ULUWATU.

Home away from home, or just a bubble?

Uluwatu really feels amazing. Especially the people are all inspiring and represent some (definitely not all) of the values I live by. People look after themselves, their health, their passion, their goals.

If we go to the beach at around 5pm with my Mikasa ball in the left - and my Leica in the right hand I feel like superman. I feel like I am exactly where I need to be. Especially when I had a rewarding day at my Laptop either writing stories like these, looking at the photographs from the previous days on my SD Card or juggling around finances, next collaborations, the next trips, etc.

But of course it only works because we have savings, sometimes I wonder how all these people sitting all around us on their laptops at Artisan finance their lives. I truly do. Writing this I maybe should go ask each one of them, instead of just wondering. And I don’t mean this out of jealousy, actually I admire them. I was always in between, thinking freelancers don’t have their shit together and admiring their free spirit and adaptability.

When it comes to me, I was never obsessed with money, more with how I spend my time. But you also need to have money - to live, to travel, to buy a Leica, to buy a Macbook I’m writing these stories on now.

But how much do you need? Do you really need a car? Depends on where you are, yes. In Switzerland I definitely need one, even tho the public transportation is the best there is, I’m not that person and I will never be, and that’s ok. Everyone should find out what their own individual standard is.

And I stress this so much because we often look left or right and think we need to adapt, but one thing I learned you will have a trade off no matter what.

Either you have freedom, or security. I rarely saw these two things co-exist in someones life.

I’m a big fan of having a safety net, like for when you get older and can’t generate income anymore, or there is an emergency, whatever. I was never brave or stupid enough, depends on how you see it, to throw all eggs in one basket.

But money needs to flow, like everything in life. You need to invest and I’m not just talking about stocks or crypto, I’m talking about assets like cameras, books, yoga mats, networks, just all the things that fuel your craft with energy, inspiration and resources. Investing in the things that represent your craft, your work, your passion or your purpose bring you a long way, even if the outcome is not money, it will be a learning and stepping stone for sure.

Why do I talk about all of this? Because it’s such a big clash of how I grew up in Switzerland and how my mindset and lifestyle shifted.

Most of it because of traveling. Because of seeing how other people live, with way less but much happier, much more content. I don’t want to go there, we all have heard it before people having less are more happy but at the end of the day everyone needs to pay their bills, even if its just for a bag of rice.

What I want to stress with that is, that we should ask ourselves, what core values we have. Is it money, house and cars? That’s totally fine with me if someone really wants that and it’s what truly makes them happy. If it’s a mindset forced upon by our environment, I have my problems with it.

But what other people do, believe it’s non of my business and not the purpose of these stories, they are about my view on life and how I see the world through my camera.

The only thing I can tell you is I’m the happiest with 7 pairs of underwear, 4 shirts, 2 boardshorts, 1 camera, 1 laptop, 1 hard drive and a bag full of experiences, interactions and non judgment…

A minimalistic life, focused on experiencing and feeling the world, while still working on your craft and generate money to pay the bills and invest into the future. I trade of all the luxury and safety, for a slower but more aware life, where your reward actually reflects the exact amount of effort you put in.

But a big off topic became now the heart of this story, I actually wanted to talk about Uluwatu.

So let’s say it like this, no matter where you are, we will always have struggles and trade offs. I’m just rather surrounded by people flexing with their health, their passion, their charisma instead of material things.

More of Uluwatu has to wait for a next round of stories.

Beware of currents, will get you undressed at Nyang Nyang.

Ambience 10/10. Staff 10/10. Pasta … let’s say if I had to feed 20 hungry kids after a soccer game I’ll serve pasta like that - or probably not even then.