Dream Destinations: Jonathan

Indonesia

There are over 17,000 islands making up the Republic of Indonesia, so there's no chance of running out of places to explore. Jonathan's sailed exclusively in the Atlantic Ocean, so a chance to sail in the Indian and Pacific Oceans is super exciting. The Hudson has prepared him to handle the strong currents running through the islands most of the year. That's about the only thing he'd be prepared for, because of the over 700 languages currently spoken in Indonesia, Jonathan speaks exactly zero. That's okay though, the shared language of the sea breaks down barriers. He'd stick out like a sore American thumb in Bali and probably be herded to some tourist attractions, like the Uluwu Temple, and cry while reading Eat, Pray, Love in the town of Ubud. Then he'd go to the Ubud Monkey Forest, where a majestic grey long-tailed macaque would definitely steal that copy of Eat, Pray, Love. 

Raja Ampat - just a few of 17,000 islands. Photo by sutirta budiman on Unsplash

He'd hand-gesture his way to an Indonesian dive shop to access some of the best scuba diving in the world, since Indonesia makes up one leg of the legendary "Coral Triangle" which contains thousands of species of coral. The area has so much marine biodiversity it's called "The Amazon of the Seas."

He'd see things like this.Hooded Cuttlefish. Photo - prilfish via Flickr

and this.Manta Rays off Komodo Island. Photo - Eva Funderburgh via Flickr

and he'd definitely do this. Whale Shark fist bump! Photo - Marcel Ekkel via Flickr

He'd head to the island of Komodo, because there are actual dragons there!Komodo Dragon felt cute. Might delete later.
Photo - Richard Wasserman via Flickr 

The sailing would be great, the visas epic, and he'd come back with a few choice phrases in Balinese, such as "Another round of Arak, if you please!" (Arak is basically Balinese rum) and "Excuse me, could you direct me to an honest outboard mechanic?"