The Opposite of a Psychopath by Charles Tyler

Author:Charles Tyler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Charles Hardman

Chapter 10

We’d been to Bali together three times previously, but I hadn’t been here on my own. Prior to meeting her, I’d not been interested in visiting the island due to its reputation as a party hotspot full of drunken twenty-somethings getting up to mischief and causing trouble. News articles and reality show advertisements did nothing to change my opinion, and made Bali look like the antithesis of a relaxing holiday. Prior to us meeting, she hadn’t been keen on Bali either and we’d agreed not to include it on our holiday list – that was until her travel agent convinced her to give it a try for our honeymoon.

We’d tasted affordable villa luxury twice before in Thailand and desired something similar for a week’s getaway after our wedding. We’d originally planned to return to Hua Hin for a third time but were put off by the nine-hour flight and the three-hour drive to get there.

We couldn’t afford Bora Bora or the Maldives, so she enlisted the help of an agent to find us something to meet our criteria; a self-contained private pool villa somewhere warm and not too far away, near a beach and out of the hustle and bustle, and which didn’t cost the earth.

Seminyak in Bali was the only destination to tick all the boxes, and it would do so at half the price of Hua Hin, and in half the travel time.

We treated our honeymoon as reconnaissance to see if we could enjoy Bali from the privacy of our own villa; and we did. During our second and third stays, we fell in love with the island, and spoke about plans of leasing a house for six months each year, splitting our time between Seminyak and Melbourne. We discussed ideas about how we’d make the lifestyle work, and what we’d need to do to turn it into reality, but that, too, was now just another broken dream we’d never realise, at least not together.

It was only after I’d booked and paid for my flights and accommodation that these memories of Bali came flooding back to me, as did my awareness that the first place I’d travel to post-divorce was the first place we’d travelled to post-marriage.

It didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, as with or without her, Bali still ticked all my holiday destination boxes. It was still warm, still close to Australia, and half the price of similar destinations. I knew how to get around and already had my favourite places for breakfast and dinner. Most of all, I knew exactly how I wanted to spend each of my days; doing exactly what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it.

I was going to walk the streets during the day and sit by the beach at night. I would drink coffee in cafés, eat out at fancy restaurants, try yoga, get out of bed when I was awake, go to sleep when I was tired, lie by the pool, drink from coconuts, and be still.

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