Last year, I decided to move to Bali for at least a year. After telling a few of my friends, I realized this was not an average decision. I got reactions of shock, excitement, jealousy, and even suspicion. Was this really something that a normal person like me could just GO DO?
We’ll considering the fact that I’m four months out from leaving LA, I guess the answer is, I don’t know. I certainly think so! I’m going to try my hardest to make it work, and lead a happy and successful life abroad. To jump in whole heartedly to expat culture and everything the Balinese have to offer. Will I even make it out of the states? Can I actually afford it? Does it make sense?
I’ve been a downtown resident for almost 17 years now, and I like to think that I know all the cool spots. I also work online, so as long as there’s wifi and coffee, I’m good to go. This means that a lot of spaces around DTLA can qualify as work locations for me, but not all of them are co-working spot. In my opinion to be a great spot for co-working a place needs to have a strong, vibrant and supportive community.
People in The US often say “Don’t Mess With Texas.” When it comes to the global community, I’m pretty sure the phrase is “Don’t Mess with China.”
My first guest post for InBali.org - One of Bali's biggest online publications!!
Check out these 7 essential life hacks for your first trip to Bali! Number 4 saved me over a thousand dollars!! These are a MUST-KNOW for anyone planning their trip to The Island Of The Gods.
If these sound like you, it’s time to pack your bags and move to Bali. You don’t even need to visit first, just take a leap. You won’t regret it.
If Bali is a chaotic island paradise, Singapore is a well oiled city machine. In stark contrast to the crazy lawless driving and moto filled streets of Bali, Singapore has a slick and modern metro system and Ubers and Taxis waiting to pick you up on every corner.
My first excursion outside of the small surfer's mecca I now call home, Singapore was both business (I needed to make a visa run) and pleasure. This place is CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN. Here are some tips and tricks to help make YOUR visit to Singapore as awesome as mine.
As many of you know, I can be a cheap bastard, thank the lord that Canggu (the neighborhood in Bali that I call home) has some of the best happy hours on the Island. I spent the last two weeks traveling around and getting smashed, and now, my wealth of knowledge is all yours.. Cheers!!
Using hidden fees and terrible exchange rates, banks will do everything they can to bleed you dry while traveling abroad. I finally figured out how to do it right. BofA can go F*&@ itself. And NO Paypal is NOT better. Learn how to transfer money abroad without getting screwed.
This blog is a “how-to” based on my actual spending and experiences which I will share with you in full!
You will sweat. Just accept it, and let the sweat wash over you. You will get used to it. Which leads me to number two.
Fans are everything, wherever you go, make sure you’re sitting under the fan, it makes all the difference in the world. Like 10 degrees difference.
Pocari Sweat is a drink sold everywhere here, you want to get to know and love it. It’s the Indo equivalent of Gatorade, but without all the weird colors and flavors. Stay hydrated.
Well it’s been a week and a half of drinking and partying and wonderful food here in Bali. We’ve explored almost every warung (traditional restaurant) on our block and found our very favorites. In addition, we’ve started checking out the really nice places like Take Sushi in Seminyak and Tugu Resort on the beach in Canggu.
After last Tuesday’s adventures, the rest of the week was tame by comparison. Thursday evening we went to Pretty Poison, essentially a Malibu house party in the middle of a rice field. Pro skateboarders showed off their skills in an empty pool, surrounded by expats, locals, and visitors drinking Bintangs while cheering on the stunts and falls. Inside a packed dance floor was flanked by locals offering free tattoos (maybe next time).
This last weekend Scotty, Jessie, and I joined our new friend Theiry for a day trip to the center of the island, and the cultural capital of Bali, Ubud! We started in the rice fields for a hike through the famous stepped terraces as local Balinese planted fresh sprouts for harvest a few months later. It really was stunning.
There’s something about living in an island paradise seems to make everyone really happy and super friendly. Shocker. It’s day three and I’ve already made contact with my online friends who helped prep me for the trip, and about a half dozen new expats. Bali Dinner Club is in the works, maybe two weeks out from our first event, and we’re already invited to a BBQ tomorrow at the villa of an awesome Al Jazeera reporter and her surf instructor boyfriend.
WOW. That was one HELL of a trip from LA to Bali. By far the longest series of flights I’ve ever taken. 14.5 hours to Taipei then a 3 hour layover and 6 more hours to Bali. The Taipei airport puts the Beverly Center to SHAME by the way. I was floored by how many name brands had stores. I’ve also never seen so many whiskey brands with stunning setups showing off their wares, and sharply dressed Taiwanese ready to tell you all about when Johnny Walker Blue will change your life (check the pics).
