Author(s): Becky Wicks

Travel Writing

She lifted the burqa on Dubai in Burqalicious. Now Becky Wicks turns her attention to Australia's number one tourist destination: Bali! It seems to be the new in-thing to find yourself these days, even if you're not particularly lost. And perhaps with a bit of help from that movie (yes, that one), Bali has become the number one country for Australians to go soul-searching. In fact, more people than ever before are heading to this pristine, lizard-infested, supposedly 'cursed' isle from all over the world, for a taste of the 'bicycle-riding-through-rice-paddies' good life. So why not Becky Wicks, too? Elizabeth Gilbert scratched the surface of Ubud in Eat Pray Love...but the movie has since spawned an epidemic. You can't move five feet without encountering a person with The Julia Roberts Syndrome. In a series of humorous and honest day-to-day diary entries over the course of six to eight months, Becky documents life as an adopted Balinese local and detailing any (if there is any) spiritual growth on the path to becoming a better...or let's just say more appreciative person. Instead of being paid to work doing something she likes, she'll volunteer to do things she doesn't...or doesn't think she'll like while surrounding herself with the characters who've all followed their favourite movie star on a similar, personal quest for enlightenment and inner satisfaction. Her base for this spiritual, soul-searching investigation will be the cultural, hippy epicentre of the island, Ubud. From the essentials, such as finding a place to live and sorting a visa, to exploring the true significance of Balinese customs and traditions, her sole/soul's purpose is to get to the heart of Australia's number one tourist destination, through the eyes of a sort-of-local. And as a 31-year-old writer who's never felt the urge to live in a place longer than two years since the age of 18, hopefully, maybe she'll find what's been missing along the way (which is probably a man, if she's honest).