I call them vacation kilo’s
On the 17th we finally arrived back on the island. Being back on the motorbike and breading in the fresh air made me realise how good Karimunjawa smells. Redy missed eating fish so badly, the first week we had a fresh fish BBQ for three nights in a row. Drinking with friends and sitting outside at night, we both missed that a lot.
Everyone was commenting on how white we were, how Redy looked very fresh, and how I got a bit chubby. People here aren’t shy about commenting on your appearance 😉 I call them vacation kilo’s but try to explain that to my fellow islanders who practically eat the same every day. After a few days of settling in, chilling with friends, and catching up on sleep. Yes, catching up on sleep after 5 nights of quarantine. I know that sounds weird but being in a hotel room 24/7 with jetlag doesn’t make it easy to stick to a daily routine so you can get back into the right sleeping pattern. Anyways, after three days it was really time to unpack, organise our house and get back to work.
Redy went back to the lobster farm most of his day, I picked up my shifts again and started analysing our market to see what the best planning for Basa-basi this year is. Besides that, I had an eBook to finish and a site to get ready. Especially that last part was a big struggle but after around a week of staring at my screen and trying to figure out what was wrong, I did it! The eBook is online and available on our website. Interested? Go check it out over here.
Getting back to normal life, also means getting back at enjoying the island. When we arrived, it was still raining pretty frequently, and the hard wind came back for a week or so. After a week of no boat and a lot of rain, the weather started to turn and since then it has been super warm with even a few rainless blue skyed days. We enjoy them whenever possible by going to the beach together. Here on the island or the other day to one of the closer smaller islands for a proper beach day and BBQ with friends. The kids (Lukas, Daniya and also Olive) are getting so big and are getting more fun to play with every day.
For now, I started sleeping upstairs, since Redy stays at the lobster farm most nights as the rainy season is over and business really picked up again. However, if we open Basa-basi again we will probably take one of the bungalows for ourselves, so we have a nice private space until we have the opportunity to build our own little house on the land.
This week two of our other friends came back to the island after spending almost a year in Germany. They just welcomed their second son and almost finished building their house here. Our island family keeps on expanding, the next member is due this April. That is when Joyce and Sudar are expecting their second son.
In the meantime, Redy and I are busy securing our business. It seems like tourism is going to make a small peak before Ramadan starts on the 13th of April. The big crowds are coming back at Eid Mubarak after the fasting has finished, so lots to do until then. Stay posted and check out our Instagram for visual updates. Both Basa-basi and my personal one. Talk to you soon!
