Last Year… 2018

Last year was my final year of my Honours degree in Fashion Design at the Queensland University of Technology in Australia.  I was about to start and complete my graduate collection and take on, what would be my hardest and biggest year to date. I decided it would be a good idea to get out of Australia and give myself a holiday and refresh my senses for the year to come. 

I arrived on the Island for the first time last year in February. It was the wet season and The Big K Hostel was only one big house (what will be the studio space) and the restaurant was under construction! It was a very authentic experience as it was very quiet on the island, with most touristic spots almost deserted. I think we only saw 2 other foreigners riding around during my stay, which was about a week. We had a wonderful time exploring, meeting locals and hanging out with Muklis, Jake’s uncle, and now chef/bartender and constant source of smiles and joy in the hostel. We snorkelled, explored some islands, ate some incredible food and played lots of cards! Overall, the experience at the island was so joyful and fun, and I had no idea when I would be back. I also got to see the incubation period of an idea (the hostel) coming into reality, slowly but surely. Which is always exciting, a little nerve wracking and usually very rewarding. 

This Year… 2019

Over a year passed, and the opportunity for me to come back and work the busy season on the Island came up. At first I was hesitant as I plan to move to America in November - and wanted to try and work in Australia and save up as much as I could. When it became clear to me that I wanted to share the experience with Jake at the Hostel more than I wanted to stay in Brisbane and work full-time - I arrived on the Island again in June of this year. 

Adjusting…

At first, my arrival on the Island was a little rocky. I wasn’t certain of my purpose here and how I could help to run the hostel, or where my skills would best be used. I supported Jake as much I could, but was lacking in a real role or outlet to feel really involved. As the hostel was really up and running at capacity for the first time - there were many small changes and details to be added, so this is where I started. Eventually, after about a month - decided that taking over the Instagram and creating digital content for our online platforms was the best next step in my role here. 

Hostel World

I think it’s worth mentioning that the Big K isn’t just a hostel. Sometimes when you think of a hostel, its the drunken sort, dirty toilets, hairy showers - a mish-mash of alcohol fuelled youngsters with the desire to keep everyone awake. 

The Big K is a hostel in the sense that we have a shared sleeping space. We provide a clean, comfortable and affordable shared accommodation. We wanted to make it accessible to any budget and in doing so, welcome a diverse range of guests, both foreigners and locals. We want the Big K to be truly inclusive for everyone and anyone. We also have beautiful private rooms and a small cottage, that invites couples, friends, families and those who value their privacy as well. This creates an even more diverse range of guests, and we really have no ‘typical’ guest who stays here. 

VIBE 

As the hostel got busier every week, we started to get a real feel for the space and how our guests were interacting with it and the overall VIBE. To explain the vibe in my words - the Big K is very calm and chilled, it is a super relaxed space with a lot of natural beauty, and buildings that integrate with the environment. It feels very open, wholesome and easy. It really allows guests to feel at home, and nurtures conversation and real personal connection. Depending on guests (alone, couples, duos and bigger groups of friends) the vibe changes slightly - sometimes being more loud and eccentric and at other times more philosophical and calm (and every imaginable combination). All in all, a lovely experience to be a part of, being able to meet so many amazing, interesting, intricate and kind people as a result - and learnt so much from them!

Yoga Retreat Slowly Slowly

We had always thought it would be good to offer Yoga classes at The Big K. We have the perfect space for it, and thought guests would love it (as well as me and the staff). Jake put out a advertisement online to reach out and see if Yoga teachers would be interested in a work away (free food and accommodation in return for teaching classes). He was almost immediately inundated with applications and started making a schedule for each month. As the interest in the position continued to gain momentum - the idea to turn the Big K into a Retreat in the low season was an obvious next move. 

As the Island is very quiet in the low season with the absence of many foreigners, most of the hostels/hotels and home-stays shut up shop for half the year. This essentially puts all the locals in these jobs out of work for a long period. We didn’t want the same to happen to our staff - and were already trying to think of a way to keep the hostel space up and running. 

We had already had an application from Ella, who was initially only available for a month or two and applied to be one of our monthly teachers while the hostel was functioning as, well….a hostel. Not long after - with all the interest we had had, it seemed that the Hostel, functioning as a Yoga Retreat would be very beneficial for our staff, and could become a reality with the help of some really experienced and dedicated people.

In August, we welcomed our first french Yoga teacher, Ludivine. She was was working as a lawyer, and being a yogi on the side. She took the opportunity to come stay with us for a few weeks in the middle of some travels in South East Asia. This really kicked things off for us in the yoga realm. Having sunset classes with her on the rooftop really inspired us. it gave us a feel for the space, the energy and how beautiful the whole yoga experience was on the Island. We also got to enjoy bringing people together during yoga classes, and offer classes for many guests who had never tried yoga before. This was a really special, inclusive and bonding encounter for everyone. She was also the focus of our yoga video, which we are yet to release, and very excited to share!! We are very thankful to her for being such a good sport in this respect, letting us take plenty of photos. 

She has been our inspiration and such a driving force in educating us about Retreat culture and function, as well as bringing intuition, positive energy, support and encouragement. She will be our Head teacher and essentially Retreat Coordinator - which is fantastic and we are so lucky to have her on board. Ella - we couldn’t do this without you! ps. you are a GODDESS <3

As time went on and we started to map out our plan and a very very long list of ‘Ideas’ and ‘To Do’s’ I started to freak out a little. There is so much involved in providing an experience like a retreat, especially in a place as remote as Karimunjawa - and with no experience in this area! I’m using almost every skill that I have (besides those in Fashion Design, coincidentally the one thing I am professionally educated in) into this project in some way. I believe they’re called ‘transferrable skills’ - and I’m using the sh*t out of them!! 

Working together this month (September) has been delightful and we have made so much progress. Ella’s positivity and excitement, combined with Jake’s rational thinking and steady calm has put me at ease and allowed me to trust in the project and the care and energy we have put into it. At the end of the day, if all fails - at least we know we gave it our best and put it out to the world. Hopefully it will find its way to the right people and they will be rewarded with a very dynamic, kind and creative experience. We really want the retreat to be for everybody, allowing people to try something new and feel at ease in a calm and safe space. 

As time goes on, we have really struggled to market our retreat effectively - mainly being really hard to find, as most people looking for retreats in Indonesia will automatically think of Bali, and only search retreats there. Karimunjawa is really such an authentic community and has so much to offer to travellers looking for a genuine experience of Indonesia. Currently, we have changed our retreat length, and significantly dropped our prices, hoping to attract people to a retreat that is a little more manageable to the standard holidaymaker - who isn’t taking months off for travelling.

In the end the retreats didn’t go through as we planned, but we were incredibly lucky that our teaching team were still on board to do whatever we can to make the development of the retreats a very supportive and positive experience for all. We learnt so much from this experience, and even though our initial plans didn’t come to fruition it was still a positive experience that we got to share. Everyone still travelled to Karimunjawa to work towards our common goal - to learn from each other, share teachings, experiences and love. We hope that we can reach guests who would truly benefit from all aspects of the retreat and Island. We thank you, Ella, Ami, Ana, Antonia, Patrick and Hunter from the bottom of our hearts xx

by Paige Philogene