gilbert de jong
so they have no front door and no roof :D
sugarbear
gilbert de jong wroteso they have no front door and no roof :D
That way you can take a shower without getting out of bed. And you don't have to get up to answer the door.
hermit
It is new to me that Ubud is the religious center of Bali.
calitobali
The real kicker here though was the comments. Some real gold/ignorance in there.
sugarbear
'How did you find Bali?" and "What do you do all day?" are the two most common questions asked of us. I am a retired lawyer from California; my husband is a vintner (plus many other things). We're both 68 years old, and most people can't wrap their minds around the change we made moving to Bali, Indonesia, seven years ago.
As we approached retirement age, we kept a watchful eye for those places that were exotic, less expensive (we lived in California for 35 years) and comfortable for Americans. A top priority was warmth. We both grew up in Connecticut, and I spent four winters in Buffalo, N.Y., so we were done with cold and snow. We visited all the warm climates we could find on the globe.
It was by chance that a client/friend asked me to visit her in Ubud, Bali. When I returned, I said to my husband, "This may be it."
What was "it"? A constant 85-degree temperature, stunning landscapes, and a warm and gracious people with smiles so perfect that seeing them every day is added sunshine. We moved to Bali in May 2005. Unless changes in our health necessitate a return to the U.S., we plan to spend the rest of our lives here.
[B]Laid-Back Lifestyle[/B]
Bali, with a population of about four million, is one of about 17,500 islands that make up Indonesia. We settled in a suburb of Ubud, which is considered the cultural and religious center of Bali. In our village, women and men wear sarongs as daily clothing, children take off their shoes and walk barefoot when the school day ends, and the entire community goes to a sacred spring to retrieve holy water.
We leased a half acre of land for 20 years for $50,000. The property overlooks a river valley with a small waterfall on the far side. We built a "villa," as a single-family home in Bali is called. Our house has a swimming pool, furniture handmade to our specifications, and flowers everywhere. But in Balinese fashion, there is no front door. An opening, yes, but no door to shut.
The cost to build our house today (approximately 2,000 square feet) would be about $350,000. That said, a perfectly nice home could be built for half that amount. A reasonable monthly budget for home maintenance, transportation, food and entertainment is about $1,000.
When it comes to cooking—and cleaning and all of those other daily time-consumers—we hire Balinese help. Our cook, who is paid $75 a month, shops in the market at 6:30 a.m. and prepares all of our meals from scratch. It's very healthy. Sundays we are on our own, and that is our brunch and pizza day. (We wouldn't want to forget our roots.) A meal costs about $15 with no alcohol. Alcohol comes with a 300% customs duty. The local beer is good and keeps us looking younger.
What do we do? We are very involved with a children's home, ensuring there is always enough food and medical care. My husband assists in teaching spoken English to schoolchildren. Many people in the U.S. want to help the Balinese (Indonesia is a poor country), so we check out projects to start and then follow the progress and oversee funds.
As for relaxation, we let Bali happen. Schedules and appointments here are extremely fluid; thus, we wait to hear what's taking place and join in if we're so inclined. Poetry readings, yoga, spa visits, massages, a classic film being shown at a coffeehouse, even an invitation to a wedding: All tend to be spur-of-the-moment. It's very liberating to do whatever strikes your fancy.
There is an English-language library here, as well as an English-language Christian church service and a Rotary Club. If you choose to shop, there are two large U.S.-style supermarkets called Delta and Bingtang. Wi-Fi, Starbucks, FedEx and satellite television are all here for the expat. Or you can choose to ignore them.
Many expats have a car or motorbike. We do, as well, but we never get behind the wheel. Why? From our perspective, most Balinese don't appear to follow the rules of the road, so we prefer to hire people who are used to driving here. It's much safer. Speaking of which, strolling the streets of Ubud at night is the same as the daytime—safe.
[B]Hitches and Quirks[/B]
If you're thinking about spending any extended time in Bali, paperwork comes into play. Most people start out trying to get a "retiree visa," which under current rules would allow you to stay indefinitely—but that can be costly and time-consuming. One alternative: a "social visa." This allows you to remain in country for as long as six months, at which point you reapply. For our part, we typically use that opportunity to head to the States to visit children and grandchildren.
tintin
3,851 comments!!!!!!!!!!!
spicyayam
SE Asia was once a place where you could live like a king on a pension/income from a western country, but I think that is slowly changing, especially if that income is $US based. The day to day costs might be cheap in Bali, but I am pretty sure you can find much cheaper properties in the US right now. I have seen ads on CNN where you can buy 5 properties in the US for $250,000, something which is probably impossible now in the south of Bali and Ubud.
