This is something that has been on my bucket list for a while but the opportunity to do such atoning had not arisen until now.
On the Dec 27th traveled with Haggie form Gili to Bali. I had two options when I arrived, I could either stay in Bali and explore for a few days or go to the airport and move on to another location. When we got to Bali we took a shuttle from the boat that took us into the city. On the shuttle ride we met Samuel who was from Jakarta but living in Bali at the time. He offered to show us a local place for lunch and since we had time to kill we decided to go with him. Wen we got out of the shuttle Haggie and I chuckled to ourselves because we knew the people on the shuttle that were listening to our conversation and probably thought we were crazy to go with a random guy to get lunch. Ultimately, he was just a really friendly guy that showed us cheap local food, a temple and the beach. However, after seeing all of this I decided that I had seen enough of Bali. It was nice but very touristy and not somewhere where I wanted to spend a lot of time or Christmas which was quickly approaching. I decided to go to the airport with Haggie and I would buy the cheapest plane ticket I could find. It was more challenging than I expected....there is not a desk that you can go to that has all the flight times and prices for all the airlines. I was constantly going to different desks asking for prices and information and after looking online I found a flight to Perth for 100USD and I booked it. After sitting and playing cards for a while as we waited for check in to open I thought it would be a good idea to check the us department of state website to make sure that I didn't need a visa or other documents to enter Australia. I was in Australia in 2010 but couldn't remember needing anything to enter the country....once the page loaded I looked at the entry and exit requirements..."You must have a valid U.S. passport and a visa to enter Australia. Most U.S. passport holders traveling to Australia for tourism or business purposes for less than 90 days can obtain an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). The ETA is an electronic label-free visa and can be obtained at the ETA website for a small service fee." Ohh no. My initial thought was that I was an idiot booking a ticket before knowing if I needed a visa and then I thought I would be stuck in Bali just having thrown away $100. I could apply for a visa online and to my surprise it was approved within five minutes of me submitting the form! Phew. I got very lucky!
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