Hello!

[Chloe Drew]

Hi and thanks for the ad to this great forum. No questions from me as yet as I’m only just starting to look at what a life in Bali would be like for my family. I like the idea of a simple life. I know there are negative aspects to living in Bali but from what I have read the positives out way these. It looks pretty enticing.

 

[PERtoDPS]

Hello and welcome. Lots of great information here. As someone who lives half in Perth and half Bali (well when the border is open anyway) due to relationship, you either need to be able to independently finance it or have a way to get money coming in. Then assuming you are a westerner there is also the ongoing costs of visa renewal, rent etc. It is much cheaper to live in Bali and if you can figure it out, I'm sure you'll be super happy there, but while things are cheaper that doesn't really help if you don't have income. So I wish you all the best, sounds great, but consider that also and of course good luck!

 

[spicyayam]

Welcome to the forum! Please post any questions you might have. We need more new members and discussions!

 

[Chloe Drew]

Hello and welcome. Lots of great information here. As someone who lives half in Perth and half Bali (well when the border is open anyway) due to relationship, you either need to be able to independently finance it or have a way to get money coming in. Then assuming you are a westerner there is also the ongoing costs of visa renewal, rent etc. It is much cheaper to live in Bali and if you can figure it out, I'm sure you'll be super happy there, but while things are cheaper that doesn't really help if you don't have income. So I wish you all the best, sounds great, but consider that also and of course good luck!

Thanks for the welcome. We have an online business which we currently run from Perth so the only thing that would change would be our location. So long as internet is sufficient then I would hope our income would remain the same. I am yet to look into costs of visa renewals etc but this may be where it gets tricky for us as we have five children so things will add up pretty quickly. We home school so school fees wouldn’t be an issue. From what I’ve seen they can be hugely expensive. What is the cheapest destination from Bali to go to for visa renewal?

 

[harryopal]

Most of us like the idea of a simple life but anything to do with Indonesian bureaucracy is not simple with often conflicting advice from within the same department such as immigration regarding visas. It seems Indonesia has some way to go before it is out of the woods, so to speak. with Corona and it may be some time before they get past requiring immediate self isolation for 14 days upon arrival. It looks like it could be nearer year's end before some kind of regular "new normal" settles into place and even then there may still be a lot of uncertainty. By end of year it may become clearer as to whether air fares will be cheaper or dearer which would be relevant to deciding the cheapest destination for visa renewal. Because of it's proximity it seems probable that Singapore will still be the likely destination. And there may be complications if Indonesia's Covid cases keep going up as Singapore may or may not accept travelers from Indonesia and if they do they may well require 14 days isolation on arrival.

Heading this way in the short term would seem a bit like being in England in 1938 and going to Europe while it was on the brink of war. Much depends on now much of a gambler you are and anyway life is an adventure. But all things considered with five children it might be prudent to put things on hold at least until next year. It will be interesting to see if others on the forum share this point of view. They may just see me as a wet blanket.

 

[PERtoDPS]

I agree with Harry on many points, personally I think there will only be a few airlines doing the routes that before 7 or 8 flew (eg Perth to Denpasar) so you may well see price increases in airfares but I don't know that for a fact. For me if that's the case it's going to be more about flying less and staying longer rather than hopping back and forward every other month. I am pretty sure it's all currently on hold but there is a 60 DAY VOA you can buy upon entry when things are running normally I'd suggest utilising that. I've often entered Bali used my 30 days and regretted not buying the VOA extension. While Singapore is the "typical" visa run destination, if you have family house etc in Perth, it's not that much further and might make more sense to do visa runs back to home. If you find an agent or Indonesian family there are also social visas that allow slightly longer stays.

Where I differ with Harrys POV is the time frames, my experience has very much been Indonesia basically followed what the Western countries did in regards to COVID-19 but lagged about a month or two behind. Eg when Perth was pretty much on full lockdown the heart of Denpasar city still seemed "normal". A month later I was walking around a ghost town lockdown version of Sanur with an extended Nypei, and there really wasn't much point being there. I am optimistic I'll be back over there by October, but I guess it does depend on infection rates. I think the travel bans locking us in to Australia are the first issue anyway, pretty sure Denpasar is only just re opening the airport around now.

Still I too am looking forward to returning and re uniting with my partner.

 

[JackStraw]

Bali is crowded enough as it is. So you're going to bring seven people total to this small island and contribute to waste, traffic, pollution, and food/water scarcity issues? You may want to double think that.

