Balilicious

by Becky Wicks

EAT, PAY, LEAVE!Becky Wicks lifted the burqa on Dubai In BURQALICIOUS. Now she turns her attention to Bali as she hilariously navigates life as an adopted Balinese local. A lot can happen when you set out to 'find yourself'. Sometimes, you can even lose the plot.From visiting ancient healers with cellphone addictions to leaving a shaking ashram intent on extracting her soul, Becky Wicks soon discovered that six months travelling round Bali wasn't all going to be about finding inner peace and harmony. In fact, the perils of possessed teens, eating raw, yogic headstands, diving shipwrecks and dicing with black magic and demons all took their toll on the Island of the Gods.And that was before the vaginal steaming.Becky Wicks lifts the sarong on real life in Bali in a blur of locals, tourists, expats and other other eating, praying lovers who arrive... you know... not really knowing who they are.

Genres: Travel, Memoir, Nonfiction, Asia, Chick Lit

372 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2012

About the author

Hello lovelies! I'm an ex travel writer, a Harlequin author and a self-published romance writer, currently scribbling NEW spicy stuff from Amsterdam.

I love connecting with readers and fellow writers. If you ever wanna say hi, I'm at beckywicks@me.com or on the socials!

Web: beckywicksauthor.com
Facebook: beckywicksauthor
Instagram: beckywicks
TikTok: authorbeckywicks

Thanks for reading!

Becky x

Reviews

[Sarah Alderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm totally biased because a) I live in Bali and b) Becky is my writing partner...oh and also c) I'm in the book (the chapter about Green School, the crystal and the dodgy coconut)!

If you've ever been interested in Bali (or even just love a good travel memoir) this book is brilliant. I have lived in Bali for three years and learned so much from reading Becky's book that I'd never known - about black magic and about animism (the form of Hinduism many Balinese practice) and about many other fascinating elements of this beautiful culture.

Becky is brilliantly funny, self-deprecating and observant (and you're always rooting for her to find love). Imagine if Bridget Jones went travelling around the world and you'll get an idea of what the book is like.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really for me. I wanted to like it because she seems nice and I am going to the Ubud area next year, but I found the structure of short tales attempting to be funny (for the most part) a bit annoying. The movement to grave didacticism (about charities etc) felt a bit forced and pseudo first world new age given that she is one of the very tourists who inevitably pollute/build a reliance on tourism by their time spent in the area. The epiphany at the end rang hollow to me.

I just would have preferred a linear narrative more along the lines of 'Yoga Bitch' with more of an insight into the area. Library book.

[Abe Shocket · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well ... I know I said I wouldn't read this, but I kind of got sucked in by the free sample. You know how that goes. The free part runs out just when you are completely hooked. Plus it was discounted! Anyway, I learned much more about Bali than the previous three books combined (including the Lonely Planet 1999 guide to Indonesia). Most of it is about the Ubud area and the various odd sounding retreats you can go to fix yourself (if you so desire). I also learn a lot about the culture and the landscape, local islands nearby for dive trips and get aways, so now I am ready to do the real thing, and just in time since we leave Thursday!

[Lauren Keegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Balilicious (The Bali Diaries) is the second memoir instalment of Becky Wicks' travel adventures, following on from Burqalicious where she took on Dubai. Now, following in the footsteps of Julia Roberts in Eat, Pray, Love; Becky takes on Bali for six months.

Becky is certainly not perfect, she drinks, parties and enjoys the occasional fling while searching for the one and trying to tap into her spiritual side. Becky doesn't even last one week in an ashram she had booked for one month over Christmas, only to return to eating unorganic food and binge drinking.

From observing a teenage boy possessed by a monkey to playing dress-ups in traditional Balinese attire and trying not to fall in love with the Diver when she becomes passionate about diving- Becky is in search of the real Bali.

Becky tries various health interventions for purification from eating only 'raw' tasteless food to vaginal steaming (apparently there's such thing in Bali), colon cleansing and a Balinese Brazilian wax (ouch!).
I think the purpose of Becky's memoir is to promote Bali as not just tourist destination but as a travel destination but I don't think it managed to achieve that for me. To be honest, despite my friends and family visiting Bali often, it's never been a place that's been high on my list of holiday destinations mainly because I see it as quite touristy and overrun by ex-pats. Wicks managed to confirm this for me. She spends much of her socialising with English-speaking ex-pats when what I really craved was more interactions with the locals and their way of life. She certainly sheds light on various cultural practices and the superstitions and magical beliefs of the Balinese, but I didn't get the sense it was ever truly appreciated- rather it was seen at times as ridiculous.

