Bali - The Island of Gods, Dreamers and Pirates

Travelling to Bali — The Handara Gates, Photo by Karl Anthony Paika

Venerably called the Island of Gods in popular media, Bali has been on the forefront of many travellers minds and bucket lists these past few years. Widely circulated images of perfectly manicured rice fields, paradise beaches and stunning traditional temples shared on social media immediately come to mind. Bali was also recently host to the G20 Summit that saw the leaders of the free world descend on this mystical Indonesian island in their dozen convoys of private jets to discuss political affairs and enjoy Balinese hospitality. Is Bali truly the tourist paradise and premier digital nomad, health and investment hub that many advertise it to be? Is there a dark side to one of the world’s top tourist destinations? Should you visit Bali, and what is it really like living and being (legally) employed on the island as an expat?

There have been many people on social media lately saying that Bali has ‘changed’ and not for the better. I would like to correct this sentiment and say that Bali hasn’t changed, the tourist districts have changed, considerably. But Bali as an island is still the same Bali I fell in love with 7 years ago. For anyone who spends the majority of their time in places like Canggu, the island would seem unrecognizable from what it was just 5 years ago.

I will do my best to give you a 360 degree perspective from the point of view of an expat who has been coming to Bali for over 7 years and who has collectively spent 3.5 years living here full time, travelled extensively around the many diverse neighbourhoods of the island (not just the tourist hubs) and obtained a KITAS (work visa) to be able to legally work on the island.

Bali has been home to some of my best memories from the past decade. I recommend visiting this island to everyone at least once. Living here however requires a deeper understanding of the reality of well … living on a tropical island in a developing nation. I always joke that, I had lots of fun in Bali until I started working here. When your days are no longer about lounging in a hotel, exploring the island, getting massages and eating great food, reality quickly shifts. This is the Bali I know through the lens of my personal experience over a number of years. I will try to do my best to share an unbiased view of all aspects of life here (for an expat), things it took me months to find out and things I wish I had known prior to moving here.

So lets start with the good and the great. Here is a list of what made me fall in love with this island and its people.

Bali’s Religious Traditions (A very important aspect of the island and one you absolutely have to respect)

Indonesia as a whole has the largest Muslim majority in the world, however Bali as an island is heavily rooted in Balinese Hinduism. It originated from Java and has roots in Shivaism, Buddhism and Indian philosophy. The principles of Balinese religion are a little bit different from that of Indian Hinduism and the Balinese culture is rich in ceremony and tradition. Local families put out daily offerings for the spirit world called the canang sari and participate in many ceremonies during the year which you will regularly see out on the streets. If you are lucky, your Balinese friends may invite you to partake in a ceremony during your stay on the island. If you have ever been to Bali during the holiday of Nyepi - you know that the island stops for an entire 24hrs to honour this sacred day. Everyone, the Balinese and tourists are required to spend a day indoors, absolutely no noise or lights are allowed. Even the airport ceases operations. At night when every light on the island is off you can witness the glorious night sky above the island illuminated by millions of stars, many of which you can see quite clearly. The Balinese believe in the eternal dance of light and shadow, good and evil, angels and demons and their rituals are aimed at keeping the balance between these two opposing forces. They believe in dharma - the duty or purpose of one’s life path. Almost all the homes in Bali have an adjacent temple where offerings are left out on a daily basis and virtually every business local and western receives a blessing ceremony from a local priest before its opening. It is the way of the land.

Bali has many beaches, two active volcanos and beautiful stretches of jungle

I spent an entire year living in Ubud surrounded by lush jungle. I’ve hiked up Mount Batur - one of Bali’s active volcanoes four times now and visited white and black sand beaches far and wide. It never gets old. Bali is famous for it’s stunning natural wonders. If you love lounging in the sun, Lovina, Uluwatu, Canggu, Nusa Dua, Sanur, Candidasa are all neighborhoods that will offer plenty of sunshine and beach bliss. If you are like me and love cool overcast weather and a bit of rain, you will find yourself at home in North Bali - namely Kintamani, the villages around Mount Batur, which grow most of the crops that end up on your local dinner table. The weather in those mountainous regions is cold and refreshing and a welcome change from the heat and humidity of the beachside districts.

