I recently had the opportunity to accompany two Japanese women to Bali, Indonesia. This is not the first time I have been a personal tour guide for Japanese going to Bali, but this time was different because I was taking two very special people: my next-door neighbor Kazuko and another islander, Hiroko. These 50-something, self-proclaimed "o-baa-chans" (old ladies) were taking their first trip abroad ever. For Kazuko, it was her first time ever in an airplane.

Just planning time off was difficult, as these traditional island women have so many island duties. Finally, they found a week free between a "kasa odori" performance (traditional umbrella dance) on Jan 26 and the annual "setsubun" bean-throwing ceremony on Feb. 3 (a ceremony to welcome spring and chase demons out of the house).

Travel can be complicated when you're leaving from a small island of just 700 people like ours that still lives and plans events according to the ancient Chinese calendar. First, although their flight was not until the 29th of January, the women left the island two days early because, according to the Chinese calendar, the 29th was a bad day to take a boat. So the women took the ferry to the mainland on a safer day, the 27th, and stayed two days on the mainland until the 29th. Luckily, they'd be gone on the first day of the month, a day when one is not supposed to work in vegetable gardens, giving them an extra day free from obligations at home.