Comments for Bali Expat - living in Bali

Comment on Trust me, you won’t like living in Bali by Haakon E. Gustavsen

Haakon E. Gustavsen — Wed, 15 May 2013 23:54:33 +0000

All experiences i read here is what i know happens but remember: also valid somewhere else ,,,also in our western world..cheating,corruption,criminals, lying politicians..to leave your own homeland take a lot of effort…..live and learn and try to ajust and tell clearly what u accept and do not accept….especially to your foreign spouse and new family…show you respect and love them by actions and be nice to all…but not naiv.To many naiv foreigners come to Bali. The system -Indonesia- is suffering from a lot of errors(we consider as criminal acts in our system and culture) but it will slowly improve….be patient..it has only been a democracy for a very short time. Step by step..ok? Good luck to you all.. Om shanti shanti shanti Om.

Comment on 10 dumb mistakes foreigners make moving to Bali by Deborah

Deborah — Tue, 14 May 2013 11:25:21 +0000

Hello Radi,

Cam you help me with advice about renting property in Bali? I am moving there for an extended stay for at least 1 year but would like to stay up to 5 years – and perhaps retire there as I am 52 years old. I would like to rent for 3-6 months at first and then when I find the right rental situation for me, perhaps negotiate a long term lease for 5 years.
Any assistance and advice would be great.

I look forward to a reply – thank you in anticipation.

Warm Regards

Deborah

Comment on 10 dumb mistakes foreigners make moving to Bali by kai

kai — Wed, 08 May 2013 01:03:03 +0000

Im curious to know id like to work in Fiji im english im living in Jakarta at the moment as an english teacher how did you get to stay there

Comment on 10 dumb mistakes foreigners make moving to Bali by Bobby

Bobby — Fri, 03 May 2013 09:45:27 +0000

Hi Kaiza. Well, you may be right… There are lots of local people in Bali (not always Balinese) who take advantage from expats. But there are also locals who are kind & surely will help you without any rewards. You have to be more careful in making friends with locals then..
Wishing you have a nice stay in Bali..

Comment on Trust me, you won’t like living in Bali by Adrian

Adrian — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:01:53 +0000

The golden rule…do not invest any money in Indonesia, I did and lost big time, even with all the evidence of investment/ bank statements ect the court decided to put the woman in jail as she said I have no money….I lost everything !! what about an investigation into what she done with the 12 years income she is hiding or the criminal syndicate behind her… bankrupt I was forced to return to the UK, My Indonesian wife I have lost, my personal belongings/ effects all held at customs in Surabaya I fear I will never see again….I am trying to go through diplomatic routes to resolve these issues….I worked to hard for that money to ever let this go…. so now I write to the media every week to try and get their attention…a victim of corruption Im sure, I wonder how much of my investment went to the police to stall at every opportunity, forcing me to live there and preventing me from working in the UK, these criminals have ruined my future, do they work for that money as hard as I did, a big NO… My wife I loved dearly and still do if I was honest…we had a wonderful future planned together…we both suffered at the hands of these lying thieves….a big thumbs up to the KPK, I hope this is the start of something that will change the country and a warning to others… corruption does not pay in the long run….I read with interest the amounts of money recovered from these selfish greedy people… they still seem to go to jail with a big smile on their faces, knowing when they are released they will have money stashed away… audit them again and keep doing it until they stop smiling….

Comment on Trust me, you won’t like living in Bali by Ross

Ross — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:46:27 +0000

Trish, if you want to be cool, try Baguio in the Philippines. The cost of living there is very reasonable, perhaps no more than Bali.
You could also try Chiang Mai in Thailand, and that is a cheap place, more so than Bali. It’s not a cool place though, only a couple of degrees less than Bangkok or the coast.

