Travel Inspiration: Amy Soderlind In Bali

Amy Soderlind is a great friend of the Free People family and personally she is a huge source of inspiration.  She is beautiful on the inside and out, and the way that she writes and sees things is so refreshing and real. She also happens to be a stylist so it’s no surprise that she puts together the most inspiring outfits! Amy wrote me a little while back to tell me she was going to Bali to work on her own jewelry and accessories line, and will work with small groups of artisans globally to create unique one of a kind pieces, giving back 50% of the profits to community development.  She sent along some photos from her trip, and she is wearing Free People so beautifully, as you’ll see below. I couldn’t wait to share them! Read on for some words from Amy and be sure to visit her blog Refuses To Label.

amy soderlind

I leave every winter. Like some sort of half bird, I fly. Somewhere warmer…anywhere foreign. A place where old comforts are stripped and new ones introduced. Scapes of land that give my skin happy bumps. New strangers that soon become old family. Entire conversations with head nods and eye glances… where brows and lip corners become crucial… and where eyes still tell all. Is that not a universal human characteristic, an ability we all have? While it may be a bit lost here… behind computer screens, cell phones and anything INSTA…. there are stories to tell without words. In most outside your comfort journeys, you see its all that exists.

Look. See. Connect. Acknowledge.

amy soderlind

Get the look: Mexican Wedding Dress, Paisley Stitch Fringe Scarf, Goodnight Moon Sunglasses.

amy soderlind

For years, I thought my constant desire for far off places rested in my horror for cold weather… my appreciation for being “uncomfortable”… my bi-polar nature of needing constant change… new and different settings to spur my imagination and creativity for yet another year on home soil… but this last trip, I saw something clear and concise. While all of the previously mentioned are surely relevant, my real love of travel lies in my deep love and curiosity for people. Bali, and her exquisite people, have become my home away from home.

bali

bali

Honest faces. Unabashed smiles. Silent peace. Sincere love. Quiet living. Simple pleasures. The little things. Belief of doing what is right, of karma, of taking responsibility for your actions.The land outside of the hip bustling towns, where $2 meals make a family abundantly happy (even if your stomach hates you for the days to follow), You smile and swallow. Where cloth is still made on looms in back yards. Where women in their 70’s load bricks and boulders atop heads made soft with woven cloth… topless, skin leathered by the sun, flip flops… where they continue the trek up and down in their building pursuits. Where brightly batiked sarongs wrap man and woman, old and young. Where you rest with the sun’s disappearance and rise with it every morning. Where offerings are an essential part of being. Where we give thanks every moment for what we do have. Where man prays for keeping what he has, rather than pleading for what he has not.

bali

amy soderlind

Get the look: Voile Trapeze Slip, FP One Smocked Bike Shorts, FP One Border Print Sleep Robe, Charmed Hard Bangle Set, Goodnight Moon Sunglasses.

amy soderlind

Perceived expectations of “your trip” must be left at the door of the plane. It isn’t Yours. Let go. Give yourself to the unknown, search for the remains of tradition and culture… and the people will light the way.

bali

amy soderlind

Get the look: Bowie Jumpsuit, Goodnight Moon Sunglasses.

amy soderlind

amy soderlind

Get the look: Dolphin Hem Cutoff, Mixed Print Top, Bondi Fedora.

bali

What I always realize most after a trip, is how much I love my life here. “Here” being “Me”… wherever I am is home, and I’ve come to understand how to keep this home a happy and peaceful place, for both refuge and inexhaustible possibility. How lucky I am to be surrounded by beauty, inspiration, and opportunity every day. Bali in it’s truest nature, gave reflection and “me time”… I’ve never fallen in love so deep with a people and a way of life as I have the Balinese… both profoundly uplifting and wisely still. Wisdom for in the moment living and daily appreciation follow you with each step… it happens without even knowing it… in my mind, Bali’s greatest gift to all it’s visitors that keep their eyes open.

amy soderlind

Get the look: FP One Pacific Trails Pant, Vintage Rock Tee, Printed Wire Turban, Goodnight Moon Sunglasses.

amy soderlind

For more from Amy visit her blog, Refuses To Label! And, check out our previous features on her, here and here.

More style inspiration from the BLDG 25 Blog.

