Fantasy Island

You know the feeling. You open a travel magazine and there’s that photo: white sand beach, peacock-blue water, clear sky and coconut trees swaying (so you imagine) in the background. You close your eyes and envision stepping right into that warm blue water, as shoals of fish begin to gather around and nibble at your feet. As you wade deeper in, a large sea turtle swims past. You wonder if places like this really do exist, and then you read that this is some island off some remote country where only jetsetters ever go, and you are certainly unlikely to find your way there.

Until one day, you do! The island was Gili Trawangan, a tiny coral island barely an hour’s journey from Jakarta, Indonesia, where I once worked. When I realized that I was only an inexpensive boat ride away from my fantasy location, I jumped at the chance. When my feet finally touched the island, it felt like I had stepped into the pages of that very holiday magazine I had so often sighed over. As I waded out into the sea, I noticed the water was so clear that could see to the very bottom. A turtle did lazily swim past my feet, followed by shoals of brightly yellow fish. It was so quiet that I could hear murmurs of conversation from the other end of the island. The air smelled of hibiscus and jasmine and a gentle breeze was blowing. Sheer perfection. Bliss can be so simple, especially when you jet setting comes at a bargain-basement price.