The pandemic has temporary separated me from Indonesia, it’s been now more than a year. I miss this amazing archipelago so bad. It might certainly sound like crazy for others exaggerating and for the few like me Indonesia is heaven on earth 🌎. I can’t really remember the moment I fell in love with Indonesia.

I remember eating in a warung When I asked : ” ibu what makes you happy ?!? “
She replied : ” Gausah mikirin masalah terlalu dalam ” No need to think too much and you will be happy”. It might sound very simple, but comparing to where I came from it’s hard to process it. This is one of the main reason I came here, to get wiser, to learn and to humble myself.

Here the thing I miss the most from Indonesia :

  • The atmosphere of the archipelago
  • The landscape are breathtaking
  • The people are so friendly and so authentic
  • The culture is insanely and deeply interesting
  • The food is delicious
  • Travelling between Islands
  • I love being packed in the train with hundred of Indonesian
  • I love the noise of the street, the steamy nights
  • Hearing the call to pray
  • Having a Bebek Madura (braised duck with special herbs) on the street food.

To me Indonesia is everything, chaotic infrastructure, polluted city, insane traffic, but still anything seems possible here. I have never felt more alive since I left France. I think Squeezing my life into a suitcase, and stepping outside of my comfort zone was the best decision I could have possibly made. 

This country will capture your heart and you’ll leave feeling that life is better than “bagus.”

Even the traffic jump could be so bloody exhausting, at the end you will get used to it and even enjoy it, we don’t call Jakarta the capital that expat love to hate for nothing.

And you will certainly have some culture shock at the beginning, lots of miss understanding, frustration in work side and relationship side. But it is normal and it’s what makes adventure exciting and interesting.

Have you been to Indonesia, and what are the things you miss the most from Indonesia ?