(click here for my 7 days in Lombok itinerary)
It’s been about a month since I got back from Indonesia, and only now do I feel like I’m properly processing how that trip actually made me feel.
Usually when I travel, it’s European city breaks. A few days here, a few days there. Quick flights, tightly packed itineraries, and a constant sense that if I stop moving, I’m somehow wasting the trip. Wake up early, see everything, eat everything, walk 25,000 steps, collapse into bed, repeat.
If I’m honest, that rhythm isn’t too far from how my brain works day-to-day.
I’ve always been an overthinker with what I strongly suspect is an undiagnosed ADHD brain. My mind doesn’t really do “still.” It prefers momentum — something to do, somewhere to go, something new to focus on. For years I told myself that was just my personality.
But there’s another truth hidden in there too: when you keep moving, trauma struggles to catch up.
If you’re always rushing to the next landmark, the next café, the next train, the next “hidden gem” TikTok told you about, you don’t really have time to sit with your thoughts. Distraction becomes your coping mechanism.
Lombok had other ideas.
The shift started before I even arrived. Thirty-seven hours of travelling has a way of slowing you down whether you like it or not. Somewhere between airport security queues, questionable airplane meals, and the slow loss of feeling in your legs, your brain accepts that you’re not setting the pace anymore.
But once I landed in Lombok, the slowing down didn’t stop.
Life there just moves differently. Quieter. Softer. Less urgent. After the constant buzz of places like Bali, Lombok felt calm in a way that almost forces you to breathe a little deeper. There’s less pressure to constantly be doing something and more encouragement to simply exist in the moment.
One of the moments that sticks with me most was standing on Pink Beach, watching the ocean shift between shades of turquoise and coral under the sun. There was no rush. No next stop waiting on the itinerary. Just waves, warm sand, and the realisation that doing absolutely nothing was actually… quite nice.
Another day I sat near one of Lombok’s waterfalls, surrounded by thick jungle and the constant crashing of water against rock. It’s funny how something so loud can create such a peaceful atmosphere. Normally my brain would be racing — thinking about the next location, the next photo, the next plan.
But this time it didn’t.
Instead, I just sat there.
Now, to be clear, Lombok didn’t completely slow everything down. My stomach, for example, decided it would like to participate in the adventure in its own dramatic way. At one point I’m fairly certain my digestive system attempted a full system reset. Let’s just say my relationship with spicy street food became… complicated.
Nothing builds character like trying to meditate beside a tropical waterfall while quietly questioning whether that chicken satay earlier was a mistake.
But even with the occasional dodgy stomach moment, the overall pace of the trip forced me into something I’d spent years avoiding: stillness.
And surprisingly, I realised I was ready for it.
Instead of running from introspection, I leaned into it. I let my thoughts wander without trying to outrun them. There was no constant distraction, no packed schedule demanding my attention.
Just space.
A few years ago that kind of quiet would have made me uncomfortable. Silence can be confronting when your mind is full of things you’ve been avoiding.
Movement was always my strategy — keep busy, keep travelling, keep going.
But Lombok showed me something different.
Growth doesn’t always come from pushing harder. Sometimes it comes from slowing down long enough to notice what’s going on inside your own head.
And the outcome?
For the first time in years, I came home from a holiday actually feeling refreshed. Not the usual “I need another holiday to recover from my holiday” exhaustion that follows a whirlwind city break.
Just calm.
Indonesia didn’t just give me beautiful beaches, waterfalls, and the occasional digestive crisis. It gave me something far more valuable: the space to breathe.
And it turns out, that slower pace suited me more than I ever expected.
Click for a full 7 day in lombok itinerary with a breakdown of all costs and locations!!
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