OUR STORY
TIKA EXPERIENCE,
our essence
TIKA is about my passion for exploration in life but also a longing for a sense of home.
My story here begins a year ago, when I stumbled upon this beautiful island. I was feeling lost at the time, unsure what my path in life was. I had travelled Asia for the last couple of years hoping to figure it all out, when I was coming up to the last stop of my travel bucket list, hiking Rinjani.
What I thought would be a great experience turned out to be an incredible experience that would change my life forever. I had expected to feel a sense of pride at having summited Rinjani, but the day after my hike when I had come back down and was looking at Rinjani from below, tears started streaming down my eyes.
I realized that more than simply a hike, I felt a sense of home camping on Rinjani, supported by the care of my guide, porters, and fellow hikers. As someone who has struggled to find a sense of home my whole life, it was magical to me that I somehow managed to find a sense of home on this volcano thousands of miles away.
A few days later, I found myself in Kuta Lombok, where I immediately came upon a sense of energy and warmth in the community that made me decide I wanted to call Lombok my home. Here, I wanted to build a space that would feel like home for all my fellow travelers out there stopping by this wonderful island.
Fast forward a year and TIKA was born. I named it TIKA because where I was living before Indonesia, in Nepal, where the predominant religion and culture is Hinduism, the tika placed on the forehead can be interpreted as giving a blessing for a journey.
I wanted to build TIKA to give a blessing to all those on their journeys, be it the literal journey they are on visiting Lombok or the journey of life that we are all on together. May TIKA be a sanctuary for you, a place to call home while you’re away from home.