“Where are you from?”
This is a typical way of breaking the ice among solo travellers. I get asked the question up to 10 times a day.
“From Norway.”
“From Norway? No way.”
Norwegians do ask too, but not nearly as often. Although everyone sees in colour, asking a stranger about their heritage is considered…
I notice the wildlife before the people. Between the hoards of holy cows and scavengers of the sky, there’s fierce competition for edible waste. I’m ankle deep in rubbish before I notice nimble fingers combing through the dump.
This is Suwung, the largest official landfill site in Bali—a 44-hectare cleared plot of land. Once a…
When people say drugs are a gateway, their minds often jump straight to visions of calamity and misfortune. More often than not, drugs provide a gateway to the next adventure. An escapade you would never have possibly found yourself on, had it not been for the quest to alter your reality.
In my case, on…
I have no other choice. Since the war ended, my life has been miserable. The communists have confiscated our house, our money, our belongings, everything. The 10 of us live in what used to be our kitchen, which is now our only space. Every time any of us leave the house, we’re body searched in…
The taxi comes to a halt outside Gimme Shelter, an underground rock’n’roll bar in Canggu, Bali. The booze I consumed pulses through my bloodstream and my fried eyes sting and grow heavy with cheap mascara. My lashes crash, reopen, crash. Unsteady and unsure, my frantic fingers get lost inside my wallet and tangle around my…
Its skin didn’t feel the way I’d expected. It was prickly to the touch and rough, like cactus spears against my outstretched palm. I withdrew it swiftly as the giant haunch buckled, and the majestic mass began to lower itself into the muddied waters lapping at my thighs.
Men’s voices, cropped and commanding, rose above…
Passport? Check. Camera equipment? Double check. Preparation for incoming intercultural tension?
Whoops.
Flying into Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta in April, I was met with a swathe of humidity, durian ice cream and endless traffic jams. I found the city to be an attack on the senses in every way. It filled my nose with the…
It's a Sunday afternoon. I'm home in Milan rolling in bed after my Saturday night shift. I receive a message: it's my best friend Tommy, who lives in Australia. He's texting me and Ivan, who lives in Berlin.
15:36 – Asia on the 6th of January?
I answer instinctively. Yes, I wish.
Same, says Ivan.…
On Echo Beach in Canggu, an Australian graffiti artist finishes a geometric mural on the back of a warung, a traditional Indonesian restaurant. Down under, he will often be commissioned thousands of dollars for his murals, but here in Bali, he’s painting this wall for free. He finishes as the sun sets, packs up his…
My stomach is churning as I walk towards the big green sign. No matter the destination, the feeling I get arriving at the immigration desk never ceases to change. When I get to the front of the line, a middle-aged Balinese man ushers me over.
Before I get the chance to give him my passport,…