I am an avid reader of travel memoirs because I love to live vicariously through others, but this is probably the first one I've read that has convinced me not to go somewhere and for no other reason than it being too touristy. Which is probably saying a lot coming from someone who can read a memoir about a man surviving the perils of the Amazon and still say I want to go there! Or visit one of the most overpopulated countries in the world (India) just because everyone else said I'd hate it (which, mind you, I didn't).

That aside, I really did enjoy Wick's voice- she's witty and matter-of-fact and I don't doubt a lot of fun. I also admire her perseverance with staying on the road and expanding her knowledge of different cultures and ways of living. Her next memoir, Latinalicious is due for release at the end of 2013 and this is something I'd be interested in reading since South America has been high up on my list of places to visit for a LONG time.

Balilicious is a light-hearted, easy read about one English woman's adventures of living and working in Bali for six months. She challenges the romantic notions of this popular tourist destination created by the renowned Eat, Pray, Love.

[Claire Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an ok read - full of self importance, unexamined privilege and an amazing ability to make friends with people she hangs out with for five seconds or who are staff at bars/hotels she frequents... Not much real self refection here apart for some new age crap literally. Doubt I'll be reading the third instalment

[Renay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much humorous and fun, I found this book a little all-over-the-shop, and therefore not entirely what I was expecting. The name is a dead set giveaway, though, derrr. I failed to pick that up. Haha!
Written, literally, as a diary of Becky Wicks' time in Bali, as opposed to a story, which is what I was expecting, is why I found it "all over the shop".
I did find the accounts of her activities, and her thoughts and feelings about them, highly entertaining! Paid to journal, and following the lead of no doubt countless others on health and wellbeing journeys in Bali, Becky seemed as human as (some of) the rest of us in her inability to gain nirvana through yoga and drinking green smoothies and burning incense! Which was hilarious! Her descriptions of herself during her interactions and adventures had me smiling and giggling right the way through.
So, all in all, I enjoyed the book.

[Ananya Vats · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a habit of picking a book about the place that I am going to visit. And so this book was almost an impulsive choice as a result of my upcoming trip to Bali. The book was not informative or a work of literary delight. It was quite an easy read about the experiences of an expat on the island of Bali. But what I really liked was the casual humor- it felt like a college friend(with a good sense of humor) has just returned from Bali and is narrating her stories over drinks and dinner. A lightweight read with a couple of insights about the place. But definitely not a substitute for a guide .

[Ginetta · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a frequent visitor to Bali I was looking forward to reading this. I could relate to much of what the author wrote about and I enjoyed the humour in the book. However, there were endless chapters, all very repetitive, about yoga sessions. The book could have been half the size. To confess I skipped quite a few chapters and believe I didn’t miss anything I had already read five times before.

[Jess Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked up this book at a second hand book store in Sanur, Bali and it was a great read while sitting at the pool through my travels in Bali! I learnt a few tid bits of Bali info and it was ultimately a fun read. I read a lot of travel blogs/watch vlogs so I'm used to a more blog like style of writing and personally really enjoy it.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had just come back from a beautiful retreat in Ubud after spending a week in Seminyak and saw this book at the airport at Denpasar. It didn’t really transport me back to all the nice things I had experienced there. I love travel books as a genre but this didn’t hit the spot. I wanted to enjoy it.
Something I rarely do .... I DNF’ed it.

[Alanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny, and a great, current representation of Bali and the mixing of expats and tourists and locals. Lots of grins and laugh out loud moments but educational as well. Just the way I believe a good travel book should be. It also helped me understand things that didnt make sense to me when I was there.

[Boni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humor and nice short stories that are honest about the author's feelings and enlightening about Bali's culture, sense of being, and corners, both light and dark. An interesting travelogue if you're going to visit.

[Sam Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! At first I wasn’t sure I would as Becky and I have different views but I ended up really enjoying it.

A bit dated now - post covid - but still a fun read and I even learned things about the Balinese culture I hadn’t through touristy guide books.

[Jacqueline Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy holiday read which got me in the mood for Bali as planned

[Penny · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish. Not really in the mood.

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Read because I was going to Bali and thought it would be fun. But it wasn’t. It was just silly and not great.

