip made me understand why going with a travel service is sensible and more convenient, especially for a first-timer. It’s risky if one does it without proper knowledge and experience and doesn’t have the time and energy to do all the thinking and searching.
Since I am moderately jobless with a certain level of experience, so let’s just try this. Alhamdulillah the doctor has been really supportive (or permissive?) to let me entertain any of my ideas. He’s the best for that.
Only two possibilities for trying new things: winning or learning.
Much of the content about Umrah Mandiri is solely focused on the spill budget and low cost. But, based on what I have been through, there are many things beyond the amount of money paid that cost you other (more important) things than money that we should consider. Umroh is significantly different from any other trips I have ever planned in many aspects.
Umroh Mandiri is not necessarily cheaper, but we only pay what we want to spend, be it money or other intangible costs. We all must wish for the best services with the best price we are willing to pay for such travel conditions.
While arranging the trip, I learned a lot about Umrah 101, what makes the process different, which kind of service is worth trusting your Umrah experience with, what the most significant cost of Umrah is, and how we can customise the trip according to personal and general preferences.
This is when things get complicated. Endlessly torn between “not because you can, then you should” or “What are your priorities, girl?”.
But the good side is that now everyone can go (very similar to the tagline of an LCC, which will take you to Madinah with the price of the current minimum basic income). The options are widely available, and it’s doable.
Other than that, Umrah, like any other ritual, should be done with proper knowledge and understanding. So, arranging a manasik mandiri is also part of my plan. We have been doing it three times since last December and have provided some books for the little girl.
Ultimately, whatever means we use to visit Baitullah is not as crucial as our true intention. For me, more than sticking to the budget set, this is the hardest one to keep on track.
This writing saved way before the departure, not knowing how the trip would turn out.
Safar has always been a platform to test your level of tawakal.
One of the economic principles is actually applicable to travel: Maximizing the utility of goods/things to get maximum benefits with minimum resources.
Maximising the visa before it expires since obtaining it was quite a hassle. Using the particular lane for families with young children while we still can. Low-season travel while we get the chance. And many more excuses I could make up to justify travelling.
We just returned from visiting another Kota M this year (there is a popular Netflix series here called The Setting with Kota M). While the first Kota M is located in Europe, the second one is in Australia.
After spring in Munich, we had a chance to experience another spring in Melbourne.
It was so nice to be in the place where the air is clean.
Cleaned my face after went around and the color of the cotton used to wipe the face didn’t change much, while at home, it always turned black.
Real blue sky in a normal country is surely different from one in another country whose sky is blue oligarchs.
Our itinerary in the city is always between garden and library. Walked around the huge Royal Botanical Gardens for few hours, breathing the fresh air, listening to the forest sound, and my favorite one : sat and stared by the lake. Doing boring things while traveling is always our main itinerary.
We also went to Luna Park and let the girl enjoyed quite few rides. It was hot and loud.
Done with sensory overload, what we need to is full amount of tranquility. So off we went to St. Kilda Beach.
After Three days in Melbourne, several things that really nice after visiting two cities in Australia :
They have the most comfortable transport station to go around the town. Both Sydney and Melbourne have quite massive tram routes where most major landmarks can be reached by tram only. Tram is so convenient. No going up and down the stairs for subway/train. It makes everything feels near. Need to go to a proper beach? One ride 30mins tram away from city. Need to visit art gallery? Few rides stops from central. Need to run by the river or slow morning walk in a proper beautiful garden? Tram will take you there. I am always sold to a place where public transport system is well-designed.
Proper halal good delicious food is easily accessible. Indonesian restaurants are everywhere, they have two best Lanzhou noodles that the rival only matched with the first one we had in Tokyo, and many more halal choices.
People are (so far), properly friendly. No cold face like Korean and few Europeans, and most importantly no translation needed here.
It feels European enough in ambience with Asian taste in tongue.
Clean, fresh air to breathe.
The highlight of this trip was a road trip through Great Ocean Road. We stopped by Torquay Beach, Maits Rest Rain Forest Walk and the famous Twelve Apostles.
Nature trip will never fail to give you wide spectrum of emotions. It’s when the most sophisticated phone couldn’t capture what your eyes see. No words could describe properly to explain the magnificent beauty.
