August 9, 2025
When Joanie was still up in the air, somewhere between San Francisco and Taipei on the first leg of her journey, I texted her and told her I was buying her a spa package the morning after she arrived in Bali.
This is a description of what I booked for her:
AROMATIC FLOWER BATH
This treatment designed to balance the body and increase the skin health as well as reduce stress.
- Foot bath
- Aromatherapy or Balinese massage
- Body scrub
- Bath with floating flowers
Price: Approximately 2.5 hours, IDR (Indonesian rupiah) 460,000. (US $28.25)
Simultaneously, I got a Whatsapp message from Judy Slattum, one of our tour leaders, offering to buy me a massage, so I booked one at the same time as Joanie: a two-hour Balinese massage with a body scrub.
The spa sent a car to pick us up at our hotel and take us to our 11:00 am appointment.
This is how we looked after our treatments:
We went out to lunch on our way “home,” had corn fritters and a scrumptious salad, and both decided to put on our bathing suits, sit by the pool and read, and maybe dip in the ocean for the remainder of the day.
Tomorrow a car is arriving at 8:00 AM to pick us up and drive us to Ubud to meet Surya and the Balinese healers our group will have the privilege of working with in a week or so. These aren’t flashy Eat, Pray, Love kind of new age healers. These are the practitioners the Balinese go to.
And the day after that is Go Day: Day #1 of the retreat.
For the past week, I’ve been busy having experiences, planning experiences for others, writing about experiences I’ve had.
I think a day of rest is called for. I need a full stop.
Let’s call this the Sabbath.