[Danice H · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty good

A little bit confusing /lacking more detail on living accommodation but good overview of authors experience on living in Bali

[MsSwisis · Rating 2 out of 5]

‘Sometimes I get so confused looking for answers in this place that I can’t even remember what the question was.’

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

I won a free copy of Balilicious from the Reading Room, and with perfect timing it arrived in my mailbox two days before I was due to board a plane -to Bali! What better opportunity than to read about Becky Wicks' Bali experiences "on location" so to speak. In fact, I am writing this review whilst gently swinging into a hammock on Gili T, where some of Becky Wicks' memoir is based.

Okay, enough of my travels and back to the book: Balilicious is in no way a travel guide a la Lonely Planet style, but rather reads like Becky's travel blog, complete with photos. Hence the subtitle "The Bali Diaries". Readers of Becky Wicks' earlier book "Burqualicious" will probably be familiar with the style - I haven't read it yet, but was granted a preview of a couple of chapters at the end of this book.

In Balilicious, Becky Wicks tells about her personal experiences and adventures whilst spending six months living on the small Indonesian island of Bali. Mainly based in the beautiful mountain town of Ubud, Wicks also explored other parts of the island (such as Kuta, Legian, Ahmed, Lovina and Padang Bai), as well as Sengiggi and the Gili Islands, which are part of Lombok but only a short two-hour fast boat trip away from Bali. Not being afraid to throw herself into new experiences, Wicks’ travel adventures feature activities most of us may never even contemplate – such as a “shaking workshop” in the mountains, a session of vaginal steaming (the mind boggles) and colonic irrigation (as you surely all do when on holidays?). As you can see, Wicks’ diary explores topics you will never find in your average travel guide, but some that may be very pertinent for the woman traveller – the problem of getting affordable tampax in Bali, for example, or where to find strong, good-looking male divers. For the more adventurous spirit, there is always the hunt for evil spirits on a moonlit night in a cemetery on Gili T – hmmmm, I thought about it, but decided to give it a miss. It was a spooky place even in daylight.

Wicks writes with the sort of wry, often self-deprecating humour which appeals to me immensely. Her observations are astute, her comments often laugh-out-loud funny, and she gives everything and everyone the benefit of the doubt. Wicks tends not to pass any judgment without backing it up with facts – she mentions her contempt for journalists who don’t do their homework and jump to misleading conclusions, and she obviously lives by her principles. A lot of the chapters are full of fascinating background information about Bali and its culture, so even if you’ve never been there yourself, you should get something out of reading this book. For me, of course, the best fun was to visit some of the places Wicks describes so vividly, although I passed on most of the activities she so eagerly participated in (call me a chicken).

By briefly touching on the clash between Western culture, tourism and Balinese spirituality and culture, Wicks shows that the popular tourist locations featured in the book do not typify the whole of Bali – although reading about some of the more extreme places, people and activities described in the book the reader may be lead to believe that Bali is a tourist mecca which has totally lost its way. One should therefore be careful to read this book for its entertainment value rather than viewing it as a travel guide.

All in all, I really enjoyed Wicks’ memoir and couldn’t help wondering which diveshop the “hot” diver belonged to as I casually cycled through the streets of Gili T. If, like myself, you have been to Bali before, you should get a few laughs out of Becky’s exploits and cries of: “Yes, exactly! I saw / felt / experienced that as well!” Such as Wicks’ Ubud Monkey Forest experience, which she introduces with:

“In the movie Eat, Pray, Love, Julia Roberts is shown cycling through a leafy jungle, smiling as the furry little monkeys sit quietly on the sidelines, looking cute. […] I hate to be the one to break the news but now that I’ve done it, I know for sure that Hollywood has lied to us.”

And ends with:

“[…] another group of monkeys had raced out of the forest and formed a threatening circle around me. As they stared at me their lips curled back en-masse to reveal razor sharp teeth. We stood there in a stand-off, like extras from Planet of the Apes.”

Yes, Becky, exactly! We too had to run for our lives, fending a rabid monkey off with our thongs (for non-Australian readers: the footwear kind, not to confuse with the underwear. I think you call them "flip-flops").

Balilicious is the ideal book for a light, fun summer read and a bit of girlie armchair travel. Better still, do as I did, book a ticket to Bali and read it over there – and see for yourself!


You can find this review and more by visiting "...but books are better":
http://butbooksarebetter.blogspot.com...