Also with 5 kids, a move to Bali will DRASTICALLY change their life forever. Just think about what that could do to their psychological behavior...it's not as simple as it may seem.. In addition, there is the issue of healthcare. It's not great here. 5 kids mean many more trips to the doctor throughout their life and it's not something I would personally want to risk.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.

From my point of view, this seems like a rather selfish move from you and your husband and I would seriously reconsider what you're doing. Just my two cents.

 

[Chloe Drew]

Most of us like the idea of a simple life but anything to do with Indonesian bureaucracy is not simple with often conflicting advice from within the same department such as immigration regarding visas. It seems Indonesia has some way to go before it is out of the woods, so to speak. with Corona and it may be some time before they get past requiring immediate self isolation for 14 days upon arrival. It looks like it could be nearer year's end before some kind of regular "new normal" settles into place and even then there may still be a lot of uncertainty. By end of year it may become clearer as to whether air fares will be cheaper or dearer which would be relevant to deciding the cheapest destination for visa renewal. Because of it's proximity it seems probable that Singapore will still be the likely destination. And there may be complications if Indonesia's Covid cases keep going up as Singapore may or may not accept travelers from Indonesia and if they do they may well require 14 days isolation on arrival.

Heading this way in the short term would seem a bit like being in England in 1938 and going to Europe while it was on the brink of war. Much depends on now much of a gambler you are and anyway life is an adventure. But all things considered with five children it might be prudent to put things on hold at least until next year. It will be interesting to see if others on the forum share this point of view. They may just see me as a wet blanket.

Thanks for your thoughts. I could imagine life over there right now would be tough with restrictions. If we did head over it wouldn’t be for at least two years and that all depends on how the situation over there was at that time.

 

[Chloe Drew]

I agree with Harry on many points, personally I think there will only be a few airlines doing the routes that before 7 or 8 flew (eg Perth to Denpasar) so you may well see price increases in airfares but I don't know that for a fact. For me if that's the case it's going to be more about flying less and staying longer rather than hopping back and forward every other month. I am pretty sure it's all currently on hold but there is a 60 DAY VOA you can buy upon entry when things are running normally I'd suggest utilising that. I've often entered Bali used my 30 days and regretted not buying the VOA extension. While Singapore is the "typical" visa run destination, if you have family house etc in Perth, it's not that much further and might make more sense to do visa runs back to home. If you find an agent or Indonesian family there are also social visas that allow slightly longer stays.

Where I differ with Harrys POV is the time frames, my experience has very much been Indonesia basically followed what the Western countries did in regards to COVID-19 but lagged about a month or two behind. Eg when Perth was pretty much on full lockdown the heart of Denpasar city still seemed "normal". A month later I was walking around a ghost town lockdown version of Sanur with an extended Nypei, and there really wasn't much point being there. I am optimistic I'll be back over there by October, but I guess it does depend on infection rates. I think the travel bans locking us in to Australia are the first issue anyway, pretty sure Denpasar is only just re opening the airport around now.

Still I too am looking forward to returning and re uniting with my partner.

I bet you’re missing the Bali warmth after this Perth weather! I hope you can get back there soon.

 

[PERtoDPS]

I do miss the warm, but what I miss more is the food, the fresh healthy food, the paying a realistic price for food and the laid back attitude over there. Don't get me wrong, it can get on your nerves too as in Bali "tomorrow" can mean, tomorrow, or the the next day or the day after and if you're organised to a structured western life with appointments etc, it just isn't like that. But i guess that all contributes to making it feel so carefree and relaxing.

I saw someone commented on healthcare, while my views aren't quite as extreme, make no mistake, you'll be out of pocket at least $30 each time you even speak to a Dr. But other things such as food and petrol are much cheaper, so long as you're not in bad health and heavily reliant on the health system, it all balances out. But yeah the island is pretty packed already, that is for certain. Much more dense population than Perth.

It's long boring days for me atm, my work closed shop over COVIT and came back with very few hours available for so I quit, first priority get back to Bali after that trip I'll see about getting a job again to get some money flowing in again. I don't really want to sign on with a new employer right now just to tell them I've got a Mrs in Bali and I"ll be jetting off the second the border opens, I'd rather go over for a month or two first then back to work.

Edit: I did wake up to this news: https://coconuts.co/bali/news/indon...e-with-china-south-korea-japan-and-australia/ which seems to suggest it would be a locked in Denpasar type scenario where I can't go to the village just like the most recent time I was there. If that does eventuate I guess I'll have to move mrs back to city.