I get emails everyday through my baliexpat website from people interested in living in Bali. I am also a member of expat forums and try to share the knowledge I have gained while living here. While there are many people who want to live in Bali, in the end only a few actually make the move.

I know the feeling. It is a big decision. Made even bigger if you have a spouse and kids. You have to find a new place to live, apply for visas, new schools for the kids and work out how you are actually going to support yourself, if you don’t already have an income. At the same time you  have to decide what you are going to do with your current house and with all of your ‘stuff’ it is
so easy to accumulate over the years, not to mention what you are going to do with your pets that you aren’t allowed to bring to Bali.

While some of your friends and family will be supportive of you, there will be others who think you have lost your mind and will go on to recount every negative story they heard about Bali.

Based purely on anecdotal evidence, for the people who do make the move, only a few end up settling on Bali permanently. There are many reasons why things don’t work out, but mostly it comes down to people finding out that living in Bali is very different from being on vacation.

Perhaps it is just human nature, but many people will constantly compare everything to their own country. The whole point of traveling or living overseas is to experience something different. So of course some things will be different, but you are the one that needs adapt rather than expecting Bali or Balinese to change.

I get many questions from people asking about finding work. Unfortunately there are very few jobs for foreigners in Bali. Not only is it difficult to find work, working visas are very expensive, making it only viable for large companies to employ foreigners. Many foreigners start a business and while there are plenty of opportunities in Bali, it does require innovation, hard work and start up capital to be a success.

I can only say to be realistic with your plans and your goals. Be prepared for a lot of setbacks and problems, especially in the beginning.

So do you still want to move to Bali? Are you living in Bali what tips can you provide to “newbies”?

Imagine packing up your bags and moving to a remote tropical island in Indonesia with your whole family to experience a new culture and in the process providing much needed aid to the local community.  Matt Thistlewaite did just that and you can read about his adventure in the following interview I did with him.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mitra 10 is a large hardware outlet and they have two stores in Bali – one in Sanur on the Bypass and one in Denpasar.
Read the rest of this entry »

Almost everyday I receive emails from people asking how to find work in Bali, so I thought I would write an article on the challenges foreigners face.

Some countries are quite open about allowing foreign workers, believing it can help with skill shortages and providing industries with a range of qualified and skilled workers to choose from. Unfortunately, Indonesia is not one of those countries and they view foreigners coming to work in Indonesia as simply taking away jobs from local people. Of course it is difficult to argue with this as Indonesia is a developing country with widespread poverty and under-employment.
Read the rest of this entry »

I frequently get asked various questions about applying for the social visa, so I thought I would make a compilation of the most common questions. If you still have a question, feel free to ask it in the comments.

Read the rest of this entry »

One complaint many expats have about living in Bali, is the high cost of alcohol, especially imported spirits. You can sometimes pay two or three times the price for an imported bottle of wine than you would in your own country.

Fortunately there is some alcohol which is locally produced, which manages to get around the high import taxes and is reasonably priced. I would like to warn anyone coming to Bali however, to avoid the alcohol made by small shops and sold along the side of the road, locally known as arak.

Read the rest of this entry »

About the Proceeding

Adopting your step-child in Indonesia is a special adoption proceeding because it takes place within a marriage between adopting parent and biological parent. Adopting your spouse’s child, sometimes referred to as a step-child adoption, can make your family feel connected. When a step-parent adopts his spouse’s child, he becomes responsible for the child both legally and financially in addition to forming emotional bond.

Read the rest of this entry »

In my How to Retire in Bali information guide, I wrote a few tips for what to look out for in renting a house or villa in Bali.

Reading this letter to the editor in the Jakarta Post, it reminded of one of those tips. While a house might seem great during the day, it is a good idea to go back late at night to see if there are any problems with noise levels, like from nearby bars or night clubs. This is particularly a problem in some residential areas in Sanur, where there are a number of “cafes” or karaoke bars, as this poor person found out before it was too late:
Read the rest of this entry »

Malaysia kembali mendakwa bahawa salah satu seni Indonesia adalah berasal dari negaranya. Walaupun beberapa lalu warga Bali telah kecewa dengan Malaysia kerana Malaysia berani mendakwa bahawa tari Pendet adalah berasal dari negara Malaysia, namun tetap saja Malaysia kembali melakukan hal yang sama iaitu dengan mendakwa lagi seni tortor sebagai tarian asal Malaysia walau yang sebenarnya adalah tarian khas khusus batak yang biasa di gunakan untuk acara adat istiadat di Sumatera Utara.
Read the rest of this entry »

Lagi – lagi negara Malaysia mengklaim Taiwan asal Indonesia adalah tarian dari negara mereka. Beberapa waktu lalu sempat menjadi pembahasan yang hangat mengenai tarian asal Bali yang di klaim oleh negara Malaysia sebagai tarian asal negaranya. Namun ternyata negara Malaysia tidak pernah berhenti untuk mengklaim segala seni dari Indonesia sebagai seni dari negaranya. Kali ini Malaysia mengklaim lagi bahwa salah satu tarian dari Indonesia yaitu tarian TorTor yang berasal dari wilayah Sumatera Utara adalah tarian mereka.
Read the rest of this entry »