Local Indonesian food is delicious

Indonesian cuisine has many delicious dishes on offer, most infused with the Balinese’ favourite spice - chilli . From local staples like Nasi Goreng (fried rice), Mie Goreng (fried noodle), to Gado Gado and Rujak, there are many options for you to choose from. I recommend visiting local warungs. I know that many tourists are concerned about food poisoning, so exercise healthy caution when choosing street food, however I have only had Bali belly (food poisoning) twice in 7 years, and it came from western restaurants, not warungs. So I advocate for trying local food. If you are in the Canggu area, try Warung Tom Kah, Warung Hebo and Warung Oemge, our tried and true favourites.

There are many beautiful and unique hotels in Bali

As a seasoned traveller I can tell you that Bali is a fantastic destination for hotels and accommodation for all tastes and budgets. I have stayed in $15 a night, perfectly charming local guest houses and $600-$2000 a night luxury hotels (you can find some of my luxury hotel reviews in the travel section of this blog). It’s up to your budget and preferences as to what you choose, but there is everything for everyone here. Beach bubble hotels, surf stays and luxury villas, jungle tree houses and hidden villas, mountain resorts, you name it. You can book your stay(s) through platforms like Air Bnb (which I have a love/hate relationship with), Booking.com or if you are a spontaneous traveller, just show up and ask for availability (you will always get a better rate in person). If you are travelling on a budget, a guesthouse will run you $15-$40 a night. A guesthouse is a budget hotel (your own room + ensuite bathroom / shower and often access to a communal kitchen and swimming pool).

Digital Nomad Capital of the world?

For many recent years Canggu, Bali has been listed as the digital nomad capital of the world and for good reason. There are digital nomads sitting in every cafe on the block and working on their entrepreneurial ventures in co-working spaces around the island. Our partner Tropical Nomad Coworking Centre is currently the top rated and loved digital nomad hub in Canggu. I highly recommend visiting it and getting a membership here if you get a chance. Canggu has become the home away from home to bitcoin millionaires, cryptopreneurs, startup ceos and venture capitalists. Visa rules for digital nomads are currently up in the air and being negotiated, it’s something you constantly have to check up on as official rules in Bali are ever evolving.

If you are a family with young children nanny care is an affordable luxury in Bali

I have known several young families who have employed nannies on the island. Many local nannies will also double as house staff / personal shoppers and cooks (you will have to negotiate this and the salary). Balinese nannies are generally very lovely, it’s a culture that adores children and they offer your little one an opportunity to learn a new language (Bahasa), which is always a plus. Generally most families who employ full time nannies in Bali would not be able to afford this level of care back in their countries, which is what makes raising kids on the island such a privilege.

If you are a jewellery designer, or a clothing designer, Bali is an amazing place to make your collections

Bali is an island of arts and crafts. The talent here, whether it’s in traditional art and sculpture or fashion, is enviable. There are many multigenerational professionals on the island working as craftsmen, painters, silversmiths and tailors. If you are a creative soul who has always dreamed of trying out a jewellery making workshop, creating your own clothing line or learning batik painting and the like, this island will offer you plenty of opportunities. I always wanted to custom tailor a new wardrobe for myself, so I made a few trips to Denpasar, found a few great textile shops on Jalan Sulawesi, contacted a good tailor and ordered over 20 garments to be custom made for me from linen I purchased in the shops. It was a fantastic experience and I deeply enjoyed having a working relationship with a local tailor. If you are in Bali looking for a good tailor, send me a message and I will share her contact.

