Thread: What sort of lifestyle is possible in Bali on $3k-8k USD/mo?

Great post, Markit!

I'm sitting here in NYC at 5:00am (having worked the past 22 hours straight) salivating at the idea of a nice snooze in a cool breezy place. The beautiful simplicity and reduction of time-wasting junk that the Western world tells us we "need" is one of the primary reasons why a place like Bali is so alluring to me.

With that said, I'm unfortunately nowhere near being able to truly retire and stop working, so my dream is that of a "working retirement" in which a fine balance is struck between relaxation, adventure, and continued gainful employment/professional fulfillment. There are quite a few places in the world that I think align well with this plan, and Bali is definitely one of them. It has all the placidity and environmental/cultural wonders that many have mentioned but is not totally "off the grid" and secluded from the "outside world". By this I mean that a young self-employed fellow such as myself could viably operate his businesses from Bali, enjoy reasonable proximity to hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore, and connect with other expats (or visitors) over a slice of pizza on the rare occasions when some nostalgia for his "previous life" kicked in.

When I fantasize about what my average "Bali day" will look like, I see something like this:

- Wake up as the sun comes up (or maybe a bit later if the night before was a late one)
- Eat a delicious home cooked breakfast (likely prepare by my delightful wife) or maybe grab some street food (mmm sate!)
- Resist the urge to check email (unless there's something that absolutely can't wait)
- Go for a run, hit the gym, or train martial arts (if anyone has insights on the martial arts scene in Bali - do tell, particularly Muay Thai)
- Grab lunch with the wife at a nice restaurant in town
- Spend some time on the beach or lounging somewhere cool with a good book
- If time allows and I'm feeling motivated, maybe do some more training/running/working out, etc OR go exploring local events, culture, "off the beaten path" areas of the island, etc
- Meet friends for dinner
- Come home around 11pm
- Finally check email, work for 2-4 hours
- Go to sleep

Before anyone scoffs at that little vision, let me say that I realize it's rather utopian. I'm aware that there will be plenty of hassles; visa-related headaches, crazy traffic and driving, corrupt cops and officials, noisy hawkers, obnoxious tourists, infrastructure woes, the occasional bout of food poisoning, etc. When I run into any of these nuisances, my plan is to just close my eyes, think back to a typical day in my current NYC life, and open my eyes again with a smile on my face.

As an aside:

There's a good book called "The 4 Hour Workweek" by a fellow named Tim Ferriss which is quite relevant to this discussion. It's all about how insanely backwards and flawed career/lifestyle habbits of most Americans are and what people can do to liberate themselves from the daily grind. The book extols concepts like "mini-retirements" (regular 6-24 month trips to unique and fascinating places), geo arbitrage (i.e. earning your living in dollars or pounds sterling, paying your bills in rupiah), a "low-information diet", pushing your physican limits, trying new things, rapidly learning new languages, etc. The author has a pretty cool blog at http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/if anyone's interested.

although you sound like you're planning on doing a lot of physical activity (which markit is right, you will probably end up only working out once a day in the mornings), your lifestyle doesn't sound overly expensive. That $8,000 that you quoted for the month could easily rent you a GREAT house for a whole year, but you should do some looking around once you get here before you commit. You should have no problem staying within your budget. If that is really your planned agenda, I can't really see you exceeding $2,000 a month.

To stuckinNYC,
I'm glad to be back in Italy for a change after all that heat in Indonesia.
Had breakfast at 8 am, go on the Internet or read newspapers, calls or receiving calls, read a book in different corners of the house by changing the place daily, did yoga also in different places of the house, had lunch, go shopping, came home at 4 pm and then swam.
Couldn't be in the sun all morning.
As for costs; depends on the size of the house, the number of staff, the lifestyle, etc.
I spent average Euros 1000/monthly all in including shopping for the house too. With parties I made thrown in (for 30-50 persons), it cost me Euros 1500.
House self-owned and it's in Jakarta. I guess Bali would be slightly cheaper.
Hope this enlightens you on what type of lifestyle appeals more to you personally.

Yes , yes the electric bill, the insurance , the house taxes, cell phone bills, house taxes, school taxes, car registration, car inspection, home phone, cell phone, blaaaa blaaaa blaaaa on and on, the U.S has mastered how to keep one busy without doing a damn thing! my Moms retired and she works harder now doing nothing It seems! Thanks for the pics calitobali, now a few of the misses! :D ahhh to be 21 in Bali, what a dream....... the humidity and heat isnt so bad up north a ways (ubud to bedagul) how is it up north Bert?, Canguu can be brutal imo....

Wow, lots of great replies from all different viewpoints - I love it!

Spicyayam - I actually came accross that Bali Fight Club site myself a while back. It looks very promising indeed, exactly what I'm looking for. Many thanks for reminding me about it!

I will also second your point about Thailand's similar climate and the fact that Muay Thai camps there will train 8+ hours a day (obviously in the shade and with plenty of hydration). I've trained extensively in very hot climates in the past and as long as one takes adequate precautions it can be done safely and effectively. In fact, even here in the US, Las Vegas and Florida are major centers for combat sports training and they have some of the highest temperatures in the country.

@Markit - The "dream day" I layed out is not what I would consider stressful or NYC-like at all. Everyone views exercise differently; for me it's a form of "meditation" that clears the mind and improves the body. Something tells me that working construction in NYC wouldn't provide quite the same stimulus as spending a significant portion of my day outside (mostly in the shade of course) in a beautiful tropic climate training, adventuring, or exploring at my own pace. I could write a 10 page post about all the other reasons why Bali is so appealing for me right now and NYC is not, but I will spare everyone from that rant ;).

@calitobali - Thanks for sharing your pics. I think your story is fascinating and am impressed that at 21 you had the courage to set off to a place you'd never been and find a way to begin a life there.