07 Apr Searching for home in Aussie and Indonesia
So I am going to Bali for June. I am staying in Ubud, the same place that chickie-poo from Eat, Pray, Love stayed. I didn’t know. Really. Do not judge me. Hammock; beach; pool. This is all I saw before booking. www.airbnb.com is always my first stop if I want to book an apartment for a chunk of time; in this case, a month. But, warning: get to know the owner, or renter.
I rented in Portugal last year and spent many weeks of back and forth emails to get a sense of the person; don’t just pick the nicest place. My renter in Porto, Portugal gave me a map with his favourite restaurants in the neighbourhood; we partied together during the St.Juan festival; we had suppers on the patio and he even introduced me to Tom Waits! In Bali, my renter is providing a bike. That is all I need. Oh, and I read on her reviews that she leaves a few cold beers in the fridge for guests.
My second score for the summer: a camper van for Australia. Considering the size of Aussie (it’s a 10 hour drive from Brisbane to Sydney!), the crazy expensive hostels and hotels, and that parks are off the main drag, a camper made sense. So, I booked with www.MOTORHOMEREPUBLIC.NET. For three weeks, it’s about $1,200. Kitchen included! And that includes the one-way fare.
Picking up in Brisbane, I will head to the island of Tasmania–I love islands–and leave it in the town of Hobart. Apparently, Tasmania has the highest mountains in Aussie. Je t’aime.
I looked into renting a car with a cute little pop open tent on top–trendy and funky– but whoa, expensive. www.wickedcampers.com.au. Swallow this: $1,700 for three weeks. Shut the front door! Gulp. And, if the weather is crappy, as it might be because our summer is their winter, I can’t really hang out in a car, but I can certainly have a martini or two in a camper van while listening to some Van Morrison.
One month to go…
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