I’m sitting on the floor of my very amazing bathroom, journaling…
This is exactly how I want my future bathroom to be: adjoining the bedroom, half‑roofed, with the bathtub under the roof and an open‑air shower under the sky. A little zen garden. A big mirror.
I’m in Virgina Beach, northeast of Bali, on my first night in a private bungalow after leaving Europe for good. No roommates. No medical students. Just a remote village with very few international people — those who settled here decades ago and blend in beautifully.
Jan -my new private driver- drove me here after showing me the campsite for tomorrow’s hash run. It was my first time riding on a scooter with both legs on one side, the way locals do when they’re wearing a sarong. He’s teaching me little words in Balinese and suggested I visit Gili Trawangan, which is already on my travel plan for next month.
My “mother hash” is Bali Hash House Harriers 2. Our “feel good manager” Dewi, is a member of this non‑competitive social running club. Her husband is the hare -he sets the trail in advance using paper marks. Participants either walk or run the route. I joined Dewi’s group of hashers, and we decided to leave early (not warming up with drinks) and walk the long trail.
Hashing started in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, when British expats ran to “hash out” their weekend hangovers. Today there are hundreds of local “hash houses” around the world, including Bali Hash House Harriers 2, which describes itself as part of this global, loosely affiliated network of social running clubs.
It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon: collecting cashew fruits, meeting people from all over the word, enjoying nature, and sharing different foods that each and everyone brought. After the feast, I was officially adopted into the hashing world by my own baptism.
The highlight came at the end: Burning Worm – Release the Kraken. A huge, handmade Kraken had been built especially for the occasion. Watching it burn in the dark felt dramatic, communal, and slightly wild -exactly the kind of memory that makes a first hash run unforgettable.