If you are a watersports fanatic or an avid diver, Bali offers some of the world’s most fascinating scuba spots

The diving off the coast of Bali is absolutely magical. There are several scuba and free-diving schools on the island where you can get PADI certified. I got my open water license in 2018. After you have done your course, (or as an uncertified fun dive) you can explore a giant shipwreck in Amed, dive with giant Manta Rays off the coast of Nusa Penida and swim with turtles in the Gilis. Not to mention that Indonesia houses some of the globe’s top diving destinations like Raja Ampat and Labuan Bajo.

Bali offers craft workshops and activities for every taste

Silversmith classes, ceramic classes, wheel throwing classes, batik workshops, wood carving classes, painting classes, cooking classes, yoga classes, perfume workshops, fitness classes, pilates, dance classes, surfing classes, linocut classes, horseback riding classes, scuba certifications, free diving workshops, photography workshops …. you get the idea. Bali boasts a massive variety of affordable new experiences. while on the island I have done a yoga teacher certification (21 days), two silversmith workshops, a wheel throwing ceramics workshop, and a linocut workshop. I would highly recommend these experiences for solo travellers, couples and friends. The wide variety of opportunities to learn new skills on this island are second to none.

Bali offers many yoga retreats and classes

I am personally a bit on the fence with the quality and authenticity of yoga instruction currently being offered on the island by expats (it has tanked a bit in the past two years), but there are many many options to choose from if you wish to attend a yoga retreat or classes. Just make sure you check your instructor’s credentials (their training and how many years they have led the practice). Read ‘False Prophets and the Age of Wokeness’. for more on Bali’s yoga/breathwork/healer industry.

These are some of the not - so - pleasant realities of life in Bali they won’t tell you about on the travel brochures, which you may come across. Pick and choose what you’re ok and not ok with and make your decisions accordingly.

The Climate In Bali can be very harsh

There is a difference between being a tourist in a tropical climate and living in a tropical climate. I have spent years in and out of Bali and I realized that I am not a tropical weather kind of person when it comes to long term living. Bali is very hot and very humid, unless you live in the mountainous regions of the North away from major town centres. The expats who choose to make Bali their semi permanent or permanent home are split into two classes: those who can function in the heat, and those who physically cannot. I belong to the latter class. My brain literally only starts functioning at its optimal level after the sun sets. In the day the heat can make you hide indoors (which is not why you came here), and feel sluggish and sleepy. So if your body cannot stand high heat and humidity, Bali is not for you.

To add to this, be aware of the unique diseases and parasites that are native to Bali’s tropical climate. There is dengue fever (carried by mosquitoes), malaria, and a slew of parasites you can pick up both in the water and on dry land. Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Rabies, flesh eating disease, cholera, etc. I know it sounds scary. Over the years I’ve only managed to pick up dengue fever (twice), Bali belly and Schistoma. I recommend getting blood tests done every 6 months to make sure that you’re not harbouring a stealth parasite and taking deworming pills once in a while, especially if you are like me and like to cuddle with local cats and dogs.

Housing Prices in Bali

This is a big one. Bali is no longer a cheap place to visit or live for tourists that choose to stay in expat areas like Canggu, Ubud, Seminyak, Pererenan and Kuta. At this current moment the villa you could rent before covid for $1500 is going for nearly $6000 a month. Why? Several reasons.

