Why is Indonesia so Appealing?

Recently a question was posed as to why Indonesia is so appealing. I have given it some thought, and here is my answer.

Why is Indonesia so appealing to me? Well currently its not as much as it was so I am removing the 'So' and will try again. Why is Indonesia appealing to me?

When I chose to come here it was to explore another Asian country that I had not really heard of and to take up a completely different form of employment. After 3 weeks, I decided that I could stay here for a lot longer than my initial years contract and so started to settle down. My first impressions of palm tree lines streets, endless sunny days that were hot and humid with a constant supply of cold beer and happy faces have never left me.

Part of my walk to work when I first came here.

8 years on and its still all there. But how everything has changed. I got engaged here, married here and had my first child here. My wife who is Indonesian was one of the first people I met. I met her after work in a coffee shop in Senayan. We have been together ever since. She is a reason that keeps me here. My son is another,the palm trees and sunny days are more.

The missues back in the day

Jeremy as a elf

The people, some. The lifestyle?, not really as its no worse or better than being home. Is it cheaper? sort of. Am I happy? Yes everyday as there is more to be happy about here than back home.
I live in one of the most diverse cultures and environments in the world and that cant be beaten.
Thinking back to life away from here and its problems such as; crap boats, dodgy planes, rubbish buses, lack of care, poor sanitation, bad education, lethal alcohol, overspending, overeating, poor medical facilities, bad air, filthy rivers, flooding, intolerant people, religious fanatics, terrorism, corrupt officials, incomprehensible rules, drugs, dangerous fireworks, too much MSG does sound a lot like here in fact its almost the same but everyone speaks a different language and smiles more and accepts their fate.

The Good

The Bad

 and the ugly

So perhaps I swapped one existence for another, but despite all the things that can go wrong have gone wrong for me, I don't want to leave. I want to see my family grow up, I want to settle here somewhere and live life quietly, I want to be chased by tigers, scared by Jungle men, alarmed by booming volcanoes, laughed at by the locals, amused by the randomness of life, bemused by the red tape, feeling less stressed, enjoying the sun and haze and everything in between.
Why is it appealing to me? Because being in Indonesia has taught me more in 8 years than 30 something years in England about life, living and how many exciting and mysterious things there are still to be discovered.

Being English I can choose to moan and groan about everything as that's what we are good at. But actually nothing really matters so I stopped that. Being happy matters. Indonesia makes me happy. Its as simple as that.