A land of raw beauty, where nature reigns and time slows down.

In March 2025, I found myself on a quick layover in Bali, familiar, buzzing, and full of life. But something pulled me east, across the narrow strait, to a place I hadn’t expected to move me so deeply: Lombok.

Roughly the same size as Bali, yet it felt like stepping into another world. Gone were the cafes and crowds, Lombok greeted me with silence, space, and a kind of wild stillness that’s hard to come by these days.

Nature here still calls the shots. Towering Mount Rinjani pierced the sky. Waterfalls hid in thick jungle. I walked across white-sand beaches with not a single other soul in sight. It felt untouched, and real.

I didn’t plan much, just let the road take me—through traditional villages, past endless rice terraces that glowed in the morning light. I met the Sasak people, Lombok’s native tribe, whose way of life hasn’t changed much over the years. Their bamboo and earth homes stood humbly among green fields, and their days seemed shaped more by sunlight than by clocks.

One of the most surreal places I visited was Pink Beach, where the sand really does blush under your feet. It’s a long drive, off the grid, but worth every bump in the road. No resorts, no shops just turquoise sea and rose-tinted shores. It felt like a reward for simply slowing down.

Lombok was a surprise, an honest, raw gem I hadn’t seen coming. Through my lens, I tried to capture that feeling: of stepping back, breathing deeper, and remembering a world where nature still leads the way.