Tourism is back hard and there is a lot of demand. Local and expat business owners who have been sitting for 2 years with zero income are desperate to make their money back.
There is a lot of investors building fancy new villas, there is a huge realty boom right now. People see areas like Canggu, Pererenan and Seminyak as golden land for development.
The war between Russia and Ukraine means that Russian citizens who want nothing to do with the war have fled in millions to places like Bali. Even in Kazakhstan where I vacationed last year, housing prices tripled due to influx of Russian migrants. Right now, according to official sources, Russian and Ukrainian migrants make up Bali’s second largest tourist population after Australians. Every second person I meet on the streets of Canggu these days speaks Russian. The influx of migrants has created a ton of demand. The Russians who are here also have the funds to stay here, easily dropping $2000+ a month on a Bali rental.
Some of you may have heard of a California couple who got deported from Bali during Covid. Kristen Grey and her partner went online and gushed about how cheap Bali was amongst other things and encouraged people to move and live in luxury like them in Bali. There was massive backlash from Indonesians as a result of what Ms. Grey said and I also believe that this incident contributed to the massive inflation of prices. You think Bali is cheap? Not anymore. The prices have gone up way beyond what they were prior to Covid for the above mentioned reasons.

I should also mention that many houses/villas in Bali are not built to ‘western’ code. In the case of a fire or an earthquake most homes here will vaporize in a matter of minutes. This is the reason why major earthquakes flatten thousands of homes in Southeast Asia and cause so much destruction. Many structures are not reinforced or have systems in place that will protect their stability from natural disasters. We have a Bali house and the amount of work / renovations / etc we had to do to it, we may just as well have built a house from scratch. There are companies that build luxury villas here that I cannot vouch for in terms of quality - I can only hope that a million dollar villa is built to last and is safe to live in long term. Bali also has a massive and I mean MASSIVE mold problem, because the climate here is perfect for it , moist, humid, hot. Most house and villas have black mold if you look hard enough. This is worth mentioning because long term it can cause serious damage to your health.

Footnote: You can absolutely find a very cheap place to like in Bali if you forego western comforts and if you live in areas like Denpasar, North Bali, West Bali and East Bali away from major expat centres. The tradeoff here is, you will not be in expat-catering neighborhoods and will likely need to drive an hour to get to them.

Many of the beaches in Bali are overrun with plastic trash

The pristine white sand beaches you see when you type in Bali in google searches? Most of those are actually photos taken of islands around Bali , namely Nusa Penida, Lombok, and the Gili islands. There are a few hidden gems in Bali, namely Uluwatu and Eastern Bali - where you will find unpolluted paradise. Bali has some stunning black sand beaches too, but those too are often polluted with plastic bags and remnants of other trash. There are several organizations of volunteers on the island trying to alleviate the problem with regular cleanups, but given the volume of tourists that the island is currently hosting, it’s not enough. Adding to the mess is dog poop, - which no one cleans off the sand and regular intervals of offerings that are washed into the sea on a daily basis. Bali beaches are struggling and we are yet to find a solution. When scuba diving off the coast I often find plastic bags floating in the ocean 6-20 meters deep in the ocean. It’s heartbreaking. I am hopeful that a solution can be found as I have recently visited Thailand and saw that Phuket most impressively got their beach pollution issue under control, even given the volume of tourism present there.

The Expat Piratentrepreneurs

When you come to Bali initially you will be amazed at how many interesting people you encounter that all seem to be spiritually/mentally/emotionally successful and wealthy (at least according to their instagram). Most of these are expats who have been living in Bali for a number of years. Some of them are legit, great business people and fantastic humans. Some of them, not so much. Some will organize festivals where they will encourage to come and donate your talent for free while charging $300 a pop for tickets, invite you to their podcasts, talk shows, seminars, coaching sessions, etc. It took me several years to see through the smoke and mirrors of Bali expat hustlers. This island has become a temporary ‘home’ to ‘has been’ producers, wannabe producers, club promoters, escorts, only fans models, fake coaches, fake millionaires, celebrity sex predators, guru lightworkers and every garden variety personality disorder you can imagine, including people who set up ‘charities’ in the name of helping the local population but turn a hefty profit off of donations given by unsuspecting you and me. I. donated weeks of my time to help one such organization during Covid only to find out from my ex supervisor that the American run organization regularly lied about the impact numbers on their reports to solicit larger donations from their investors overseas and misappropriated donor funds to benefit the owner’s lifestyle. So before you donate your time, money or resources to a charity, make sure to do a background check and ask them for the monthly impact and financial reports. Those should be transparent and readily available. If they cannot provide you this, go out in the community and give resources to families directly.

