If you’ve read Eat, Pray, Love, you’ll remember the Balinese city of Ubud, which is featured quite prominently in Elizabeth Gilbert’s book.
We have just arrived to our new home away from home in Ubud, the Nirwa Homestay (affiliate link). The family run guest house is surrounded by a panorama of vibrant rice paddies. Our soundtrack is that of nature: soprano crickets, confident roosters and babbling canals.
Photography & text © Tricia A. Mitchell. All Rights Reserved.
Tricia A. Mitchell is a freelance writer and photographer. Born in Europe but raised in the United States, she has lived in Valletta, Malta; Heidelberg, Germany; and Split, Croatia. An avid globetrotter who has visited more than 65 countries, she has a penchant for off-season travel. Tricia has learned that travel’s greatest gift is not sightseeing, rather it is the interactions with people. Some of her most memorable experiences have been sharing a bottle of champagne with distant French cousins in Lorraine, learning how to milk goats in a sleepy Bulgarian village, and ringing in the Vietnamese New Year with a Hanoi family. She welcomes any opportunity to practice French and German, and she loves delving into a place’s history and artisanal food scene. A former education administrator and training specialist, Tricia has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and a master’s degree in international relations. She and her husband, Shawn, married in the ruins of a snowy German castle. They’ve been known to escape winter by basing themselves in coastal Croatia or Southeast Asia. Her writing has appeared in Fodor’s Travel, Frommer’s, and International Living. View more posts
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Travels With Tricia
Thanks for visiting my blog. Best of luck on your travels. Very nice photos.
Hello, Victor, and thanks for subscribing! It’s a pleasure to have fellow adventurers and photographers joining along – in spirit – on our travels. Look forward to seeing more inspiration from Photobackstory, and learning blogging pointers from you as well!
You forgot to mention the quacking of the ducks! :-)
So true! They’re serenading us – with a very loud symphony – as I type. I’m still familiarizing myself with all this incredible fauna! :-)
Beautiful scenery, it looks like paradise.
Jane, I’ve used that same descriptor many times while being here. It’s not just the natural scenery either — it’s the friendly locals, the offerings, the exotic and detailed architecture, the overall spirit of the place, and the way it makes one feel.
Bali is at the very top of my wanderlust wish list! Seems like a gorgeous place inside and out.
Britt, I hope your travels will take you there soon then. We used it as a launching pad for our Southeast Asian adventure last year. The friendly people and lush scenery really make it special. Our highlights were a fire dance at the seaside Uluwatu Temple; spending an afternoon with Ketut Liyer of Eat, Pray, Love fame; learning how to make the floral offerings; and relaxing in our little homestay among rice paddies, just listening to nature’s symphony.
Sounds amazing. And, I love Eat, Pray, Love…wonderful story!
Britt, it was interesting to see how the city of Ubud was capitalizing on its Eat, Pray, Love fame (themed tours and souvenirs and lots of female solo travelers, etc.) Here is a little photo series from our afternoon with Ketut: https://triciaannemitchell.com/2011/11/27/an-afternoon-with-eat-pray-loves-ketut-liyer/
Hope you get there soon!
Very awesome! Just checked it out. It’s amazing how Hollywood turns even the most remote places into tourist attractions. It seems that Ketut is handling his fame with grace. : )