M.I.A. – Missing In Action

Yes. I’m still here. And, yes I intend to keep on blogging. It’s just that during my last weeks in Bali I decided to go traveling and explore the island and take as many photographs as I could. And that takes time, so haven’t had time to do some blogging just been busy living I guess.

Also, of course the M.I.A. in the caption is a reference to the great musical artist M.I.A. of Sri Lankan ancestry, look her up, who’s song “Paper Planes” I always hear in my head when I’ve gotten a visa to go someplace: “If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name”.

And I knew when I started traveling that I wanted to get better at underwater photography. It’s even more difficult than sports photography because the visibility is worse and sometimes it’s so windy with waves that whip up sand from the bottom you can hardly see anything at all. But when it’s good, it’s really good. You sort of flow in the water that’s moving around you, and you don’t resist you just go where the water takes you. And it’s the same for the fish, so you float around together with the fish and just go with the current. I managed to take som photos I love, and since my water housing can only go 10 meters below the surface I appreciated the shallow coral reef in Amed, almost as far east as you can get in Bali. Amed it’s a very special and beautiful place, one of the few places in Bali with great swimming too, and it sits at the foot of Gunung Agung which is the highest mountain on the island, and an active volcano who had her last eruption 2019.

I didn’t have a proper plan when I started the travels, in fact I didn’t even have a proper plan when I left Sweden in October 2021, I thought I should try traveling since it seemed like the pandemic was loosening it’s grip on the world. And traveling worked, so I just continued. Anyways, back to my last weeks in Bali, I knew I wanted to spend more time in the water and I’d heard that snorkeling in the north was good so that’s where I headed. Some places I liked more than others so I extended my stay, like I did in Amed.

What I had a hard time accepting while traveling is that you have to set aside some days just to do boring, but necessary stuff like back up your photos, apply for visas, organize transports and such. After I’d been to Lombok, further east of Bali, I came back to Amed but had to take care of stuff so I could hardly enjoy Amed or take more photos. But I made sure I went swimming both at sunrise and sunset, and that’s just the most important thing for me, it’s basically my main occupation.

And now I’m back in Sweden. Of course I’ve got mixed emotions about that. I’m heading north soon to visit my relatives which will be super nice since the pandemic restrictions are removed so I can meet the older family members. But, it’s also “July in Sweden” which means nothing works because everybody is on vacation. I’m sort of ready to get going with my company but I have to spend so much time organizing things it affects my mood and inspiration, because it’s like Philthy Animal in Motörhead said “We’re artists, we’re sensitive as fuck”. I’ve spent so much time trying to get my phone plan with Telia working again it’s like I’m a part time employee there. And I still, after almost two weeks here, don’t have my old plans up and working.

Oh well, what to do? I guess I have to relax and enjoy the Swedish summer too and soon I get to see the midnight sun up in the north.