Feature Friday: Meet Greta O.

It’s the end of the week, and we know what that means…Feature Friday! This week we have the honor of meeting a fellow travel blogger, Greta! Greta recently made the leap to full-time blogger, and she’s using her blog to not only share her adventures, but to also share tips and tricks to help others travel more often as well. Today she’s taking the time to share one of her recent trips to a very popular destination, and the amazing pictures she took there!
1. Thank you for being a part of Feature Friday. Can you tell us your name and a little bit about yourself?
Hi, my name is Greta, lovely to meet you all! I’m Italian but have been living in London for five years. I moved here first for university (I studied Geography at University College London, a weird degree choice I know) and then found a job as a management consultant for the past two years. I have actually just recently quit my office job to be a full time blogger! Some other random personal facts about myself; I’m a black belt in Judo, my favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio and I love any form of water sports, which is why I always prefer beach holidays!

2. What country do you call home?
That’s a tough question. I grew up in Milan, but I never really liked it when I lived there, and when I moved to London my mum moved to the beach in Sardinia, meaning that when I visit Milan now I hop around between my grandmas and my cousins house. Milan is the home where I grow up, and while now I appreciate it much more when I visit, I feel more at home in London or in Sardinia. In London I have some very good friends; I’ve lived with the same people for the past five years and we’ve grown very close, which makes it feel like home. I used to spend the summers in Sardinia growing up and since my mum recently moved there Sardinia also feels like home. So to answer your question, both Italy and London feel like home!

3. Which city{s}/country{s} did you recently travel to?
I have recently come back from a trip to Bali!

4. How long was the journey?
The flight from London was about 18 hours, with a stop over in Jakarta one way and in Singapore on the way back. We were there for 12 days in total.

5. Why did you travel to Bali?

6. What native dish was your favorite to eat?

Anything with satay sauce! In most restaurants they served all kinds of grilled meat or fish with satay sauce, and I absolutely loved it! Can’t get enough of that peanut and coconut flavor.

7. What was the most unique thing you ate?

Maybe not unique but it was very weird for me, on the way back from our Kawah Ijen night hike we had breakfast in a typical Java home. This was typical Indonesian food like rice and curry, which being Italian I’m not used to eating for breakfast! The time at which we ate it made the meal unique.

8. Was was your most unique mode of transportation?
We spent a couple days in Gili Trawangan, an island just off the coast of Lombok and a couple hours away from Bali. This island is entirely pedestrian, meaning the only modes of transport are either bicycles or small horse carriages! We got one from the harbor to our hotel since we didn’t want to have to walk with them under the sun. The carriage was so small we had to shuffle around five times before setting off to avoid risking to tip over!

9. What was the weather like during your trip?
It was awesome fortunately! May is the end of the rainy season / start of the dry season so the perfect time to visit Bali, since the expensive prices of peak season haven’t started yet, and the weather is already great! In 12 days it rained once one evening.

10. Where was your favorite place go in Bali? Why?

Gili Trawangan was my favorite place! Even if technically it’s in Lombok and not Bali (Lombok is the island next to Bali) we went there as part of this trip, and it’s a popular couple day getaway for a lot of travellers in Bali. I loved that the whole island was pedestrian, the fact that there were no cars added to the chill island vibe of Gili T. I also loved how good the snorkeling was, without even having to go on excursions, we just got snorkeling gear for free from our hotel, and swam out easily where we saw turtles just off the coast!

11. What was the funniest thing that happened to you on this trip?
We had a flight at 7am so decided to not book a hotel room for the night before. Our thought process if we need to be there at 5am, we’ll have to set off at 4am and wake up at 3am, so no point going to sleep! Might as well be tired and sleep on the flight (it made sense in our heads). But when it got to 10pm we were already knackered by all the stuff we’d done during the day, so ended up sleeping on sunbeds by the pool of our hotel from the night before when it started pouring with rain! Yes, the one evening of rain of the whole trip was the  only evening that we decided to spend it outdoors.

12. Did you learn anything during this trip?
I feel like you always learn something new when you go travelling, whether it’s about new cultures or about yourself. I’m not a patient person, I never have been, and this always gets tested when I’m travelling to countries where I don’t understand the language. I feel like this Bali trip has also contributed to teaching me to be more patient.

13. What was the best part about your trip?

Swimming with turtles in Gili Trawangan! I love snorkeling as it is, but being able to do it with such beautiful creatures (and so easy to find too!) was really amazing. Read more about it here! 

14. What was the most challenging part about your trip?

Trying to surf in Seminyak Beach! I’ve been surfing only two or three times before, and when we got to Seminyak Beach and I saw how many people there were surfing I decided I had to give it another go. I managed to successfully stand on the board more than once, which to me was already enough of a success! Come check out some footage here!

15. What is your favorite picture you took on this trip?

This picture of the sunrise at Kawah Ijen. After hiking under the stars all night it was such a perfect moment. Watching the sun peek through the clothes, and turn everything first golden and then pink was truly magical. Read more about it here!

16. How does Bali compare to your home country? Were your expectations met, or did they differ completely?
It’s very different from both London and Italy. I have to admit, as much fun as I had, I was a bit underwhelmed by Bali. Maybe because I’d seen so many incredible pictures and heard so much about it from friends, I’d over hyped it so much in my mind that when I finally visited I didn’t find it as amazing as I’d expected it to be. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s beautiful, but I found it a lot busier, more touristy and chaotic than I’d like.

17. If you were to go to Bali again, what would you do differently?
I would spend more time in the Gili islands, and go visit the other islands too! I really loved that part of the trip, and if I could go back and I’d spend more time there, enjoying the white sandy beaches and turquoise water, swimming with turtles and cycling around. As much as I enjoyed surfing in Seminyak Beach in Bali I’d happily skip that for more time living the chill island life in the Gili islands.

18. If someone else was to go to Bali, what advice or tips would you give them?

I found Bali a lot busier and more touristy than I was expecting, although I suppose when a place is so beautiful you can’t really help it! I spent the whole trip partly trying to avoid other tourists and partly ending up in the same places (eg. Tanah Lot or Ubud) so in the end I reached the conclusion you just have to embrace it! My advice for other travellers is yes go searching for that secluded beach, but don’t give up on going to that busy temple to see the sunrise. Just because there will be other people there it won’t make it any less magical. Also, you have to visit the Gili islands, they were my favorite part of the trip and a must see for anyone who loves white sandy beaches, turquoise water and snorkeling with turtles!

19. Do you have any more travel plans lined up? Where to next?
I’m going to spend the summer in Sardinia, in Italy. It’s not exactly a travel plan as my mum lives here and it feels like home, but it’s a very popular beach destination and I think I will head out and explore different parts of the island that I haven’t been to yet. The real travelling will start in September, I have a few road trips planned with different groups of friends, and then after that long term travel to South America and Australia!

20. Anything else you want to share about your trip?
Nope, feel like I’ve told you pretty much everything about it!

Thank you Greta for sharing about your trip to Bali! It’s definitely on my bucket list, as I’ve also seen incredible pictures and heard amazing things. It’s good to know to check out the surrounding islands as well, so I’ll have to keep that in mind for when I go!

Did you enjoy what you read? Get to know more about the blogger!

Greta is a 23 year-old Italian with a passion for filming and travelling. She worked at a corporate office for a year and a half, and realized that life was not for her – so she changed it. Greta quit her job, and became a full-time travel blogger. Her goal is to share with others how they can travel more, and better, though general travel tips and specific destination advice. Connect with Greta at the following:

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