Comment on Trust me, you won’t like living in Bali by dave

dave — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:35:33 +0000

Many good experiences and points posted here,i think Mike`s blog is very good but I disagree with the point he made about we as visitors have to change,sure I accept that point to a certain degree,but when 70-80% the economy of bali comes from tourism then I believe that Bali has to do some changing also,i live in Bali for 6 months each year from December to May,i come on a sosbud visa,so lets start with that,its a visa valid for 6 months ,but the truth is that its not valid for 6 months,you arrive and you are good for 2 months,within 24 hours you must report to police who give you a document to carry around which is supposed to be free however they charge for it,also they don’t issue it for 6 months ,they have you come back a coup[le of times to renew just so they can charge you again and again,now after 2 months you must go to immigration and go thru a process much more complicated than when you got the original visa from Indonesian consulate in your country,this is to extend your visa for 1 month,yes one month,again another charge of 250,000rp,it takes 10 days for this stamp to be put into your passport and takes minimum 3 visits ,during this time you are really restricted ,if your intention was to travel to other islands you would have to do so without your passport as immigration are holding it for 10 days,so people why do they issue a visa for 6 months in the first place,the whole system from the top down is wrong,i rent a nice house here ,not a villa,all money up front,im the only one on my street who pays to have my garbage collected,all others burn it on the streets or leave it there until it rots ,and as for the guy who collects mine he takes it about 1 kilometer down the road and dumps it right there in a mountain of garbage,moreover if you try to be neat and tidy as we have always tried to do by buying nice big garbage cans they steal them God only knows what they do with them,but they throw our garbage all over the street,which attracts rats and all kinds of disgusting insects ,I could go on for ever about Bali and its bad points,sure there are some good things here such as the cost of socializing compared top back home but unfortunately the bad far outways the good,so much so that next month we will move to Java,my advice to those who are thinking about a move here ,come for a holiday but when here look outside the tourist areas and you will see a completely different Bali,

Comment on Trust me, you won’t like living in Bali by Ross

Ross — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 05:21:11 +0000

Danny I hear what you say.
The issue I have with the Balinese is that they pay lip service to their form of Hinduism. They are mercenary, dishonest, thieving people, and not just from foreigners, but from each other. The have a peculiar way (for us) of looking at the world, and the caste system, still in operation though it’s generally denied, is largely responsible for that. If you’re screwed by someone of a higher caste, that’s just your karma!! Bizarre concept, but the way it is. They are not the intensely religious people they would have us believe, but then neither are many of the self confessed religious people in our own societies. They’re called Sunday morning christians.
They didn’t ask for the current masses of tourists spoiling their island, but they don’t have the balls to say ‘enough is enough’. They can’t turn their backs on the money and unfortunately the social ills that tourists bring.
They are responsible for their own destiny, and that destiny is not a pretty one from where I stand.
I still enjoy dropping into Bali on my way to or from somewhere else, and marvel at the change over 34 years since my first visit.
I condemn the yobbo conduct, but being a yobbo in itself isn’t a crime, nor is much of their anti social behavior, in spite of it being most unsavory to probably the bulk of visitors.
I also thank my lucky stars that I escaped, financially, even though I didn’t make any money, just didn’t lose.
I reiterate, to anybody contemplating investing, DON’T!!!

Comment on Trust me, you won’t like living in Bali by Stephen

Stephen — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:12:01 +0000

Hi Trish, my name is Stephen formerly from Adelaide south australa, I have been living in Bali for11 years now, my wife is from indonesia so that helps a lot. The things you read above are quite true, and one can get frustrated with local Balinese people with their ceremonies etc, traffic, and the lack of road rules. But the good things that no one has said is there is no police camera’s, radar guns behind trees, and if you go through the yellow and even an early red light no tickets, where as in australa they all cost mo ey, as I recall with my last trip back to Adelaide. A newly installed camera cast me some 200+ dollar fine.
So if the police stop y on the road, no license or Helmut just pay the fine and your off, in australa your in big trouble.
Food for example is very cheap, I’m not big on indo food and still eat western style and its still a lot cheaper than Aust.
For voluntary work I suggest for you to contact some local churches when you come over they can help a lot. I belong to the Sanur GCC church and you want to speak with me more then my email is stev_e13@hotmail.com
Hope this gives some better light on Bali.

Comment on Trust me, you won’t like living in Bali by Gabriella

Gabriella — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:46:10 +0000

I really agree with Danny – you have to act as a quest and respect the culture, learn the language and be a part of everyday life, even though it may not be the everyday life you are use to or understand. If you don’t like things in Bali – then move! There are many challenges as a foreigner everyway and if you can not see it as what it is – a challenge, instead of a problem, then maybe you are not fit to live there. There is also the possibility that you might be able to learn something from this other way of living if you take your time and patience to learn and understand. I have been living in Bali. In the end I decided to go home, but I have learned so many things from Bali – some good and some bad experiences as I suppose would have been the case everyway – but it made me in the end a better person, as I have chosen to focus on the good lessons which I today use in my everyday life. So….instead of critizising try to learn instead….