As for the pirate entrepreneurs, they will try to sell you their services and convince you to drop your life overseas and move to Bali, invest in Bali, open up businesses here etc. The choice is yours. I’d suggest coming to Bali for at least 3 months before you make any major life decisions. It may be for you, it may not, but don’t listen to the sales pitch of a profiteer. Come and experience the island, feel the culture, understand the communities, find a dead python in your storm drain, sit in traffic without A/C for three hours straight. Then we’ll talk.

True story about the python btw.

If you are coming to Bali for healing, read my viral article ‘False Prophets and the Age of Wokeness’. It’ll help you lift the veil on the local spiritual hustle.

Gentrification of Local Neighbourhoods

Gentrification has been and continues to be a growing issue in Bali. If you care about the social impact of tourism and expats who choose to stay in Bali - here it is. Many Balinese have been actively driven out of communities like Canggu, Pererenan, Seminyak, Kuta, and Uluwatu because of enormous hikes in prices and all the expats buying up land through their companies and building multimillion dollar villas, cafes, restaurants and resorts. The only way this helps the Balinese is it creates jobs - albeit where they get paid local wages while largely expat guests get served meals that are at times worth an entire month’s paycheque for the people who work in these joints. Many of us call Canggu - the Colony of Canggu for this very reason. The tourist neighborhoods have been colonized by Western money and have created a giant socioeconomic disparity. Think of this when you are drinking a 60k latte. That’s half a day of pay for the person serving it to you. Recently businesses have added ‘service charge’ to your bill. Originally this was meant to act as an automatic (included) tip for the staff serving you because there was a perpetual problem with many tourists (who come from non tipping cultures) not tipping Balinese staff. However upon speaking to a few of my Balinese friends who work in cafes and restaurants around Canggu I found out that many of these businesses pocket the service charge instead of giving it to their staff as tips. So nowadays the staff get tipped even less, if at all, because the tourists think that the tip has been included in the service charge. If you dine in, in Bali, please tip your waiter personally. The staff wages here are nowhere on par with the prices that these business are charging tourists.

Local - Expat Tension

This brings me to my next point. Because of the oftentimes giant socioeconomic disparity between the median local population and expat tourists, and the disrespectful, entitled behaviour of many tourists and expats living on the island, tensions can run high. I have been witness to some fiery arguments and animosity from both sides towards the other this past year. Recently a political body had suggested to retract the right to VOAs (Visa on Arrival) and vehicle renting rights from nationals with Russian and Ukrainian passports due to these groups having increasingly regular run ins with the local authorities on the basis of disobeying local laws and regulations.

Bali Hospitals and Emergency Care

I actually like the quality of hospital care in Bali, but if you’re in trouble and need to be transported to Emergency right away, the traffic in Bali is bad enough that you will likely not make it in time. People don’t let emergency vehicles through, even if they wanted to, there is no space. Prices for expats are vastly different than for locals. If you don’t have health insurance (which to be honest you absolutely HAVE to have, it’s law), you can get in trouble. There have been fundraisers for expat victims of accidents where the community has to pool together $20,000-$120,000 to help pay for hospital costs. A woman I met recently gave birth to a baby 3 months premature, it cost the family around $1200 a day to keep their child alive on ventilators because insurance didn’t cover it. With the current population increase in tourist centres, needing medicare becomes almost unavoidable (scooter accidents, surf accidents, random accidents, food poisoning, alcohol poisoning etc). I lost a friend last year who perhaps would have survived had they arrived at the hospital earlier. Traffic conditions in Bali are at their all time worst at the moment.

