Busy viewing morning…TV watching habits…

Crops covered with metal tubing to avoid sun damage.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

Angler on the beach ready to land his nets.

During daylight hours, we never turn on the TV other than to watch the Minnesota Viking Games and to air political debates after plugging in the HDMI cord. 

In our old lives, the TV would often be on all day during Tom’s days off and for a select hours during the days after I retired. There were some favorite shows that I had run in the background while I was constantly engaged in a multitude of tasks. 

He’s contemplating where he’d have the most success.

Actually sitting down to watch a show rarely appealed to me except in the evenings when I’d run out of steam, needing to wind down in my comfy chair passed in a flash. I retired in 2010, two years prior to Tom.

We’d stop our routine for unexpected visitors, household cleaning and maintenance, miscellaneous yard work, trips to the grocery store, Home Depot, the health club, preparing meals and activities with family and friends. Frequently entertaining guests consumed massive amounts of prep time.

He tosses the weighted nets in the sea.

When we envisioned our retirement, I can honestly say with a degree of embarrassment, that had we stayed in the US living as many retirees do, we’d have spent several daylight hours in front of the TV watching news and financial markets while our fingers flew across the keyboard on our laptops. 

In the evenings after dinner, we’d surely have parked out butts in the same comfy chairs to mindlessly watch several shows we found to be particularly entertaining, which we’d recorded on one of three DVRs; in the kitchen, the bedroom and the family room.

A short time later, he’d had success, most likely having caught squid.

Happy together as a couple, with plenty of family and friends, there’s no doubt that our lives would have been good. But how about GREAT as opposed to GOOD? Could we somehow achieve a heightened degree of happiness and fulfilment? We discovered we could and, we have.

We never stop appreciating an ocean view.

For us, the way we’ve accomplished having this GREAT life was  making the exciting yet difficult decision to travel the world in January, 2012. We left Minnesota on October 31, 2012 after a full nine months of planning while busy organizing and selling everything we owned while we created an itinerary for years to come.

In light of all this, we no longer spend endless hours parked in front of a TV screen. If anything, we watch no more than two episodes of favorite series, we can stream or have already recorded on my laptop. We don’t have a TV in many vacation homes or, as is the case in Bali, there are no English language channels.

There are many farms located along the ocean.

This morning, Monday in this part of the world, we’re currently situated in the villa’s living room on the main floor (no AC, hot and humid) in front of the TV watching the Minnesota Vikings Game on the NFL GamePass app. After the game, we’ll stream the political debate. 

By 11:00 am, we’ll head out to the pool to spend the remainder of the day outdoors, walking the beach, watching for photo ops of sightings on the beach and loving this simple life. Most days, we’re outdoors by 8:00 am.

We crossed countless rivers and waterways in the four to five hour harrowing road trip, coming up again in 19 days.

The two Ketuts just arrived with their usual smiling faces carrying bags of fresh prawns and vegetables for tonight and tomorrow’s dinners. Ribud is cleaning the veranda, the grounds and the pool after a weekend of winds and pouring rain which left behind quite a mess.

And as always he’s setting up the chaise lounges with cushions and fresh towels and cleaning the cabana for our use later in the day when we escape from the sun. He cleans the cushions, straightens the pillows and sprays for those biting red ants. 

The ocean to our left as we made our way from Denpasar.

There’s no major TV time for us in this life of world travel. We’re preoccupied with simple joys and the uncomplicated nature of our daily lives, grateful and in awe of the world around us.

May your day be uncomplicated and joyful!


Photo from one year ago today, October 10, 2015:

In Fiji, this popular “island with three trees” is mostly underwater at high tide. For more details, please click here.