[Sam Still Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hands up if you’ve ever thought it would be kind of cool to take a sabbatical to find yourself, relax and perhaps even meet Mr Right in a tropical paradise? Hands up if your work/family/life would never let you do that. Well, this book is for you, because Becky Wicks has done all the hard (yes, hard!) work for you (except for the Mr Right bit, but there’s enough romance there). She’s done months of yoga, shaken until she’s dropped and had vaginal steaming, all in the name of work.

No, the last item is not a typo. It is entirely possible in Bali.

As an Australian, I tend to think of Bali as one of the outer suburbs of Perth. Dozens of flights leave for Denpasar every week and you can immediately pick those heading there – or heading home – by the thongs, Bintang labelled clothing, braided hair and henna tattoos. It’s portrayed as a place where school leavers go (buying monkeys is optional) and where the focus is partying. Becky reveals to us a completely different Bali – one away from the pirate DVDs, fake surf shirts and Rhonda lying on a beach being served a cocktail by Ketut. This is a kind, spiritual Bali where life is at a slower pace and everyone appears to be on a mission to find themselves. She’s done something amazing – convinced me this is a place I should take the time to explore, rather than fly over. (I am one of the five Australians who have never been to Bali).

Written in fairly short blog like posts that when joined, flow so well that you don’t even notice, Becky tries everything spiritual Bali has to offer. (She also tries the local alcohol, scuba diving and a range of cuisines, from raw to traditional to organic – this book is fun, not a midlife crisis!) There’s the kind of cool (yoga) to the kind of weird (shaking repeatedly for hours on end). There are sides of the Balinese culture the foreigner doesn’t experience on package holidays – such as cock fighting and blessings. Becky also meets one of the Bali Nine inside Kerobokan Prison. There’s also some pictures (black and white) scattered throughout.

This book has some serious laugh out loud moments – from the gecko that’s watching Becky in her bedroom to the comment after she completes her Lotus Treatment (that’s vaginal steaming). There’s also passages about the Balinese spiritual rituals and the effect of growing tourism on the island. Becky writes in a confident, friendly style that makes you feel like she’s your mate, recounting her travels.

The things that Becky and others try in the name of ‘finding yourself’ or ‘improving your spirituality’ have some humourous moments, but there’s also a message here – think about what’s important to you in life. If you’ve ever dreamed of trying something completely different and taking time out for yourself, this book is for you. It’s not Eat, Pray, Love – it’s a zillion times better.

Part travel memoir, part Bridget Jones’ diary (I mean that in the nicest way – Becky’s writing is funny, honest and not too serious and I really relate to her) and part fun – this book is a fantastic way to travel on your armchair this Christmas.

(Becky will also have a book out in 2013 about her travels in South America, Latinalicious).

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

[Echo · Rating 4 out of 5]

An equal measure of chuckling and wanting to chuck my money at all the great charity initiatives highlighted on Bali. Especially the Kitty Villa.

Funny, informative and intriguing, I now cannot wait to visit Bali for myself one day. Although I will not be attending the shaking ashram and hope never to be possessed by a white monkey, I feel I will get on with the locals as I am one of those people who talks about how to milk a nut.

Highly recommended as an entertaining travel read and definitely if you're currently on the plane towards Bali.

[Haylee · Rating 3 out of 5]

a really fascinating into the other world of Bali; gave a much more rounded view of the image i had imagined it to be. makes me feel like the more spiritual/cultural parts and villages are the places i would like to visit and spend time in if i travle there.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writer spent 6 months in Bali. It's her experiences. At first her stories seemed light and self-deprecating. However, she started taking herself too seriously in the middle. Book was headed to 2 stars until last chapter. This summary redeemed the book for me.

[Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first I couldn't stand the author, Becky. She just seemed so shallow and chasing after men. However I began to like her honesty about spiritual ideas and she shared really interesting information about Bali. It was good to read while in Bali, a different travel book.

[Mary Boucher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this LOL. Beckys' real as fuck. Wished she leaned into the Bali lifestyle a tad more to let herself be immersed in a fuller, spiritual experience. She really just says what everyone else is already thinking haha.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never had any desire to go to Bali but in this book bec shows a side of a country that is very interesting , I am looking forward to reading her other 2 books

[Jo Coe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Becky tells of her adventures in Bali! It makes me want to go there & see for myself!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun read, it gave me a little insight to what Bali is really like.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

read it while being on bali - nice touch. reached the chapter about the gili islands just as i boarded the boat over .... so that was fun.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it is well written, I found the writing style hard to get into.
Its completely different to my usualy style of read though so it was an interesting deviation.