Lack of Infrastructure

There are very few places for pedestrians to walk in Canggu, Pererenan, Seminyak, Uluwatu and Kuta on the street without risking being run over by traffic. Ubud is a bit better, they have renovated a lot of their sidewalks. For real, there are almost no sidewalks and because of how people drive, walking on the road becomes extremely dangerous. If you have pets that you need to walk, you have to drive to dedicated green spaces or the beach. The limited sidewalk space that Bali has is often used by scooters as an extra road in traffic. Yes, people regularly drive their scooters and motorbikes on sidewalks. I have also known people to break their legs falling through faulty sidewalk slabs. The problem is that places like Canggu have no infrastructure for the bonafide mini towns that they have become. There is no governing body that went ‘hey, lets create safe comfortable conditions for people living here, proper sewage disposal, roads big enough for two cars both ways, sidewalks, proper electricity.’ No. People just came and bought up land and built and built and now you have a village overrun by tourists and locals with barely enough road space to drive both ways, insane traffic, overflowing sewer drains, no sidewalks and sketchy electrical. Welcome to Paradise. This is why I would never spend a million dollars on any of the stunning villas that are being built here on a daily basis. To me luxury real estate is not just having a beautiful home, it’s living on a safe, beautiful street in a nice neighbourhood. In Bali, it’s normal to walk out of a luxury villa onto a dirt road with garbage thrown about and not have a sidewalk to walk on to the nearest convenience store. Again, I am mentioning this because there are many companies right now here trying to sell a luxury lifestyle that doesn’t align with the reality.

Driving Conditions in Bali

I have been on the road in Bali for over 6 years. Driving in Bali at best can be cumbersome, at it’s worst extremely dangerous. I can’t tell you who drives worse, expats or the local population. I will say this - the local population has more experience driving. Most of the expats here don’t have a license or experience, they just rent a scooter. Most renting places don’t bother checking your ID or license. This is why a lot of renters also lose their scooters to expats who don’t return them. They don’t bother checking their IDs or taking photos of them, resulting in many instagram posts searching for lost scooters.

Using mobile phones while driving is normal in Bali, but extremely illegal

There is a disturbing new trend present on the streets of Bali, and that is, drivers, both local and expat on their phones while riding scooters, motorbikes and cars. It’s normal to see a local or an expat driving down the street head bowed down texting with one hand. I have seen a guy almost wipe out in front of me on the highway because he was texting while driving 70 km/h.

Driving etiquette in Bali

Does not exist. Generally people drive like complete ***holes, exhibiting extreme entitlement and zero patience. If traffic stops for a second people swerve onto sidewalks and drive on sidewalks. If getting ahead by two metres means they will scratch the side of your bike or run over your foot, they will do it. Happened to me today. It saddens me to say this, but it’s true and I have experienced this firsthand. People generally don’t signal, and if they do, be sure that 50% of the time they will turn in the opposite direction that to where they’re signalling. Areas like Canggu, Seminyak, Kuta and Ubud are extremely overpopulated due to an influx of tourism. During the lockdown the roads were empty enough for you to be able to avoid dangerous drivers. Now there is no space and they are everywhere.

There are many road accidents in Bali

Every day on the island there are motorcycle, scooter and car accidents that range from light to life changing. During this year alone I have been hit by a local girl on a scooter while parked off road (I got a hairline fracture in my ankle, cuts and bruises), I was hit while trying to find a parking spot by two Australian backpackers holding beer bottles in their hands while they were driving. When I started taking photos of their license plates they sped off. When I contacted the scooter rental places where they got their bikes, they had to get police involved in recovering the bikes because SURPRISE those ***holes never returned them (likely because they had damage from the crash). An acquaintance almost lost his life and totalled his brand new Ducati because a truck haplessly turned into his lane, a Ukrainian man in Canggu lost his life when his scooter went off the infamous shortcut bridge (where after renovating the shortcut, the organizers didn’t reinstall the barrier fence which existed there before). If you think that a barrier was installed there after two people fell off the bridge into the river that week, one losing his life, you’re mistaken. After a slew of ‘poor guy’ instagram virtue signalling by the community, no one did anything. There are stories like this everywhere I go unfortunately. This is the reality of driving in Bali, especially places like Canggu, Seminyak and Kuta.