I won’t lie, this has been a really hard process. I almost lost it when I started moving all my stuff out of closets and into the living room to be sold. It seemed to be never ending. All the fucking things I’ve accumulated and inherited over the years as I moved from one place to another. This time however, I’m taking a single carry on, and a backpack. EVERYTHING must go, has become my mantra
Just in the nick of time, my lovely broker Tiffany of SmartLA Realty has found someone to lease my loft. The final price, for those of you who were betting - $5,250 a month for 16 months. Not as high as I would have liked, but still fits my budget nicely. At the end of the day, my adventure is a go, and I’m a happy camper!
Things are not going as expected and there's only 30 days left!! Play the "What Will Josh Get For His Loft?" Game!!
Working a job on the ground in Bali is absolutely OUT. The Indonesian government will deport your ass for getting paid $50 to sing in a club. In general, NO foreigner is allowed to work any job that an Indonesian could do. This is ok with me however, because I’ll still be able to do what I do now, technical and strategic consulting for NationBuilder customers. I guess the name for it is “digital nomad” - someone who can work from anywhere. Most expats who live there seem to be digital nomads, employed elsewhere, married to locals, or retired.
Found this article really helpful - The True Cost of Living in Bali
I don’t know if this is true for everywhere, but I DO know it’s true for Bali. After using Graph Search to find my friends of friends who live in Bali, I ended up searching for group names with the neighborhoods I was interested in, as well as groups located in Bali in general. There is SUCH a wealth of well maintained and frequently updated pockets of local knowledge, and EVERYONE is friendly. Like everyone. I should have known, my own neighborhood of Downtown LA has MANY active Facebook groups, and despite the appearance, there are more expats living on the tiny island of Bali than there are Angelenos living in DTLA.
There’s something about making it official. Robert Cialdini the author of “Influence” would say that this is when “Commitment and Consistency” kick in. At first it’s a shock. This is real, I made a decision and I’m gonna have to live with it!!! Then the wonderful neuro-chemicals kick in. Waves of endorphins and dopamine over a few days cement the idea in your head as not rash, but GREAT and well thought out too! It happens to everyone, that rush of relief when choices are eliminated in favor of a decision.
It also makes getting things done easier. I immediately made arrangements to loan my mom’s art supplies (which take up a good bit of room) to my friend Raina, bought a new couch to replace the old one, and began making repairs on my loft to get it ready for showings.
This is real. This is really happening. I’m scared/excited. Ton’s of positive reinforcement from my friends is super helpful, because this will certainly be the biggest adventure of my life. Here we go - countdown, 48 days.
That’s a really really good question, and one that certainly keeps me up at night. Everything I’ve read so far make it seem like this is going to be a relatively painless thing to accomplish. Sure there will be some hiccups, but in the grand scheme of things, not very hard. What am I missing? What huge thing have I overlooked?
Maybe nothing. The possibility I’m hoping is true, is that I’m not like other people. I have very strong, life-long friendships… but I’m not worried about loosing those by living abroad for a couple years. Technology makes it easy to stay in touch. Bali has decent internet, so FaceTime, GoogleTalk and WhatsApp should work just fine.
What I DON’T have is a relationship or desire to have children. According to a new Gallop Poll only 5% of americans are not married and don’t intend to get married. http://www.gallup.com/poll/163802/marriage-importance-dropped.aspx - In addition to that, only 14% of americans don’t want to have children http://www.gallup.com/poll/9091/desire-children-alive-well-america.aspx. That puts me in a very small group of people who, without moral/legal/romantic attachments to others, can choose to pursue life on their own terms. My barriers to pulling the trigger are mine alone, and don’t effect those I love. That’s not to say that I don’t have people in my life that I love, it’s just that those friends and family that are closest to me will not suffer from my abrupt departure.
Quite frankly, it also frees up a LOT of money for my potential future. I will not be paying for a wedding, honeymoon, braces, cars, trips, and college tuitions. If everyone in my situation choose to ditch their lives and move abroad, it would still be a tiny fraction of the public, and of course, most people desire a traditional lifestyle.
So why isn’t everyone doing this? Because as nice and as awesome as it sounds, it doesn’t fit with the life they currently live, or want to live in the future. However, it does fit well with my life and my future desires, so I’m going for it! Did I overlook something huge that you know about? Hit me with it in the comments, and stay tuned.
