5th Xmas backpacking
14th book excerpt from ‘Backpacker to Nomad’
I’m delighted to present the final exclusive sneak peek book excerpt for my new travel memoir ‘Backpacker to Nomad’
What’s Backpacker to Nomad? It’s my new travel memoir, chronicling the evolution from naive newbie to full-time traveler through my adventure & misadventures.
What readers are saying about ‘Backpacker to Nomad’
★★★★★ “The writing is excellent, and the author’s descriptions are so vivid” — Amazon Review
★★★★★ “You’ll get lost in Amit’s adventures and laugh along the way (mostly AT him)” — Amazon review
★★★★★ “I thought the way the book weaved between adventure and mental self-discovery was very smart. — Amazon Review
if you love travel adventures, discovery, and escaping reality to drift off to lands far and wide this is the book you need to pick up.
Book Launched: July 27th, 2022
Sit back, grab a snack and enjoy …..
Traveling life turns into ghetto snobbing
It had been like looking in the mirror. Every action, reaction, behavior, and mood was virtually identical. Step by step, from landing into the chaos to the tension visibly lifting, aided by a tranquil tropical island. Just as I had felt when arriving in Bangkok to feeling the soft sand of Ko Phi Phi Don, Tom and Vicky had felt the same from arriving into the chaos of Bali, Indonesia, to sitting on beanbags on the tropical Island of Gili Air.
It was the quietest of the three Gili Islands. These smaller islands lay just off the coast of the bigger island of Lombok, which was largely untouched by tourism, unlike its much more famous neighbor, Bali.
The ironic thing was, Bali was known to be a tranquil island, full of spiritualists, yoga lovers, and peace. In recent years, though, it was the latest Southeast Asian island to feel a surge of tourism, partly due to the famous book and movie, Eat Pray Love, and various digital nomads and ex-pats settling there. The influx of travelers and Western ex-pats to the southern part of the island had turned it into a mini Bangkok. The southern popular tourist spots of Legian, Seminyak, and especially Kuta were a barrage of traffic, mopeds, taxis, hawkers, and scammers, and had become non-stop chaos.
Embraced the fear
The little, long wooden fishing boat rocked from side to side as Locks, the local we had got to know over the past few days, stopped the motor. He stood at the front, both bare feet on either side of the boat and thick locks flowing behind like a cape. His name wasn’t actually Locks, we just called him that because of his thick dreadlocks. The three of us sat in the middle under a makeshift wooden roof.
“This is a great spot — we will see lots of them here. Away from the tourist boats. Out here nobody comes,” announced Locks while studying the ocean.
We couldn’t even see land anymore, none of the three Gili Islands, the larger island of Lombok, or Bali. We were just floating somewhere in the Bali sea with just a few gulls flying around and the giant ball of fire blazing down as it did every day. From the day Tom and Vicky had arrived, this was the number-one activity they wanted to do — so did I up until about an hour before I was sitting on the wooden slats of this boat.
Since Thailand, I had been pushing myself and learning to stop fearing the ocean. I’d been in the sea more than I ever had in Australia or New Zealand. But that was getting in neck-deep, with the safety of the ocean bed at my feet and the shoreline in sight. This was like the Great Barrier Reef all over again. Out in the middle of the ocean and the seabed wasn’t there as an immediate safety net.
Seeing is believing
Tom and Vicky had already wet their gear and put their flippers on, ready and eager. Tom laughed his head off at my expense, remembering how I struggled and was nearly dragged under the boat in the Great Barrier Reef. As I reached for my gear, fighting through the thoughts, one of my inner voices popped up. Fear and anxiety started to build.
Nah, fuck this, I don’t wanna do it. Just say the seafood last night was dodgy and you can’t do it.
No, fuck off, we’re doing this. We have been doing great, this is just the next step. Think about how incredible it’s going to be seeing them.
Both started going back and forth as my feet pushed into the flippers and I grabbed and wet my snorkeling gear. We were not just snorkeling in the shallow waters or on the surface… we were going under.
The wall of fear needed to be bulldozed down, it was not going to win today. Southeast Asia had all been about facing, embracing, and dealing with demons, fears, and insecurities. If that didn’t work, it resorted to sticking a middle finger up and just doing it without overthinking. This latest one wasn’t going to be any different.
“You’re actually going to do it? You know you’ve already made me lose a bet.” Tom smirked, looking back.