Tourist Prices in Bali

I always say that there are three tiers of prices in Bali for the same exact product/service.

Tier 1 - You are Indonesian and speak Bahasa, you get local price

Tier 2 - You Are an expat who speaks Bahasa well, you will get an inflated price but will be able to bring it down to just above local

Tier 3 - you are an expat and you are shit out of luck. You will get ‘Bule’ (foreigner) price which is two to ten times the local price.

Most locals you will meet will assume that if you are an expat you are made of money and you will get treated and sold to accordingly. It’s no different than anywhere else in the world when it comes to visiting 2nd and 3rd world countries. If you do not engage in this dance you will often see the smile veneer directed at you vanish and witness seething contempt underneath.

Safety in Bali

I will never forget how I brought my boyfriend to a top notch jewellery workshop in Celuk where we were instructed in how to make silver jewellery and how our instructors (all three of them) didn’t mention that we were sitting in front of two buckets half full of acid (for dipping our silver creations). Needless to say we didn’t have gloves or glasses on and if it wasn’t for my extensive knowledge of workplace hazardous materials (from working in the film industry), I would have stuck my hand into the bucket of acid to rinse my ring. As I dropped my ring into the bucket I intuitively leaned back while the acid splashed back towards my face. I had major words for the owners of that studio afterwards. Going for a jewellery workshop can leave you blind if you’re not paying attention.

With the construction boom that’s going on in Bali at the moment what you will not see unfortunately is workers being given proper PPE (protective equipment), hardhats, steeltoe boots (do they exist here?). It’s normal to see barefoot construction workers scaling walls and hopping from scaffold to scaffold inches away from injury or death. The individuals (often expats) commissioning these luxury ‘eco’ villa and hotel builds don’t seem to care about the conditions in which these workers do their jobs. As someone who has worked in construction and is aware of the dangers of the job and the procedures that have to be put in place to ensure basic safety, I would call the conditions for local Bali construction workers appalling at best and completely inhumane at worst. Imagine too, they are working around the clock in the blazing sun and high humidity with high risk of dehydration.

Getting a work visa in Bali is very expensive and time consuming

Indonesia has a very unique employment visa system in place for expats which only allows you to work in the specific industry that your visa is issued for. If you cannot find work in that industry, you are not allowed to undertake any other employment in other areas. This system protects the local population from getting their jobs taken by expats but also creates a slew of issues. Because of the high costs and the time it takes to acquire work visas, many expats work under the table (highly do not recommend, because you will get found out and deported). Because of this, not many people apply for work visas. If you are successful and do get granted a KITAs in your area of employment, the challenge becomes to make back the money you have spent on said work visa. In many industries this will not be a problem. However, if you are a DJ or a performer, I do not recommend coming to Bali to be employed in your field because (as I will detail in my next paragraph), you will likely not make much profit. You will need to play 40-60 gigs at local prices just to cover the cost of your visa. If however you are coming to work in real estate or other comparable industries, KITAS is absolutely the way to go. Messing with local laws will get you deported, so adhere to the law, always, even if you see others grifting about. The risk is absolutely not worth it.