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11 years ago

a calimba! <3

wanderingsofalittlesoul.blogspot.de

11 years ago

Love it!!She looks so beautiful!! :)xxx

http://www.oneoblivion.com/

11 years ago

Love these photos, looks like a beautiful place to visit. I have never even been out of the country, how sad is that?

Holly Cromer, Blacksburg, VA Wedding Photographer

Eva
11 years ago

beautiful…definitely a must! I can see myself now…

C
11 years ago

Where can we buy her jewerly line?

Byer
11 years ago

Love, love, LOVE this. I dig her blog too, but I wish she’d do more posts of her outfits. She has great style.

11 years ago

So beautiful. Not only the clothes and images, but the story – so beautiful and inspiring. I love the idea of checking your expectations at the door and letting the people lead the way.
Much love,
B

11 years ago

This girl…. this is why I love her! It’s all about her heart, what she feels and sees and thinks. It’s about the journey and the people to meet along the way, the beauty of the natural world and how humans try to live in it and live up to it… with wisdom, and love and freedom and a pensively sensitive keen soul and light heart and living for the day and enjoying life while also trying to do some good! The clothes, the styling as a stylist… it all comes from the inside out for this one, truly – physical manifestations of an internal thought or feel. A way for creative play. And while her styling is always always beautiful…. if she was wearing a sack, or a friend or stranger was, she couldn’t care less, bc she’ll be looking up into your eyes to see who you are first… and really, isn’t that how we should all be doing it? Keep doing what you’re doing babes, and we should all take these words of hers here today as sagacious reminders as daily life picks us up and tosses us around in a flurry.. x

11 years ago

I love the bowie Jumpsuite!! Looks so good on her!

http://www.linneahentschel.wordpress.com/

11 years ago

So beautiful !! This year I just want to wear white dresses and lose shirts… And going to Bali :D

Brie
11 years ago

Love this! Does anyone know what the instrument she’s playing on the bed is called?

11 years ago

I love it! She’s gorgeous. Those arms. :)

Lia
11 years ago

The photos are gorgeous and she looks lovely! Thank you for writing such a beautiful story about Bali:)

AC
11 years ago

I always look that good when I hang my laundry. (jk.)
But seriously, this is a very pretty little story.

BW
11 years ago

Does anyone know where to buy that white dress she’s wearing in the first photo? It’s beautiful!

Anonymous
11 years ago

absolutely beautiful article…! i can relate to it on so many levels…it’s like this article is speaking right to me…bali is calling me..and i picture myself to be exactly like those pictures and feeling that same vibe..

Alexis
10 years ago

Hi there! I saw a photo of a robe in which I MUST have on Pinterest. I linked it back to this website,
However it is not posted here. It is an olive floral
Satin looking robe worn by amy. Does anyone know where I can find and purchase this robe? I searched free people and couldn’t find it
Anywhere :(( any help is very appreciated!
-alexis

10 years ago

I love your blog. We thank you for sharing the beauty of Bali. One thing that you missed in Bali was the hiking at Mount Batur and Calera Batur. They have stuning sunrise view overlooking Mount Rinjani in Lombok. Hiking in Bali could be the right option for those who to see the real beauty and rural Bali

10 years ago

Love her style, it is so inspiring and she pulls it off so well. Gorgeous gal!

http://www.sallyesposito.com
http://www.thepennyrose.com

Putri Erdisa J
10 years ago

those are lovely pictures you took! How talented… I hope you enjoy Bali to the most and you should also come to other travel destinations in Indonesia like Derawan Island or Raja Ampat. Visit http://www.jakpost.travel for updated info about traveling in Indonesia :)

Elizabeth Hansen
9 years ago

Absolutely beautiful photos and outfits!!! This is so inspiring! I have been trying to join the Free People family now for awhile. I really threw myself into it at the new year. FP embodies everything about me-my free-flowing clothing style, traveling lifestyle, exercise-yoga, and healthy diet-vegan. If anyone can give me tips on how to get into this beautiful world of fashion please email me. I am a southern California girl born and raised :) Willing to live and work anywhere. These photos give me even more inspiration to pursue my dreams!!
Liz.Han18@gmail.com

9 years ago

Absolutely beautiful photos and outfits

9 years ago

Love her style

9 years ago

This is so inspiring

9 years ago

beautiful