With Some Grace

Everyday Experiences, Lifelong Learnings

Losing a wallet, gaining Balinese perspective

By: mamagrace7137 Comments

Greetings from the Island of the Gods!

This holiday hasn’t been without its tiny chapter of drama. Of course it happened even before departing Sydney, just as I was starting to feel relaxed about our first overseas family trip.
We arrived on time, the boys were sensing that we were going on an adventure. My tummy was filling up with butterflies, knowing that I was going to be that little closer to a place that made me feel at home; at complete comfort in my own skin.
Somehow, somewhere after checking in and before entering the boarding gates, there was chaos and confusion in filling out those stupid immigration forms.
The twinlets were running amok.
Losing all concentration, I also realised that I hadn’t checked in the bag with all my toiletries. All those creams and sprays were not going to make it through security as carry on luggage.
In a wild panic, I repacked my backpack and was fortunate enough to have enough time to check it in.
It was at this precise disasterous moment, I discovered that my wallet was not in it’s usual place. It was nowhere to be seen.
Frantically, I retraced my steps, heading back towards the table where I sat and found nothing. Nada.
Wallet gone.
Anxiety kicked in.
Forever my even keel, Mr Surfer tried to assure me that everything was fine. He guessed that I must’ve subconsciously slipped my wallet into the backpack and I would see it safe and in one piece when we arrived in Denpasar.
He was wrong.
In the midst of Bali heat, with the boys exploding into extreme-tiredness- berserk mode, we jumped on our ride to the hotel, minus a wallet that held all the important cards and cash you can imagine.
I started to really beat myself up by this stage.
All those cards I had to cancel; that wod of holiday cash that I had lost. My mind was hurting from the huge whirl of worry.
Driving through the mess and madness of Balinese traffic, I paused for a moment. Outside my window was extreme poverty, hardship, dirty streets and the crowds of people who didn’t seem to see themselves as struggling.
Some were even smiling. Others were hard at work, digging and shovelling in the stifling heat. Children were playing in the streets, granted dangerously among the speeding cars but nevertheless, happily.
Everyone was just getting on with it. Soldiering through the best way they knew how.
The next day, we decided to talk a walk to the shopping mall. An easy 10 minute walk, advised the hotel staff. I guess they didn’t take into account our lack of ability to acclimitize to the Balinese sauna or the fact that we each had a toddler to carry.
We finally hit the stores and I was ready to pass out from heat exhaustion and dehydration. I sat in an air-conditioned ATM booth, hunched over trying to get the oxygen back to my head while beads of sweat poured down my face.
Getting my shizz together, I realised there were countless Indonesian mums and dads out there who did this every day – carry a 13 kilo kid but for much longer than the wussy kilometer I hiked and they survive. No, in fact, they manage to thrive.
Another humbling experience.
As it happened, my wallet was found. Nothing was taken, everything in tact.
Maybe the Gods of this magical island are looking out for me. Or at least teaching me a few lessons on perspective

 

 

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    • mamagrace71 says

      I think I left it on a counter or on the table where I was filling out the forms. Sydney international airport contacted me to let me know they had found it…phew! And yes! Thank God for the Internet!!!

      Reply

  9. Mumabulous says

    Cheers to you for the way you handled this situation. I dont think I would have viewed it as an opportunity to find perspective. I would have freaked right out! Hope the only incidents that happen during the rest of your trip are happy and exciting ones.
    Mumabulous recently posted..Dino ManiaMy Profile

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  21. Nami says

    It’s amazing that everything was intact in your wallet. It shouldn’t be amazing, and it isn’t in certain places in the world, but it is to us. That says a lot about the vibe of the land, doesn’t it?
    Nami recently posted..That’s What I WantMy Profile

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  24. Mum of Adult Kids says

    Wow Grace! Great post, and I’m so glad you found your wallet. Lessons in perspective are a bitch sometimes… but I think it takes a special person to notice the lives and trials of others, above their own challenging circumstances. Nice one Grace. xx

    I could relate too, because my mum lost her wallet last Saturday while we were browsing a market in Brisbane. After a few heart-stopping minutes we discovered she’d dropped it into a shopping bag, with a bag of organic zuchinni! 🙂
    Mum of Adult Kids recently posted..The best advice I ever tookMy Profile

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  27. Rachel @ The Kids Are All Right says

    The luxurious hotels are of course lovely, but one of the favourite things I did when we were in Bali a year ago was take a walk into the back streets, where things are very different, as you’d know. I stood for ages watching children arrive at their primary school on the back of motorbikes with their brooms – I presume they have to clean their school as well. And I walked down dirt lanes until the smells got too bad and the dogs got too scary and I couldn’t tell if that bony animal I was looking at was a horse or a cow. I took my teenager the next day on the same walk, so she could see where we were really staying. I’m not sure they necessarily liked us being there, but it’s important to get that perspective.
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