Businesses here can be extremely stingy with money

If you come to Bali to work you need a KITAS - which generally sets you back $1500-$3500 for a period of 6 months to 2 years (this cost constantly fluctuates mostly on an upwards trajectory). If you are an expat who is not a digital nomad who has come to Bali for employment, it’s either because you want to work in real estate, hospitality, retail, the restaurant business or you are a DJ-singer-performer. Unless you are lucky and your position has been pre-negotiated, before you arrived on the island, expect very little money. This past year I have been allowed to work in Bali as a DJ - singer/performer. With a lot of networking and because of my 15 year history of major label releases, I scored a few great gigs. The life of an average expat DJ / Singer here is not sweet. You will be competing against local musicians who will do the job at a fraction of the price that would be considered minimum wage and that’s if you know the right people. Here is a reality check. The visa you will need for two years will cost you around $2900 USD (and that I believe has been raised). The average pay per gig you will be offered by bars/clubs/beachclubs on the island will be $0-$50-$130 per 2-3hr set. I was offered gigs by many of the big beach clubs and bars/restaurants on the island for ‘local rates’ that I turned down out of principle. There had been big name beachclubs that tried to trick me into agreeing to low rates, ones that changed contracts with my signature on them to change my rate (as if I had signed off on it), and ones that wanted me to take over senior management roles and gig regularly for less money than it costs to rent a house here per month. It’s a pirate’s paradise. In the end I only played a handful of very well paying gigs and refused the rest out of principle. I’m not interested in being the cool DJ in town, I’m interested in getting paid. Most of the cool DJs in town are unfortunately not getting paid or earning crumbs.

Not everyone will pay you on time. I have had to chase people down to get paid in Bali. It’s not a good feeling. Some big name clubs employ DJs (usually their buddies) without a Kitas, which is super illegal and really sucks for those who have spent the time and money to get work permits.

With all that being said, I would like to give a shoutout to Aperitif Bar Bali and Kabana / K Club Bali for being the most professional clients I have dealt with. I had great gigs there and was treated with the outmost respect, contracts in place and paid on time. Professionalism is a rare thing on this island, trust me. I have never-ending respect for these venues.

As an expat you have no actual legal protection in Bali

As a foreigner, if you get into a road accident that is not your fault, be prepared to bear the financial responsibility for it. If something goes wrong between you and your neighbour, there will be no governing body to mediate on your behalf. Just reminder, if something goes wrong between a local and you, it will mostly always be your fault and you will have to bear the financial responsibility for it. Street justice is also a thing here so be vigilant about who you cross. Over the years I’ve had my neighbours throw fireworks in my face and threaten me in my own house, after I asked them politely not to throw fireworks at scooters in the street during years (I’ve got video evidence that I didn’t make public so he wouldn’t lose his family business). I’ve had a member of local authorities trying to throw rocks at me during Covid when I stopped to ask for directions (I’ve got photo evidence) .. it was when the local residents were very scared of foreigners bringing in the pandemic, so I let it pass. I’ve had a car drive head on into my scooter on purpose nearly crushing my leg in Canggu because the local driver was having a bad day and didn’t want to sit in traffic. I’ve almost been robbed at the beach at night by two local men who tried to surround me from either side, I ran away. The same goes for if you have an altercation with another expat, don’t expect any help. So try your best to not get into any trouble and if you do get into trouble, try to exit the situation without involving ego and priorities you safety. Generally I will say this, Bali is probably the safest place in Southeast Asia. But you spend almost a decade here, something is bound to happen. Be forewarned.

The law and enforcement favour the local population. You will always be a guest and second priority. It’s just the way it is. To be fair, it’s no different in countries like Russia or Kazakhstan, where I have spent a considerable amount of time. It’s just the way things are.

Alright! If you have made it this far into the post, congratulations and thank you for your patience. I would like to reiterate that Bali is one of my favourite places on this planet, and I’ve travelled far and wide. But I am all about full disclosure. Every place has its ups and downs. Yours may be different from mine. I would like to close this post by saying that this island has given me much (spiritually, creatively, emotionally) and I have given much in return (financially and physically). I hope that in the coming years all of us who have made this island our temporary or permanent home will work together to find solutions to abovementioned problems. Otherwise, my parting advice is: visit Bali, be gracious and respectful of the land and it’s people. If you choose to live in Bali, find ways to give back to the land and its people and if you work here, make sure you have the appropriate permits.

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