Aren't You Going To Be Lonely?

The short answer is yes. The long answer is, who the hell knows? There is NO DOUBT that there will be times where I miss my friends and family and even my kitties. Such is the sacrifice demanded of a true adventure. I’m also a very accomplished solo traveler so I have some data to back up my assumptions. However, I have never lived outside the city I grew up in, so this could be total nonsense on my part. 

Thank goodness for coincidences and luck. The second person I told was my long time friend Scotty. He and his wife had just decided to spend the month of February in Bali, completely on their own. This made my decision to leave even easier. Together we found an AirBnB for $800 total for the month, giving me plenty of time to get acclimated to Bali life, while with friends. It also meant I would have plenty of time to find a yearly rental (which are paid up front in Bali). 

My research had left me convinced that I would be able to find a really spectacular place for 10K a year, a great place for 5K a year, and a small apartment for 2.5K a year. These prices would only be available to me on the ground, as any prices listed online were done through middle-men who make a living jacking them up to snatch unsuspecting tourists.  

Then came another piece of luck. A friend of mine who works in finance and travels to Bali several times a year offered to go in with me on a place so he could send business associates to “his home in Bali” and I would act as their concierge. This allowed me to justify spending 5K for the year, with him throwing in the other 5K, to secure an amazing place. This brings me back to being lonely. 

If all goes as planned (and there’s no reason to believe that it won’t - except the fact that something always does), I will have a beautiful 2-3 bedroom home with a pool near the beach for all of my friends to come and visit. I think I can realistically expect at least five visits from friends a year, plus business associates, and that will certainly help keep the loneliness at bay. Again, as with all things about this trip, I’ll let you know in a couple months if I was right. Stay tuned. 

Why Bali, Part 2

Lets be honest, I’d heard Bali was awesome. It’s not listed in the top 10 places to live, so I had to add it to the list and then compare it to the others. It turns out, five years ago, it would make every list. However, people read those lists, and the cost of living went up. Not too much, but enough for it to no longer be the very cheapest. I had something going for me though that wasn’t mentioned, new relaxed visa requirements that took effect in September, and a VERY VERY strong dollar against the IDR. When this was factored in, it put Bali square in the middle of the pack for savings. Now it was time to look at quality of life. 

I am going to be traveling alone, but I make friends quickly, so if I don’t speak the language, a strong expat community is a MUST. Bali is only three hours from Australia and has an expat community going back 20 years. Cambodia and Vietnam really lack this infrastructure. That left Thailand and Bali. My friend Max, who lives in Bangkok discouraged me from making that decision, and Bali was left. It also has a relatively large gay community and a few gay clubs and watering holes. 

Now there was one last thing to do to seal the deal. Facebook Graph Search. “Friends of My Friends who Live in Bali, Indonesia” was a winner. From there I started hitting up all my friends for introductions. It was time to get the real scoop from people on the ground. How much did things REALLY cost, right now, what was life like, what should I watch out for? 

Why Bali???

This whole adventure started a little over a month ago, with of all people, my VERY pragmatic and sensible father. He pointed out to me, that I was living beyond my means, in a stunning Downtown Los Angeles loft, that I owned, but was loosing money on. Let me explain. I bought this loft at the bottom of the Los Angeles real estate market, and it has appreciated significantly in value in the last 5 years. The market had priced me out of my own home. I was loosing the opportunity to gain $6,500 a month. A cost I WOULD NOT pay to live in my own loft. In addition, I have two loans on my property. One for $377,000 at a low interest rate over 30 years, and one for $150,000 at a higher interest rate over the same period. The increase in property value had presented an opportunity to pay off the higher interest loan in a much quicker period, saving over 120,000 in interest. It was becoming more and more clear, it was time to move out. 

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Again, why Bali?

I’m getting there. At first thought, I wanted to stay somewhere in the US. I checked out Portland, and realized right away that this wasn’t going to work. To maximize my investment, I needed to be saving money, and not just a little money, but AS MUCH MONEY AS POSSIBLE. Next I checked out Hong Kong. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hong Kong. It’s my favorite city in the world besides Los Angeles. I thought that maybe, if I lived off the main island, saving money would be possible. Again, I was mistaken. 

Google to the rescue. After a few searches for the cheapest places in the world to live, it became clear that my real options were Latin America or Asia. I chose the latter, though it’s clear if you speak Spanish, the former is a better option for a true saver. Now I started to read. A 

LOT. Vietnam, Bali, Cambodia, and Thailand made the final cut. I decided on Bali. I use only the island Bali as my destination, even though it’s part of Indonesia, because it’s a Hindu culture, where as the rest of the country is Muslim (as a gay man, that’s not an option for me). 

So what was it in the reading that made Bali stand out as THE cheapest place I could live with the highest quality of life? Check out Why Bali Part 2!