Lilawrites | Lilarwrites | Substack

Recent Posts

Eight years of returns to the first place we ever stayed in Indonesia

Jun 16 • Lilarwrites

I wasn't sure we'd stay in Bali. Then someone put a dog in my arms.

As if I need another reason to love my Bali rescue pup

Jun 3 • Lilarwrites

Why I hesitated to write about Morocco

Notes from Imsouane, Essaouira and Imlil

May 31 • Lilarwrites

BALI, BY PEOPLE ACTUALLY FROM HERE: #1 Mistaken for a tourist in the supermarket

A conversation with Emily, born and raised in Bali, now studying in New Zealand

May 24 • Lilarwrites and emily 🐚

Life, memory and myths

The paralysis that comes from getting what you wanted

the contentment trap

Apr 30 • Lilarwrites

The year I got excommunicated and went to India

disowned due to a secret boyfriend, I did what any dramatic twenty-year old would do and booked a flight

Mar 15 • Lilarwrites

The shimmering bowl and the puddle of sludge

when I was planning a year away and questioning everything

Feb 26 • Lilarwrites

Why I’ve given up on travel planning

confessions of a former travel perfectionist

Feb 12 • Lilarwrites

A lack of framework for making life decisions

I have no plan and I’m mostly thrilled

Dec 24, 2025 • Lilarwrites

Bali

Eight years of returns to the first place we ever stayed in Indonesia

Jun 16 • Lilarwrites

I wasn't sure we'd stay in Bali. Then someone put a dog in my arms.

As if I need another reason to love my Bali rescue pup

Jun 3 • Lilarwrites

BALI, BY PEOPLE ACTUALLY FROM HERE: #1 Mistaken for a tourist in the supermarket

A conversation with Emily, born and raised in Bali, now studying in New Zealand

May 24 • Lilarwrites and emily 🐚

Why locals are threatening to deliver their trash to the Bali governor's house

On Bali's trash problem. Disclaimer: no answers provided

Apr 8 • Lilarwrites

Sri Lanka

Jaffna, Sri Lanka: memories and a practical guide

Notes and inspo for planning your own visit

Feb 4 • Lilarwrites

Train to Jaffna

A precursor to a guide, with history and personal unease first.

Jan 28 • Lilarwrites

Sri Lanka: Please don’t just stay on the south coast (from someone who just spent another 2 weeks on the south coast)

Watch me start 2026 grumbling about a surf trip… who even am I?

Jan 20 • Lilarwrites

Writing Elsewhere

"Has mass tourism tamed the Komodo dragon"

Feature on changes in Komodo National Park for Geographical Magazine

"To the Timor Sea"

My essay on Timor for the Mekong Review

The (not so) mystery of Bali's disappearing tourist taxes

On who profits from Bali's tourism boom, for Inside Indonesia

Read more

The year out that never ended

See the posts from our original 1 year sabbatical

Greece

A day well spent in Athen's Pangrati neighbourhood

with a side trip to the Acropolis

Apr 17 • Lilarwrites

The shimmering bowl and the puddle of sludge

when I was planning a year away and questioning everything

Feb 26 • Lilarwrites

Andros — Four Times the Size of Mykonos and Uninterested in Competing

Gyros at €3.50 and absolutely no scene. A relaxed guide.

Feb 19 • Lilarwrites

Lilawrites

Lilawrites

Londoner who accidentally ended up in Bali. Writing about travel, contradiction, and the push and pull of family. As seen in Geographical and Mekong Review.

Sicily

Trapani, where Sicily faces Africa

Where we started a year of travel that has still not ended / failed depending on how you look at it

Apr 24 • Lilarwrites

On writing our own myths — reflections from a swim in Pollara

Somewhere in the Aeolian Islands, off the coast of Sicily, I started thinking about myths and what they mean today. One moment in particular helped me…

Oct 9, 2025 • Lilarwrites

A greedy, yet lactose & FODMAP sensitive, guide to Sicily

Sensitive tummy folks deserve tasty food too.

Sep 25, 2025 • Lilarwrites

How we ate very well in Sicily, on not very much

Making the most of Sicilian food as a long-term traveller

Sep 25, 2025 • Lilarwrites

Sicily's Turkish Steps and one of the most beautiful sunsets of my life

not to be dramatic but it really was

Sep 25, 2025 • Lilarwrites

Lilawrites

Londoner who accidentally ended up in Bali. Writing about travel, contradiction, and the push and pull of family. As seen in Geographical and Mekong Review.

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