Couldn’t help being half grumpy while dealing with the windy, yet tremendously grateful by the opportunity to roam around the world seeing the nature created by Allah The Almighty.
We stayed a night in Port Campbell in a motel by the ocean. So so beautiful.
We safely returned at ‘home’ after 30hours on the road.
Road trip, in some parts, is indeed exciting. The breathtaking scenery along the way, visiting places that I have never thought I am able to visit. Places that always create constant self talk inside the head and sense of wonder and reminder how enormous this world is beyond my comfortable home.
But, some things behind the scene are ugly.
Like being cautious of the driving rules of another country, which is totally different from where we come from (which rules are never really clear). During travel, I am the anxious one while one in the driver seat has always been the calm one.
In a road trip, both are anxious (😂, now it sounds funny, but in reality, not really) which the only one left who stays calm is a 10 year old in a passenger back seat. My husband is basically an easy going laid back person, unless, when he drives. Driving in unfamiliar country doubles his tension.
Parking is tricky, eating schedule is messy, namaz time is uncertain and food is mostly unhappy (I survived with a banana and greek yoghurt yesterday since I couldn’t take more instant food). The other side of it is tiring for me.
A big applause for the driver for unlocking a new badge of road trip around the world and also, for the little girl on the back for surviving another long ride without complaining and whining. She’s also one of the reasons why we can go places enjoyably and sanely for many years, because we don’t have to deal with any tantrums,
I do really enjoy all the places we stopped by, but being trapped in the car on the road longer than 2 days, it’s not really my cup of tea.
And, unless doing it with this squad, I’d rather pass.
Most of the time, I always choose an accommodation which provides separate bed for kids. It’s important thing to take into account that everyone should sleep comfortably during the period of uncertainty.
I also visited two libraries and four bookstores in Melbourne and I couldn’t help myself buying and shooking my head in disblief : “Perpustakaan negara orang bagus-bagus banget, ya Allah”.
As always, I also did my solo stroll in Melbourne.
After few days here, this city feels and seems like to be a good place to start adulthood. Met Indonesian students everywhere we go, working part time either in restaurants,amusement park, or grocery stores, spent their free schedule to earn some money between courses.
The similarity : the hospitality looks genuine and they look happy doing their work.
In the tiny bussiness we run for the past few years, since 2019, I started hiring students to work with me and keep hiring students only. I want an employee who also pursue his study. I told them I’ll cater their classes schedule, whatever it is, as long as they commit to their work. It’s not a common practice in Indonesia to work while studying, unless you have a pressure to do so.
While I believe earning your own money once you turn 18 or at least 20 is really important for your emotional and mental health. You might still depend on your parents for certain things, but, at least, you don’t have to ask them to top up your phone credit, dine out out or pay your gas. To be a functional adult, you need such basic freedom at least.
Few other important things I notice here:
People in Melbourne walk in a normal pace. No speed walking, no rushing like they chase something. Exactly how they drive, no honking. When they overtake, they do it politely.
They’re Asians at heart. Other than coffee shop, the most full packed restaurants are either Chinese, Korean, or Japanese. Indonesian and Malay one is still full of their own people. Most employees in hospitality are Asians. No wonder they call this city the second home.
This trip feels comfortable because comfort food is reachable. Nasi goreng, sup buntut, iga bakar madu, sate kambing, you name it they have it.
Traveling always gives new insights. The first Kota M we visited this year made me can’t go back to the usual pastry or bread.
The insight gained from this second Kota M already made me searching information and the tuition fee to study in a Melbourne University.
Seven days of pleasant beauty and hospitality finally come to an end.
Let’s meet again for another opportunity, insya Allah. Till then, Melb!
Here’s the highlight : met a koala in wild life. Been to Australia : ✅
All the money, time, and energy spent to make it happen, those are not an easy feat indeed.
But, what is often overlooked, there is another cost that happens after you return. At least for me.
The time spent to re-adapt to the usual schedule. The jetlag costs me my morning routine from close to never sleeping in the morning to completely dozing off until midday for the first few weeks of returning from Munich.
I put my teaching schedule on halt in advance. I told the students I would be traveling for three weeks. Although I spent only eight days in Munich, it took me another two weeks to fully recover. Having short break after holiday is quite important for me. I know it’s a privilege to be able to do so.
