So who am I talking to? Jess
Originally from: Eumundi, Queensland, Australia
Arrived in Bali: January, 2015
Home in Bali was: Legian
I lived in an apartment down a small gang in north Legian, near Double Six Beach.
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How long did you plan to stay?
I originally planned to stay for one year, but ended up extending to two years.
What made you move to Bali?
I instantly fell in love with Bali on my first overseas trip back in 2002. I returned 17 more times before finally following my dreams and packing up my life in Oz and moved over to Bali. I loved everything about Bali and never travelled anywhere else on my holidays, so my family and friends weren’t surprised when I announced I was moving to Bali.
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What do you normally do back in Australia?
I am a primary school teacher.
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This career allowed me to gain employment at an international school in Bali. Which is how I could move to Indonesia. The organisation I worked for arranged my Kitas visa, which made the move very easy.
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What was a typical day here for you?
Monday to Friday were my work days where I would work between 7:30am and 3:30pm. Outside of these hours I would be out and about exploring every corner of Bali; villages, cafes and beaches etc
Weekends were my absolute favourite, I would start weekend mornings off by going out for an amazing breakfast (I’m a huge smoothie bowl fan and like trying all of the new cafes and have many favourites that I frequented regularly).
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Then I would let my scooter lead me on an adventure. Some days I would end up in the Bukit at one of the spectacular beaches, other times I would end up in ubud or Keramas or Pererenan.
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I also spent many weekends relaxing in the amazing beach clubs scattered around south Bali and having weekly massage appointments at the day spa (I really miss that). Other times I would head to ubud for a quiet weekend of yoga, waterfalls and rice paddy views or ecstatic dancing. There was never, ever a dull moment!!
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A regular day in Bali for me was not complete without a sunset beach walk along Kuta beach, down to Discovery Mall or north to Batu Belig. If I ever missed a sunset, I would feel like I missed something important that day.
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Tell us about your food experiences living here:
I felt so spoilt not cooking for two whole years!! That’s one thing I definitely miss about Bali, the incredible selection of delicious food! I even had my lunch delivered to school on a daily basis for a few dollars, which was an absolute treat!
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From warung food to fancy restaurants, I frequented everywhere in between! Usually I would eat Indo food during the week from my local warung on Jl 66, it would cost around $2 for veggies and brown rice. Weekends I would treat myself and have dinner at places like Sea circus, Ultimo, Rumours or Biku.
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What do you think about the locals?
I have so many special local friends. Many of whom feel more like family than friends. They are so kind and giving and always smiling!!!
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What did you enjoy most whilst living here?
I enjoyed the whole experience! the people, the food, the travelling. The adventures would definitely be my most favourite thing… I managed to visit many places within Asia and also frequent trips around the Indonesian archipelago. Some spectacular places I travelled to around Indo: Jogjakarta, Komodo National Park (I saw Komodo dragons in the wild), Flores, Semarang (rainbow village), Nusa Penida, Jakarta, Lombok, Lembongan. And there’s still so much more I want to see and explore!
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What did you least enjoy?
Traffic and pollution.
It would take much longer to get to places due to traffic, but I got used to it. The pollution I did not get used to, and it was always so upsetting seeing rubbish and the over use of single-use plastic. I feel like this is slowly starting to improve with more awareness and regular beach clean ups happening and slow phasing out of plastic bags.
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What did you miss back home?
- My family (however I would constantly have family and friends coming to Bali to visit)
- Aussie chocolate (my family and friends would always bring me supplies when they visited)
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Did you experience any “culture shock’?
Not at all, I totally embraced learning as much as I could about Balinese traditions and the Hindu religion and immersing myself into the culture. I was very lucky to have many first hand experiences with making offerings and attending ceremonies with my beautiful Balinese friends.
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How was it being part of an expat community?
It was really important being part of the expat community, I made many expat friends throughout my time. Tourists would come and go, but my expat friends were always with me for dinner dates or weekend adventures.
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What was the best thing you did while living there?
Definitely the friendships I made and the travel. My passport is so full and my heart is even fuller with all of the incredible memories I will treasure for my lifetime.
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If you had to describe Bali in three words what would it be?
- Spiritual
- Paradise
- Epic
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What tips do you have to those looking at making the move to Bali:
- Definitely respect the locals and form friendships with locals. Attend ceremonies when you are invited (You will learn so much).
- Learn Bahasa Indonesian to help with communication.
- Explore far and wide, don’t always go to the same spots.
- Make the most of domestic travel around Indonesia.
- Meet other expats and form friendships.
- Make sure you have health insurance. (The international hospitals will look after you).
- Get an Indonesian motorbike license if you plan to ride a scooter or car (the police will be happy to see this).
- Most importantly, follow your dreams 🙂 that’s what I did and I had an amazing experience living in Bali, and may even head back there again one day to live again.
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