Imagine a tropical paradise, and you won’t be far off from Nusa Penida. Nestled between Bali and Lombok, this tiny island doesn’t share the commercial traits of its larger sisters in the archipelago. Towns are little more than small clusters of buildings. Daily work is hauling supplies from boats. Local children linger under the shade of trees until sunset, and then leap and splash and dive in the ocean with the deftness of penguins. Yes, there are still many hotels per capita, but there just aren’t that many capitae. And, if the tourists were to go home tomorrow, island life would probably continue unchanged.
Bucolic vacations have their downsides, too. Internet on Nusa Penida is naturally languid, and the restaurants are hard to find, but the road infrastructure is the most obnoxious. A constant barrage of bumps and potholes on the best streets, and a few “dirt paths” that seem better suited for carabiners and billy goats instead of motorbikes. Those roads weren’t just a minor annoyance — our struggles against the crumbling highways meant missing some great sights because of lost time. An unfortunate side-effect of only spending a couple of days.
But it’s hard to complain with this type of weekend. Whenever I join Amanda on a small trip, I’m reminded of why we’re out here instead of back home. Yes, I miss friends, I miss family, and I miss PlayStation — I’m excited to get back to you all. But that’ll happen soon. And I’m okay waiting a little longer if it means another unique adventure.
I updated the devlog last week with details about What the Hell is Happening Now. It’s similar to last week’s update here, but the devlog is much more detailed, so for those inclined to technical things, head over there for insider stuff.
This week is just polishing that demo, but I am planning another post in that devlog. It’ll be about using Twine — the strengths and weaknesses of that writing engine, how I’m using it as a basic programming language, and how I can separate the parts of my game into an (almost) classic Model-View-Controller programming pattern.
I only have about five workdays remaining in Asia. That’s… pretty nuts. Let’s make ’em count!
Background Images by Amanda Gansfield