First up - a BIG thank you to everyone who assisted me with my zillion questions 4 months ago when I first was exploring this grand plan of living in Bali for a couple of years.
The time has flown by and now its about 2 months until I wave goodbye to aus for a while. Doing uni part time online atm, and will transition to full time in January. Everything is coming together now, but its getting close and a few details to sort out so I don't have to many nasty surprises. (the prep budget already has been blown out with unexpected costs... /sigh)
My biggest concern right now is getting some personal items over there. I am going on the sosbud so I know I can't really bring much. The worry is the giant stack of uni books I will need over the next 2 years. If I brought them on the flight they would likely take up most of my luggage allowance so I need to get a good plan. From what I read on here, getting items in is a real challenge, especially with no kitas. I think I might just have to suck up the excess baggage fee's ($14/kg) to ensure it gets there safely, and take the bus up to Darwin as qantas baggage charges are seriously insane.
Do you guys know if I have to get any additional books shipped over, will be a hassle at customs? I do hope to bring them all with me but ya never know.
If I send my passport in to get the social visa, is it used the first time you enter Bali or can i get a VOA and then use it the next time? This would allow me to do 2 air trips and bring more luggage hehe. I will be using the Darwin consulate mail service since I live in the middle of the middle of nowhere.
I know for one of the visa renewal cycles you can't just give all the docs to the agent, but you have to attend in person. Which one is this? I ask because I'll be over in Lombok for a couple of months.
I know people ask all the time, but are there any things you suggest I bring with me that are hard to get? I know shoes (size 42 ladies), bra's, and undies since I am not asian sized). Can you find decent body weight scales over there? I am a scale addict since I've been on this health kick.
Everything else is looking good though. Found a way to qualify for a couple months of austudy (in country language study) and a possible grant, house situation is mostly under control, internet is mostly under control, got a local visa agent lined up to save me the hassles. My sponsor friend has been a legend in sorting out everything.
The only hard stuff left to do is sell my 4wd and tell my CEO I'm outta here. Not looking forward to either of those things.
Looking forward to catching up with you guys when I finally get there!
Cheers,
Christine
The time has flown by and now its about 2 months until I wave goodbye to aus for a while. Doing uni part time online atm, and will transition to full time in January. Everything is coming together now, but its getting close and a few details to sort out so I don't have to many nasty surprises. (the prep budget already has been blown out with unexpected costs... /sigh)
My biggest concern right now is getting some personal items over there. I am going on the sosbud so I know I can't really bring much. The worry is the giant stack of uni books I will need over the next 2 years. If I brought them on the flight they would likely take up most of my luggage allowance so I need to get a good plan. From what I read on here, getting items in is a real challenge, especially with no kitas. I think I might just have to suck up the excess baggage fee's ($14/kg) to ensure it gets there safely, and take the bus up to Darwin as qantas baggage charges are seriously insane.
Do you guys know if I have to get any additional books shipped over, will be a hassle at customs? I do hope to bring them all with me but ya never know.
If I send my passport in to get the social visa, is it used the first time you enter Bali or can i get a VOA and then use it the next time? This would allow me to do 2 air trips and bring more luggage hehe. I will be using the Darwin consulate mail service since I live in the middle of the middle of nowhere.
I know for one of the visa renewal cycles you can't just give all the docs to the agent, but you have to attend in person. Which one is this? I ask because I'll be over in Lombok for a couple of months.
I know people ask all the time, but are there any things you suggest I bring with me that are hard to get? I know shoes (size 42 ladies), bra's, and undies since I am not asian sized). Can you find decent body weight scales over there? I am a scale addict since I've been on this health kick.
Everything else is looking good though. Found a way to qualify for a couple months of austudy (in country language study) and a possible grant, house situation is mostly under control, internet is mostly under control, got a local visa agent lined up to save me the hassles. My sponsor friend has been a legend in sorting out everything.
The only hard stuff left to do is sell my 4wd and tell my CEO I'm outta here. Not looking forward to either of those things.
Looking forward to catching up with you guys when I finally get there!
Cheers,
Christine