The month I spent in Sumatra proved to be as spectacular a kickoff to any year I’ve experienced during my time on planet earth – but it was merely the first stop on a dynamic Air Treks itinerary that took me to a number of countries in Asia ( with Sri Lanka, as we shall soon see, being my second big destination).
A significant footnote to my awesome month in Sumatra is that I only saw parts of the island – mainly the central highlands and the central-northwest coast. I could easily have spent another immersive month there and still not managed to hit the major highlights. Not to mention the fact that the nation of Indonesia consists of literally thousands of islands, including Java, Bali, Lombok, Komodo, Flores, and the Moluccas – that I have yet to visit.
In short, I will definitely go back to Indonesia – and in fact I dedicated a recent episode of my podcast to discussing this possibility with Journey Through Indonesia author Tim Hannigan. Indeed, for all the talk of the world being “discovered,” many parts of Indonesia – not just Sumatra, but Sulawesi, Kalimantan, Papua (to name just the giant-island places) – are full of stunning, little-visited sights and cultures, for those willing to make the effort; one could move through ten-dozen amazing landscapes during that time without needing to revisit a single place (or repeat any single experience).
A great footnote here is that (as I have noted before), Indonesia is one of the least expensive places in the world to travel – particularly if you’re willing to slow down and forgo the kinds of comforts and conveniences you’d find in a more well-traveled part of Indonesia, like Bali. Places like Bali are amazing, of course, but hardscrabble travel means you get to enjoy those farther-flung (but just-as-beautiful) places to mostly to yourself as a traveler.
And, beauty aside, travel that pushes your comfort zone is a way of developing new skills, new brain-flow, new ways of being you.
Note: “Dispatches” are short vignettes, profiles, and mini-essays written and posted from the road, often in tandem with my Instagram account. For more full-formed writing, check out my book Marco Polo Didn’t Go There, or the Essays or Stories archives on this site. I don’t host a “comments” section, but I’m happy to hear your thoughts via my Contact page.
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