Postcards from Rachel: Ubud, Bali

Bali is a magical island that needs no introduction. They call it the 'island of Gods' which can only be felt and understood once you travel there and experience it on your own. If you want to dive deeper into the culture and spirituality of Bali, Ubud would be a good destination to start with. Famous from the movie 'Eat, Pray, Love', there's something really mystical about this little town. Maybe the fact that it's located at 200m above sea level that brings this natural sense of relaxation. I have once read somewhere that mountains are attributed to a high vibratory frequency which is why a lot of sacred temples and monasteries of the world can be found on higher altitudes. I am not sure if it's a proven theory but I can validate that theory by how I feel when I am high up on the mountains. 

If you ever get a chance to travel to Ubud, you must take time to discover the beautiful houses and villas tucked away in an oasis of greenery. Recently I packed my bikini, sarong and a good book for a weekend retreat to indulge in tranquility by the pool at Ubud Mana, located in a quaint village called Penestanan. With the sound of nature, swimming in a natural salt pool, it was all so serene and peaceful. With a beautiful weekend spent revitalizing for the week ahead, I am reminded about the simplest things in life we take for granted - gratitude. I believe it's important to make time for the Self to reflect and observe your thoughts and emotions after a week of productivity. If you need suggestions on where to go in Ubud town, just get in touch and I'll point you to the right directions. Namaste!

Spooky Sarong Tricks for a Killer Halloween

Planning a do-it-yourself kind of Halloween? Look no further. With just a couple of sarongs, you get to be the coolest kid on the block. If you want to be different for this holiday season in the most affordable and easiest way possible, you are in for a treat. From costumes to decor ideas, here are sarong tricks and spooky ways you need to know for Halloween:

1) Get Your Capes On

The easiest costume to pull off with any colored sarong. You can use capes and cloaks for so many different types of scary costumes such as a witch, vampire, dead superhero, fairy, zombie, magician, elf and so much more.

2) My Sarong Brings all Ghosts to the Yard

Want to have the spookiest yard in the neighborhood? Flowy and drapey, there's no better way to create ghost and spirit like formations than with white sarongs. Be it indoor or outdoor, you can turn scary characters to live with a dash of imagination. For an even cooler effect, put some fairy lights into the fillings so your characters can shine boo-tifully at night.

3) Light it Up

When night falls, create an eerie effect with dimmed lighting. Using a white or yellow light bulb, you can cover any light source with a white, red, green or any suitable sarong color to set a dark and haunting kind of mood.

4) That Creepy Table

Be it black, orange or dark purple - throw a solid color sarong over any table to create a Halloween themed dining area for your friends and family. Use cool party props to accessorize and give your table setting an edge.

5) Animal Spirit

From Caveman, Tarzan to Cat Woman and whatever your mind imagines, bring out your wild and feisty persona by dressing up with animal print costumes.

6) Horrific Photo Booths

Capture the moments by setting up a photo booth for your Halloween parties. Using sarong colors like red, black or white as a back drop together with any scary props, your friends and family get to have fun and take awesome photos dressed in their costumes.

What do you think? If you have any more sarong tricks and want to share your ideas, we would love to hear from you!

Have a Spooktacular Hallooween, folks!

- 1 World Family

*All photos are sourced from Pinterest

Burning Man Costume Ideas

When it comes to one of the most unique and talked about art festival in the USA, people from all across the world travel to Black Rock City in Nevada for a once in a life time experience. If there's anything that inspires us in life is the freedom to experiment and imagine. Knowing that sarongs are being used as a fashion essential for creative festival costumes gets us excited! We all know that people have been using sarongs for centuries and we're really loving the trendiness and imagination of these modern times exhibited during Burning Man.

From fantasy characters to native warriors to pure nudity, a sarong has been used to style and protect festival goers from over exposure of sun and plus when people are camping out and dancing all day and night in the desert, sarongs are great to help keep the dust away from the eyes and hair. Some use them as a carrier to store their belongings as they dance till the sun comes up. Then when their feet gets tired, they lay their sarongs on the ground to rest and cuddle with their loved ones, listening to the sound of music echoing from a distance as the day light shines on their skin.

"A city in the desert. A culture of possibility. A network of dreamers and doers"

We were browsing a bunch of images from past festivals and couldn't help but admire how beautiful festival outfits can be. If you're going or planning to head to this amazing festival anytime soon, get yourself some sarongs and let your creativity do the work. Not only are they an affordable alternative than say renting costumes, but you get to have a little DIY project which can be therapeutic. Besides, Burning Man is all about art friendliness! Here are our favorite looks to inspire your next festival costume using your sarongs:

1) Use short sarongs as a neck or mouth cover for those windy days at the desert

2) Who would have thought head scarves could make a cool costume complete? 

3) Be it man or woman, the good ol' hip cover up style works with any man sarong or sheer sarong matched with bikinis and stack up a bunch of accessories.

4) Flowy, soft and silky sarongs to get in the mood for those twirling dance moves and breezy days

5) Layer up any sequined or colorful sarongs to make your favorite fantasy characters come to live

6) Guys, if you're lazy to think and want to whip up an easy costume in seconds, you'll find sarongs to be your best bet.

7) From bohemian tents to a sailing ship, sarongs give plenty of fabric for the imagination to run wild. How about bold animal prints for a quick and easy costume?

8) Go white with any rayon or sheer material to create a vintage or fairy or gypsy vibe. Whatever your heart desires, you can never go wrong with a white sarong!

Thank you to all Burners who have inspired us with your mind blowing festival outfits, we're looking forward to see what's in line this year! You can find out more about this magical festival here.

*Photos via Pinterest

April X 1WS

The beautiful April from Ms Muffin is my Lovers did a video showing her viewers all the different ways she ties her sarongs! She shows some great ways to get a cute and comfortable summer look. Want to get her look? Use code shopmuffin to get 10% off your order along with free shipping!

Postcards from Rachel: Slovenia

I wanted to dedicate my first post to the beautiful country of Slovenia in Central Europe. I was blessed enough to be able to visit the gorgeous Lake Bled in the Julian Alps. This is an amazing tourist destination located in the town Bled that has been there for a thousand years! Interesting fact: on the island in the middle of the lake, the ancient Slavs worshiped Ziva, the goddess of love and fertility. There's some great info here and here if you are interested in visiting this beautiful place.