Globetrotting: Indonesia, Part I

I’m going to be honest with you, and I’m a little ashamed to admit this: I don’t really know much at all about Indonesia, or specifically Jakarta, the city that I’m about to be living in for the next two weeks. I guess I’ve just never really known anyone to go there, nor have I really cared. It’s not been one of my most wanted travel destinations. When I lived in Australia, a lot of Aussies would go to Bali on vacation. That’s really all I had ever heard of Indonesia. But I’m not even going to Bali.

So, I’m about to embark on an adventure to a place that I really know nothing about. I know that there have been problems with terrorism in the past, that the “Love” portion of “Eat Pray Love” was in Indonesia (Bali specifically), and that it is going to take me a very long time to get there from Houston. That’s really about it. All I’m really equipped with is a wide open mind and a lot of curiosity.

Here is what I do know:

It is taking me one 10.5 hour flight, one 11.5 hour flight and one 1.5 hour flight to get to Jakarta. Tag on 2 extra hours on the way back;

I am probably most excited at this point that I am staying at the Ritz-Carlton in Jakarta. I don’t know if it’s safe for me to post that on here, but I just did. And I’m going to love every minute of that hotel. I can feel it in my bones;

For some reason, I expect lots and lots of seafood in Jakarta;

If I can find a little medicine man like the one in “Eat Pray Love”, I may very well just fold him in half, stuff him in my suitcase, and bring him back to America with me as a souvenir. I think he and Kenna would get along nicely;

Apparently, there are over 17,000 islands associated with the country of Indonesia. I kind of don’t believe it, but that’s what Google tells me. And Google knows everything;

The population of Jakarta is just under 10 million, so it’s a big city by any measure.

So off I go in a few days to the next country in my “I” trilogy. I look forward to being taught what Indonesia is all about, to not having to take malaria pills, and of course, to business class travel on Singapore Airlines.

Part of me is glad that I have no expectations. It's somewhat exhilarating. It leaves my mind free from bias and open to what this unknown world has to offer. So with that in mind, Jakarta, here I come!