[QUOTE]3,851 comments!!!!!!!!!!![/QUOTE]
And I didn't think anyone cared about Yahoo! anymore.
JohnnyCool
I'm happy for Ms Schneider and her husband that they've found "where it's at" (for them).
[QUOTE][I]...Most days border on the breathtaking. Each evening, as we lie in our bed watching the stars, we experience the hush of Bali.
A lilting melody drifts down the valley as an upriver village has a ceremony. The magic of this island lulls us to sleep...[/I][/QUOTE]
Sounds to me like they've really scored a unique location somewhere along the Sayan gorge. I'm glad that she didn't try to extrapolate her poetic experiences to more nitty-gritty parts of Bali, where most people live.
She did mention in passing Denpasar's heavy traffic, but appears to be OK with the horrendous traffic jams in tiny Ubud.
@[B]hermit[/B]
[QUOTE][I]It is new to me that Ubud is the religious center of Bali.
[/I][/QUOTE]
Me, too. I wasn't aware of that.
@[B]calitobali[/B]
[QUOTE][I]The real kicker here though was the comments. Some real gold/ignorance in there. [/I][/QUOTE]
Well, they are Americans, after all. What did you expect? Many Americans couldn't tell you where the Pacific Ocean is.
Californians [I]might[/I] be different.
:icon_cry:
hmbphd
Kind of bummed that this string turned into an American bash. The American voice is not really heard here on balipod - regardless of how you feel about Americans, there are some of us here who are good citizens, have higher degrees, volunteer for nothing more than a social visa, etc. And who can read a map.
BTW - CNN (my brother works there) is NOT a good resource about American real estate. Anyone who thinks they can own five US properties for $250,000 is bound to be sitting on five trailers in the middle of tornado-ridden Kansas. Try finding that on the map.
Can't we just be respectful? I realize this NYT article was full of the bullshit about Bali we all abhor. But when we start dissing each other's countries I think we have lost the point of why we have chosen to call this "home".
calitobali
heathermboylan wroteKind of bummed that this string turned into an American bash.
Not really. One poster made a comment about Americans in 1/4 of his post. And for the record, I'm American and after reading the comments on the yahoo article the very first thing that I thought of is how ignorant the American people can be when it comes to leaving the country or living abroad. The one guy who talked about the dangers of "Balinese Muslims kidnapping you from your home in Bali and hold you for ransom" was probably the best (worst).
I think most people know that the majority of Americans who are already living internationally are much more openminded than the ones still back at home, it's a given.
Rangi
calitobali wroteNot really. One poster made a comment about Americans in 1/4 of his post. And for the record, I'm American and after reading the comments on the yahoo article the very first thing that I thought of is how ignorant the American people can be when it comes to leaving the country or living abroad. The one guy who talked about the dangers of "Balinese Muslims kidnapping you from your home in Bali and hold you for ransom" was probably the best (worst).
I think most people know that the majority of Americans who are already living internationally are much more openminded than the ones still back at home, it's a given.
I agree with this .
Heather you have to have thicker skin than that . .
spicyayam
[QUOTE]Kind of bummed that this string turned into an American bash. The American voice is not really heard here on balipod - regardless of how you feel about Americans, there are some of us here who are good citizens, have higher degrees, volunteer for nothing more than a social visa, etc. And who can read a map.
BTW - CNN (my brother works there) is NOT a good resource about American real estate. Anyone who thinks they can own five US properties for $250,000 is bound to be sitting on five trailers in the middle of tornado-ridden Kansas. Try finding that on the map.
Can't we just be respectful? I realize this NYT article was full of the bullshit about Bali we all abhor. But when we start dissing each other's countries I think we have lost the point of why we have chosen to call this "home". [/QUOTE]
Did you get that impression from my post? One of the points of the article was the low cost of living in Bali and some of the comments said you could live on less in America in a smaller town and you could buy property in America for much less also. That made me remember an [B]advertisement[/B] while watching CNN where you could buy 5 houses for $250,000. I agree it's probably a scam but for some reason the ad made me laugh. Try buying 1 house in the south of Bali for the same price. The point I was trying to make is that Bali was once probably a cheap place to live, but with property prices rising so rapidly, it is becoming more expensive. Even has an American how could you not feel any disbelief reading many of the comments on the article - no need to take it personally.
