Sketching Indonesia: On music and the magic of connection

“Music is the universal language of mankind.”

―Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In all the excitement of arriving in Buenos Aires last month—where my time in the city was largely spent inside my new favorite Spanish school—I didn’t have a chance to share another story of mine that was recently published on G Adventures’ website.

Although I always love writing for the site, this story was a little more personal to work on—all about how my passion for music helps me connect with people around the world. The story was inspired by a trip to Northern Ireland earlier this year—where I had the chance to attend a local music and storytelling session, and even got to play a song of my own—but there was another experience I was equally excited to include, about a different kind of music group in a very different corner of the world…

Exactly this time four years ago, I arrived in Indonesia, spent my first week in the country on Bali, and then learned about a trio of small islands located just off the southeast coast of Bali—the largest of which is called Nusa Penida. As soon as I could, I took a bus to a town called Padang Bai, a speed boat from Padang Bai to Nusa Penida, and promptly set about leaving a piece of my heart on the island—on its rugged, undeveloped shores; down its quiet, palm-lined lanes; and in its bustling morning markets.

I so enjoyed sharing a little story-behind-the-story moment in last week’s post from Peru, that I thought I would do the same this week for my story about finding connections through music.

One moment I loved writing about from Nusa Penida was getting to sit in on a local gamelan orchestra’s practice session one night (spoiler alert: I even got to play a set of ceng-ceng cymbals during their last song, and will forever cherish my all-too-brief stint as a gamelan musician…), but gratefully, that wasn’t the only time music found me on the island.

One of my other favorite rituals from the week were my daily visits to the Nusa Penida Bird Sanctuary, where I was welcomed by local workers and volunteers on my first day—and we soon bonded over a shared love of music. Here’s how I wrote about it in an email to a dear friend right after leaving the island, on my ferry ride back to the mainland:

“There are a hundred other little moments I want to share with you…and THEN there’s a whole other layer of creative inspiration, for all of the guys at the bird foundation—Mike, Will, and all of the local guys on staff—play the guitar, drums, etc. So each night we would sit around and sing and play music. And then Mike, who is a painter, gave me a lesson one day on doing portraits and how to improve my sketching of people. So I loved that it was not just that I’d discovered this incredible island, but that all of my creative pursuits got to express themselves here.”

That last sentence is the point I most tried to make in the story—that traveling isn’t only about discovering different cultures and new corners of the world; I think a special kind of magic happens when we bring what we love with us on a journey, and can then find common ground and new connections through sharing that love with the world.

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Have you ever found new connections on a trip by sharing a favorite hobby or passion with someone you met? I’d love to hear your stories below!