Life as a Bali expat

Quitting your job, moving to Bali and starting a new life is a dream for many people. Being one of those lucky enough to have experienced it I think I can offer a few thoughts on how things go.

People often worry about the legality of living in Bali fulltime. This is actually the easy part as Social and Business visas are easy to obtain, allowing a person to stay in Bali for a period of 6 months at a time, after jumping through a few hoops. The Multiple Entry Business Visa does no longer exist, so with a Single Entry Business Visa (costing 700,000rp at Bali Mode in Kuta) you will return from your initial visa run to Singapore or wherever with 60 days, then be able to extend 4 times for 30 days each. The first 2 extentions will cost 500,000rp each, the second two extentions 600,000rp each. The initial paperwork will take a few days to complete and is a formality.

In order to actually work you’ll need a KITAS which is harder to get, requiring a registered company to hire you as an employee. Talk to an immigration consultant about the latest requirements for this to be sure. In any case if you’ve got the money and the time you’ll end up getting what you want.

Once you’ve figured out your visa and the next thing is to find a place to live. Looking around online you’ll see a lot of great looking ads for short term holiday rentals. These are all expensive and not what you want. Kuta, Legian, Seminyak, Canggu, Kerobokan etc has a ton of long term rentals, some are luxurious, some trash. Depends what you budget can handle. If you want to go on the cheap side take a walk behind Bintang supermarket in Seminyak, there’s plenty of cheap stuff to check out plus some okay places. Best way to maximize your time searching for a places to live is get a motorbike and just go down alleys all the way along the street, you’ll be amazed at what you find. Even down nasty looking alleys there are some decent villas tucked away.

Some of the things you might want to check when looking at a place to rent long term:
Location – that tranquil ricefield setting might look nice on the first night but the 20 minute drive to the shops could get old.
Security – how are the locks, doors, windows.
Neighbors – who lives next door, a local family (roosters at 4am) or a group of Euro party animals (techno till dawn).
Plumbing – does it actually work.
Lighting – check all the switches.
AC unit – does it need servicing
Night time noise – rent the place out for a week before commiting to a year to see if the local nightclubs, ricefields will keep you awake.
Staff – you want to have complete control over your staff, rather than paying the rental company (if there is one) to hire somebody. Looking at bulletins boards in the Kuta / Seminyak area you’ll get a good idea of the current rental market.

So you’re sitting in your villa, wondering what next to do. The answer is its up to you. Lottery winners have commented that when you dream of getting rich you imagine a big party at the end of the road, but when you get there its a bit of an anti-climax. Starting a new life in Bali is a micro version of that, there’s no welcoming committee and the locals won’t throw a party for you every night. I know many expats who live a very quiet life, simply cooking some food, reading a book and going for a stroll.

Meeting new people, discovering your new favourite hangouts and maybe even a way to fight the spreading wasteline, are all part of living in Bali. One retired expat told me I’m the lucky one as I appear to have something to do everyday. I’m trying to remember that and for sure retiring in Bali with a pot of cash is not the answer for some people. Moving to Bali is an adventure and a sense of humor is priceless. Sometimes that’s all we have between us and absolute insanity.