A few weeks ago we decided to head back to Australia for a quick trip to catch up with family and friends and secretly ….. to be cold for a few days! I love living in Ubud and I love being warm all the time, but sometimes I just crave jeans, boots, jumpers, roast lamb, a glass of red wine and a roaring fire!!!
It was a whirlwind trip and we managed to catch up with so many people which was wonderful. The weather was perfect, despite it reading 0 degrees on a few nights. We got to visit some of our favourite places and even managed to sneak in two Laksa’s which is our favourite meal that we can’t find anywhere in Ubud or even Bali (if you know of somewhere PLEASE let me know!!!) We spent a week in Perth and week in Dunsborough and had a great time. I took some beautiful photos – have a peek below!
A part of me was loving being back in Australia and catching up with everyone, however what came as a bit of a shock was that I also found there was another part of me longing to go ‘home’ to Ubud. This was surprising as prior to our trip I thought that I didn’t feel all that connected to Bali, however over the two weeks I found myself craving certain things, places, people and experiences. When we were in Australia we felt different, almost like we were visitors. Not much had changed in the 5 months we had been gone, but is it turns out, we had changed, perhaps more than we thought. I have discovered that I quite like my ‘slow’ life up here. I love living in the country with the rice fields and jungle. I love the growing community. I love little animals that make their way into our yard. I love all our free time to spend with our kids and I love the freedom that we have bought ourselves!
I am sure at one point we will return to Australia to live, as I am sure at another we will do a lot more travelling, but for now, for the first time in a very long time, I am happy where I am!
This is a beautiful beach in Dunsborough where I spent half my childhood! It looks like this pretty much every day of the year
Tom catching up with the divine little Chloe!
One thing I do miss in Ubud is an abundance of playgrounds. The boys have lot of fun chasing lizards and chickens around our yard but sometimes a swingset and a slide wouldn’t go astray!
Beautiful Old Dunsborough
Scott with Milo in our backpack, my Mum and Tom at the Maze.
One, Two, Three …. Weeeeeeeeee.
Tom loved climbing all the trees and big stumps!
Small family photo (minus one of my brothers) with my Mum, Dad and Andrew.
SpiderTom!
Canal Rocks
Smiths Beach. My favourite beach in the whole wold.
Andrew, Jess and Milo
Tom and his little best friend Kynan at the airport!
The kids going a little crazy at the airport … not sure what happened to Milo! – Tom, Kynan and Eliana!
Here is a photo with my and my beautiful Milo! He was one happy little bubba running around everywhere!
My beautiful little family xxx
What beautiful pics Jen! I love reading your blogs! you all look so well and happy. x
Thanks Rach! We are well and happy! x
So nervous, about returning. It will be 19 months since we left Aust to travel the world – and I expect like you nothing changed… but us. Love this post. Happy where I am. In all seasons.
I am looking forward to reading about how you go! I can imagine it will be even harder for you guys! However, there is a balance everywhere you go, I guess we all just have to find it!