We rejoin our intrepid hero in Winnipeg in preparation for a journey across the globe to the wave riddled shores of Indonesia…

Dog found, phone stolen and weekend of debauchery in the rearview, I sit down at my desk to evaluate the to-do list of things before I leave on Saturday.  Indo house key: Check. Passport: Check. Indo Visa current? Check. China travel permit still good? Uh, NO, FACK.

Monday things are already starting to get interesting; in order to make a sourcing mission to Shanghai in May I need to sort out my Visa in Canada. I had done this already in Calgary in fall of 2011 but the damn thing expired before I had a chance to use it. So Visa goes into a UPS express envelope with one prepaid return, should be back Friday morning, plenty of time before my afternoon flight to Vancouver. Which reminded me I should probably book that Friday afternoon flight, my overseas adventure takes off Saturday morning at 2am from Vancouver. (Asian travel tip there for those of you who didn’t pick up on it, book flights from Vancouver and fly domestic to YVR will save you hundreds of dollars). SO I go to book YWG to YVR and guess what SOLD OUT. Only flight available now is 8am Friday morning. Not only is this tacking on a nice 24 hrs onto my flight itinerary, it also means I have to fly out of Winnipeg before my passport returns safely from the Chinese consulate in Ottawa, FACK. Back to the phone to sort this mess out. Thankfully I was able to convince them to forward my passport to Nicky Marcy’s studio in downtown Van. Last week anywhere always flies by, but with a full workload on my plate, and family and friends expecting some quality time I just couldn’t get everything I needed to done. Thursday night still not packed I head down to Corydon for a beer or two with my pals. Unfortunate because this last 4 hours could have probably afforded me the last little bit of time I needed to get all my ducks in a row.  Friday 5am comes early when you’re hung over, and it’s especially worse when your dad wakes you up early because he is over aggressive in getting you out the door and onto a plane. Last minute packing intensifies when your parents are standing at your door, bad decisions are made. If only I had stayed in to finish packing. I get to the airport unnecessarily early (obviously) but bags are under weight and fortunate enough to have kept my mouth shut about the whole passport issue to my parents who do not handle stress as well as I do. Land in YVR about 9am and crawl onto an empty five chair spread and have what might have been the most restful airport sleep I’ve had in a few years. Noon rolls around and I scrape my sore back off the bench, check my bags into a locker, grab my skate and grease the Canada line downtown for a mini shop tour. I spend the afternoon popping into a few accounts, trying and hustle a few more orders. At 4pm Nicky Marcy calls to say UPS came by with my passport while she was at work, memo on the notice says I can go get it anytime after 10am Saturday, 8 hours after my flight leaves. She’s worried, me, naw, I’m going there and not leaving without my passport. If I’ve learned anything from doing business overseas, these types of things are policies but for a certain price, anything is possible. Sure enough by 4:30 I’m holding my passport, fully equipped to not only get onto my flight, but also prepared to do business in Indo and China! I spend most of the evening sprawled out on Nicole’s bed listening terrible music and to her drunk friends go on about trying to pick up dudes. Traumatizing and eye opening, I could and might write a full post about the goings on in that convo for the male readers out there. Let’s just say, that the average girl out there is dying for it just like you are. Or at least these ones were.

2 flights 12 beers and 24 hours later our wheels touch down on the island of the gods… Haul my 4 bags to a cab, unlock the door to my house and clean spider webs and lizard shit for the rest of the day. Wake up, get a ride with my neighbor into Kuta to rent a motorbike get some pulsa for my phone… now I’m about fully ready to grease!!! Rip back to the bukit grab my board and get to Balangan just as mid-tide is dropping to low… perfect. Sun is starting to set, an evening calm has settled into the bay. Bathtub temp waters, 5 ft swell (nothing crazy but solid), almost a perfect size for a first session back. It may have been the first time I’ve surfed there with more locals than tourists, which is awesome because they have a blast hooting and hollering with every wave caught. I drop into the second wave I paddle into, which a few short years ago would have taken me 3 weeks to do. As the sun sets against my ghostly white skin and I dunk my hair for another saltwater baptism, I can’t help but feel like the last 2 full weeks of savageness somehow seems worthwhile after just a few perfect waves.