I'm currently about nine weeks into my Asian travels, with roughly four weeks left before I head back home. My journey has taken me through Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Prior to Bali, I had always traveled with a someone, and I held the attitude that we're in this adventure together, so we'll be just fine.

I admit that when I first set foot in Asia, I was quite nervous and had many concerns. However, as the weeks passed, I found my footing and grew more confident in doing things independently. This personal growth was somewhat inspired by my friend Tatsuki, who is a natural-born digital nomad. Prior to my arrival in Bali, I was traveling in Vietnam with two friends. We had just completed the Ha Giang Loop, and during the four-day tour, we had the pleasure of meeting some fantastic people. It's truly remarkable how friendly you can become with complete strangers when you share a memorable experience.

After the loop, my friends decided to embark on a monkhood experience for self-reflection. They tried their best to persuade me to join them, but I had different plans in mind. Bali felt like the next step in pushing my newfound independence further. While I'm technically solo traveling here, I also have a few friends scattered around the island. It seemed like the perfect opportunity to test some new boundaries.

During my time in Bali, I had one primary objective: to make this website as complete as possible before I left, and I had three weeks to accomplish this goal. Ideally, I aimed to have all the functionality finished before my flight back to Thailand. So, in addition to being a solo traveler, it also became a solo coding adventure because my more experienced friend had chosen the path of a monk and would be nearly impossible to reach.

This objective significantly shaped how I traveled around Bali. I found myself staying in places longer than the typical traveler and spending my days in cafes. To some, this may seem strange or even bizarre, but interestingly, it's quite common to work in cafes by yourself, as many people work remotely here. As I embraced this solo digital nomad lifestyle, I noticed others doing the same. Here is where I first developed a skill of mine, and that is being comfortable in my own company. It might sound strange that this is considered a skill, as it doesn't seem particularly challenging, but surprisingly, it's something I had avoided due to the awkwardness of being seen alone. There's often a stigma that being alone means you're lonely or sad, and I think this mindset is influenced by British culture. I'm pleased to have shed this ideology, and it's something I'll carry back with me.

One of my favourite routines was, after spending a couple of hours coding, I would return my laptop to my room and then take a 30-minute walk to the beach to watch the sunset from a rock by the sea. Once the sun had set, I would head to my beloved cookie spot and enjoy a sweet treat while reading the Witcher series. Afterward, I would walk back to my room and watch the next Transformers movie. The next day i would wake up, go to the gym and repeat the routine. This routine was perfect for me at the time as I had just recovered from Bali belly and wanted a mix of productivity and beautiful scenery.

Don't get me wrong; even though I did spend the majority of my time coding and working on things, I still managed to have some fun in between. I went to beach clubs, witnessed a stunning sunrise next to an active volcano we camped near, and had a near "death" experience while surfing (it wasn't that bad don't worry). This brings me to another conflict I found myself grappling with, one that I've encountered not only here but also over the past couple of years. I think it's a conflict that many people in their 20s face, and perhaps even beyond. What should I spend my time doing that will provide the most meaning to me? Should I be going out more and partying? Should I be traveling more and trying new experiences? Should I buckle down and develop skills to help me in the future? The list of questions goes on, and I don't think I'll find answers to them anytime soon but I now believe thats part of the fun.

If I'm truthful, I think I got the balance slightly wrong and leaned towards working too much and not playing enough. However, getting ill did stop me from going to the Gili Islands, which may have swung it in the other direction. I guess we'll never know, but I would say the highs I experienced when I got the domain for the website working or generated dynamic routes that loaded statically when the website is being built were well worth the lack of partying. Honestly, I can't tell if that sentence is sad or not, but I was genuinely gassed when I accomplished these feats, and I still can't help but smile when thinking about it.

A parallel to my question of meaning can be drawn from the story of Sisyphus, who was condemned by Zeus to roll a boulder up a mountain for eternity. Each time he approached the summit, the boulder would roll back down, and he would have to start over. Albert Camus, in his writings about the story of Sisyphus, stated that "The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must conclude that Sisyphus is happy." I've interpreted this to mean that I should stop worrying about what I should be doing with my time, which is akin to reaching the top of the mountain, and instead focus on enjoying whatever I am doing in the present moment. Just like Sisyphus, I may never reach my ultimate goal, so wasting thoughts on it is pointless. It's better to enjoy the moments and the find meaning in the jounrey.

On a last note, one thing that I've noticed in Bali, perhaps it's the areas I've stayed in, is that it feels very Western here. It comes across as somewhat artificial, and this is something I've grown to dislike when traveling. I understand that many travel destinations tend to adopt Western tendencies to cater to tourists, but Bali, especially Canggu, feels like someone has transplanted a part of California or London into Bali, which makes it feel somewhat disingenuous. When I return in the future, I definitely plan to go off the beaten track and explore more. Weirdly, I'm purposely leaving out some touristy stuff this time so that I can come back and explore not just Bali, but also the other Southeast Asian countries more authentically.