The first Sunday at home spent after traveling felt more precious although it’s truly an ordinary one. I guess traveling is only exciting knowing you have a home to return to.
I am also quite grateful for the timing. We’re currently entering the first ten days of Dzulhijjah and Alhamdulillah, the recovery process was done when the nine days fasting began.
I am currently on the third day of fasting, and hopefully, it will go well until the end of nine days insya Allah.
That’s it and that’s all for now.
Tchuss!
PS : I really miss the daily German bread intake that I had during my stay in Munich. Been looking for similar ones here and still haven’t found what I am looking for.
I always believe that every city has personalities. For me, it is shown from how the people treat you, how the third place is and how the public transportation works.
Knowing a city is just like learning a person. It takes time to develop a feeling for it. That’s why staying in one city and having a few daytrips in between is the most preferable way. Building rapport couldn’t be done if we’re keep moving.
This is the first time I visit a city whose most restaurants and cafes close their door when weekend is about to start. Closed early on Saturday.
This a city where there is almost no ticket checking point in every mode of its public transportation. You just hop on and off leisurely. Do they have tickets? I believe most of them do. A highly trusted system like this must come from a highly trusted people.
I wonder why I rarely see coffee shops/restaurants/eatery full of local people in few neighborhood visited. It is almost always empty. This is the city where they charge slightly higher price when you dine in. Maybe this explains why and most of ones who dine are tourists.
The two places where I see locals gather with family are :two hiking spots we did and the museums we visited.
Munich (or Germany overall?) is obviously not overly warm with charm but definitely introvert, trustable, know their boundaries, and highly punctual and discipline. Kind of adult with maturity and emotional stability which personally make a good choice of life partner.
“Cities were always like people, showing their varying personalities to the traveler. Depending on the city and on the traveler, there might begin a mutual love, or dislike, friendship, or enmity. Where one city will rise a certain individual to glory, it will destroy another who is not suited to its personality. Only through travel can we know where we belong or not, where we are loved and where we are rejected”. -Roman Payne, Cities & Countries
One of the concerns why raising a kid as a moslem in four seaons country is PERSONALLY hard is about the prayer time.
Subuh at 2.50, Isya is close to midnight, and it would be even earlier/later as summer comes, let alone a kid, it is a struggle too for an adult. Summer is not an only problem. Winter comes with different set of problem too. When all three prayer times would be done during school hours.
Once wrote in my note four years ago, among many objections to leave London during covid, this reason alone became the strongest pull to return and made me put aside all the other concerns.
Tempat-tempat seperti ini, secara pribadi, hanya cocok untuk dikunjungi dalam waktu beberapa hari. Berat hidup di luar negeri, meskipun sudah (amat sangat) eneg sama pemerintah sendiri.
II
“Is it xxx part of the gang?”
has been the constant questions the little girl asked for the past few months.
When the answer is yes, no other questions asked. When it’s a no, the respond would be, “Oh great, that means we can still have it, right?”.
Traveling to a country whose governmenrt support the bastard of all evil gives certain guilty feeling inside. Fixing and straighten the niat why we go here is done repeatedly.
Trying to be mindful of what we consume and answer with, “I am sorry, Be, but, that’s part of the gang” as much as possible is the only thing this current level of iman could consistently do for the past few months.
III
The little girl soaked her pink knit slip-on sneakera while she was playing sling on the playground yesterday.
I took the picture of then-clean-nice-pink-shoes-now-fully-covered-with-mud and thought, when I posted in a social media the caption would be :
“A childhood full of adventures”.
In reality it went like this :
“Aduh Be, ini sepatu pink, knit jadi kotor gitu. Basah semua, yang bener aja dong. Bisa ilang ngga kaya gini. Makanya mami bilang tadi pake hiking boots aja. (Dalem hati, “untung murah”).
Never fully trust everything that you see on social media.
So far, the experience with the people has been well, the type of people who might be not really friendly like we had in Porto, but, absolutely not as cold as one we had in Seoul. The German feels so efficient and effective. Talk when they need and seem couldn’t stand stupid question from tourists, haha.
We also have visited and stayed overnight in its countryside. Berchtesgaden and Konigsee are really beautiful. Not only popular with tourist but also with locals. It’s quite similar to Lake District in England.