[QUOTE]I think most people know that the majority of Americans who are already living internationally are much more openminded than the ones still back at home, it's a given.[/QUOTE]
That has been my experience also.
Tvashtar
You can easily buy 5 houses for $250,000 in the US today. Phoenix, Las Vegas, Detroit and certain cities in California all have lots of houses going for as little as $20,000. They're not mansions but will give you a great rental yield of at least $700 or so.
As for this Americans are dumb schtick. Hardly. It's a massive country that abuts two minor neighbours, whereas Europe is a thicket of countries. Cultural geography just comes easier when you're stepped in it.
Take 50 random people from Birmingham, Alabama, and pit them against 50 from Birmingham in the UK and I doubt there would be any difference in knowledge (though there would be a universe of difference in work ethic and self-sufficiency).
davita
Last month I bought a new 2000sq ft walled house, 3 en-suite bedrooms and swimming pool, in Kerobokan, for US$240,000. There is no comparison in the USA or Canada.
Some may think that foreclosed property in USA is cheap...I can assure property purchase may be good value but, even so, US$240,000 gets a shack, or maybe a nice place, in an unreasonable location!
The author of the article spoke her feelings and IMO articulated those positive perceptions well.
Perhaps those that disagree could be more constructive if they have a negative response.
Edit:
I just read tvashtar above post...
Nonsense...I live in Scottsdale AZ which is metro-Phoenix. Property at US$20,000...show me?
JohnnyCool
@[B]heathermboylan[/B]
I'm sorry if you think I started a "let's bash Americans" with my post. That was [B]not[/B] my intention.
My American friends are no problem to me whatsoever, and the ones living in Bali don't get offended if I say something a little negative about their home country.
[QUOTE][I]Can't we just be respectful? I realize this NYT article was full of the bullshit about Bali we all abhor.[/I][/QUOTE]
Says it all, really.
:icon_rolleyes:
Tvashtar
Edit:
I just read tvashtar above post...
Nonsense...I live in Scottsdale AZ which is metro-Phoenix. Property at US$20,000...show me?
There is this amazing Internet tool called google. If you type something like 'houses for $20,000 in Phoenix" you will get taken to links like this:
Phoenix Homes for Sale $20,000-$50,000
The housing implosion is pretty common knowledge. I have discussed it with people in Bali, Singapore and Canada. Yet, you live in the Phoenix area and have no idea?
That's quite remarkable.
davita
There is this amazing Internet tool called google. If you type something like 'houses for $20,000 in Phoenix" you will get taken to links like this:
Phoenix Homes for Sale $20,000-$50,000
The housing implosion is pretty common knowledge. I have discussed it with people in Bali, Singapore and Canada. Yet, you live in the Phoenix area and have no idea?
That's quite remarkable.
There is no need for satire.
I'm very aware there was a huge downturn in housing prices in the US in the last 4 years and the reason. They were overpriced in the first place due to high mortgage availability.
Nowadays bank foreclosures and auctions are good ways to get bargains, that is where cheap properties are found, but it takes effort and some risk. Whilst anything priced under $50,000 may offer a good investment I suggest would not be something forum members would desire.
I sold a well-located Scottsdale 2 bed town-house just before the implosion for $370,000. Today it is still valued at $250,000.
The comment is about the comparitive prices between Bali and the USA. It would still be difficult to buy a similar house in a decent location in AZ, such as mine in Kerobokan, for US$240,000.
tintin
@ Tvashtar,
From your comment on the prices of real estate in the US, it's a sure bet that you don't live in this country, and probably have never set foot here.:highly_amused:
hanzrobby
i guess we live where we live because we simply want to live there. if we were buying somewhere where because it was simply cheap we would all live in the 'outback' in the middle of western aus for a few thousand dollars... and sorry yuk don't want to do that....guess if we all ended up living there due to demand it would end up highly expensive.... how the circle turns...
sorry my point was those that love bali will live there those that want a bargain i guess will move to those cheap american places.....