We had a train trip with one transfer then proceed by bus to our hotel. Then, it took 20 minutes walk to reach Konigsee.
A boat trip with 28,50/person taken to go around Konigsee. On the other side, there is Berchtesgaden National Park where we had a short, easy, and pleasant hike.
We sat by the lake and enjoy some german bread. That was one of the highlights so far. As simple as enjoying a piece of poppyseed bread and staring at the quiet lake for a while. Doing nothing but listening to a perfect combination between nature’s white noises and human interaction. I told the doctor that this kind of thing is something I really love doing while traveling.
For some people, it may sound weird. Why with all the efforts, time, money, and energy to go here or anywhere, all you want to do is just sit and stare?
Not because I couldn’t do that when I am not traveling, but the new surrounding, especially when you’re being around nature in a strange place will hit you differently. When you’re at home, you have to deal with life responsibilities that you can’t escape. But, in a land far away from home, you can do something differently. You can charge yourself, think more about anything. It’s not about escaping life, but, to enjoy it better.
For me what makes going places exciting is it makes me accept better that life is full of struggles, but it’s okay. Traveling makes me realize, human basically deals with the same struggle. Went home from Berchtesgaden in rush office hours, that was exactly the regular view in my city. So, I am just be grateful that we can rest for a while.
We also visited Salzburg since it was only an hour away from Berchtesgaden. We didn’t stay overnight there just few hours of visiting Mozart’s house and his birthplace.
Salzburg turned out to be more interesting than I thought. I really love the vibe once I exited the train station. Warmer people, more English and moslem friendly, and tourist ready. There are many interesting spots that few hours visit couldn’t do. I am thinking to return there while we’re still in Munich.
So glad to finally got this first trip writing done, unless, it would just drift away from the memory without any proper storage.
We went to a place with winter weather without any heater for this holiday.
Dieng was chosen thanks to countless reels that promote this place and it successfully brainwashed me to arrange a trip here.
Other reason is to to balance the city trips throughout this year and last one is to let both spoiled girls (me and my daughter) experience less comfortable situations and see different things out there.
In spite of lack of facilities here and there, maybe due to its geographical location, but, the hospitality we received from the locals we met here was pleasing.
Few that make a trip called acceptable : clean bathroom, good food is easily accessible, feel safe to go around, and proper internet connection.
I can tolerate washing dishes with freezing water, no refrigerator is available, less comfortable ride and bumpy road, cold piercing weather that makes us stay inside with three layers of clothes and socks to stay warm, last day in freezing weather without water, all the attractions that require us to pay no matter how ‘nothing to see’ they are, but, it’s okay. The tickets were totally affordable.
We only had two main itineraries during the stay. Sunrise in Sikunir and Mount Prau Hiking.
We climbed Sikunir on the second day and left our cabin house as early as 4am. It was freezing cold and quite tough when you traveled with a 9 year old.
But, the view up there was totally worth it.
On the third day, we climbed Mount Prau. I didn’t expect anything at first. But, along the way, we reached the first stop, then continued to the second one, then the third one till we finally reached the summit.
Mount Prau is considered as one of the beginner choices and I think it fits someone who has never experienced mountain climbing before. We departed from Dieng basecamp which is considered as the easiest route.
For someone who lived most of the childhood to adolesence dealing with genetically severe asthma, I climbed leisurely and happily, back and forth. We spent six hours climbing up and back down.
One thing about nature trip, if it’s done with the right group (actually, whatever trip is only good when you go with the right companions), it’s the most mindful trip one could have. We can’t rush, especially when we travel with a kid, we couldn’t be disappointed much, the focus is only to get to the next stop, and whatever view we get along the way, it’s nothing but beautiful.
I love the silence during the 8km of walk. The view of blue sky, white clouds, and fog out there. The each step taken in the quiet forest.
Kind of trip that makes you really tired but happy and realize how tiny we are in this enormous world.
Doing daily exercise, no zero day, wherever I have been, regular morning walk, for the last four years, show its benefits during this climb.
This is such a personal huge milestone in this decade.
But, that wasn’t only about me. There is a 9yo who also reached the summit with her own two legs for the first time. We did several hiking too before when we visited Bajo and camping, but, she received a lot of help back then.
Several comments we heard a long the way :
“Wow, she’s so cool”. “How old is she?” “She went up to the summit? Amazing!”
Two climbs in two days for a nine year old is not a small feat indeed. She whined a lot, which is normal. She complained so much, which is more normal. She said she was exhausted and being grumpy, which is nothing but normal.
The parents who brought her to such trip and ‘enjoyed’ six hours of intense motivational coaching and mood lifting? Maybe that was the only one which was not normal.
But, enjoying such thing and left her behind is not an option. We’re suffering together is the only way to go.
Raising her, we never choose easy, and hopefully will never be, as much as we could.
She might not be impressed a lot about today, but I believe, her mind and body will keep score.
Life won’t get any easier, not always about fancy hotel and pool or beautiful city, but, we have to push through. We always finish what we have started, no matter how hard it is. I hope this trip teach her that.
Easier said and written than done.
Overall, Dieng is beautiful, cold, and worth the long road trip by train, car, and jeep, long hikes to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the highest village in Central Java.
In Dieng, we stayed in a modest cabin house without any heater in 10-15 degree. No proper hotel chain available in Dieng. Some good policy from the local government. So all the accommodation, restaurants here are owned and run by locals. No fancy coffee shops is seen here. No English speaking people heard except some few snobs from Menteng Dalem.
The scenery here is one of the places in Java Island that suits our tourism tagline : Wonderful Indonesia.
After Komodo-Labuan Bajo trip four years ago, this trip is another quite impressive domestic travel on the list.
On Saturday, I attended my high school reunion. Although I only stayed for a few hours, I was pretty happy I decided to come. Unlike some people who consider high school the best time of our lives, for me, it was just okay and full of pressure here and there. It is not about social anxiety but more about the academic one.
The best year was the last year of high school when I finally met a tribe with whom I could form lifelong friendships until now. One of these guys called us ‘a bunch of social misfits,’ I have been the organiser of almost every rendezvous we had for the past 20 years and the admin of our chat group. I am passionate about this misfit group, or am I just the most misfit among the misfits?😄
I have a small circle and a few close friends. I never feel comfortable being around a massive group of people. People always make me nervous. But, with these misfits, it has been 20 years of enjoyable ride. I write about them often and the latest one was here.
Back to the reunion, the most comment given that day to me was, “you don’t change at all!”, I have been thinking until I decided to write this here, is it meant to be an insult or a compliment?😂
It is almost impossible not to change at all in twenty years. Too many circumstances happen in one’s life within that long period. But of course, they didn’t know anything about what happened inside, so I guess to have some comments about how your outer appearance is unchanged after 20 years, I’ll take such a compliment gratefully.
On Sunday, we had a road trip to the doctor’s home town to visit his family.
Sixteen hours of road trip to the long lost hometown.
I came up with this idea on a Friday morning when my mother in law told the news of the passing of her sister-in-law in my late father-in-law’s hometown.
I knew she might want to visit the family there, but she obviously couldn’t go there alone, and since it was sudden, it was pretty hard for everyone to make time, including us.
But it was too disturbing to let this slide without doing anything. I calculated the rough estimation costs to go there before I proposed the idea, first to his son then his mother.
When I calculated the costs, it turned out more extensive than I expected for a day trip. But, when travelling, I always zoom out whenever the numbers speak.
Is it worth the hassle to make this happen? Which one will you regret more later? Spending such an amount of money or losing the chance that might not come twice. Who will benefit from this trip other than the main character? Usually, when the answer include the little girl, that is one huge determining factor.
For this trip, all those questions answered with clear answers.
Taking my mother-in-law to give her condolence in person matters. Taking the little girl for the first time to one of her roots matters, and it has been a while since the last time her father set foot there.
Me? I am never a fan of road trips, and so glad Mudik wasn’t part of my childhood. Trapped in the car for hours, the anxiety and insecurity watching the speedy driving throughout the trip (or the frustration of dealing with traffic), the countless drinks shown with all the tumblrs were out on duty yesterday, and many more.
It was a huge help when the road trip wasn’t loud and packed. It reduced a lot of tension.
Alhamdulillah, we got it ‘easy’ for this trip and all the good intentions were well delivered.
Visiting both her father hometown to Solo and Pekalongan checked.
The next ones should be visiting both her mother which obviously couldn’t be done with a road trip.
A Penny for My Pensieve 