We're a week away from our first holiday since moving to Bali and I wanted to write a little about our initial experiences in the hopes that it will be useful or interesting for those wanting to move here who don't have a lot of resources. I've tried to provide details of costs and services we used where appropriate. We had neither money or opportunity when we decided to move, but we made it work, and I'm sure others could do the same.

Background

A year ago Doug and I were living in Melbourne, and had only been back 12 months after nearly 2 years travelling in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. We just weren't cut out for the city anymore and even though we both had decent jobs and a nice apartment, we felt stifled and somewhat unhappy with our lifestyle. We were spending a fortune on short breaks, and we'd just completed a 4 week sailing trip in Indonesia's eastern islands and had stopped for a day in Bali on the way home. We were eating in a restaurant in Ubud and I noticed Doug smiling around him - looking young and happy and totally comfortable. He told me he had always wished he could live in Bali and I decided then and there that was what we were going to do.

Unfortunately all that travel had left us pretty light on financially. We didn't have the money to just get up and go, so I had to think of a way to make it happen. I approached the owner of the web development company I was working for in Melbourne, offering to take a significant pay cut to be able to continue my work for the company remotely. He turned me down, but he did offer me the possibility of working out of a satellite office in Bali and managing some programmers that they could outsource work to. He stressed that it would be an experiment, and there was a distinct possibility it might not work and I would be left without a job in Bali. I took him up on the offer anyway - no reward without risk...

I am the proudest monkey

but

who is it you see

when you see me?

Postcards from Meno

After hearing about them for years, we finally made it to the Gili Islands, which lie just off the north west coast of Lombok. Gili means small island in Indonesian and that's exactly what they are: Tiny flecks of sand gathered around the high points of a drowned ridge, a remaining finger of which points toward the islands from the Lombok mainland to almost touch Gili Air.

Most folks seem to head for Gili Trawangan, the largest of the islands which sports a well developed party scene. Friends have said Trawangan reminds them of Kuta 20 years ago, but we were after a laid back four day break from work and so opted for the adjacent Gili Meno which promised peace and quiet, white sandy beaches and good snorkelling.

It's a long boat ride from Bali's Benoa Harbour to Bangsal Harbour on Lombok, where the fast boats have to call to register the passengers they're taking to the islands. Once there though, it's a quick hop across the water to Gili Trawangan where the fun begins.

Down on the strip, it's all Bintang wife bashers,¹ street drinking and the allure of another peak in the endless cycle of revelry. In a heady mix of exhaust fumes, bass leakage from nightclubs and constellations of illuminated brand names, two helmetless half-dressed chickiebabes on a scooter shriek with excitement at a near miss as they wobble their way through the river of traffic toward their date with the dancefloor... or a hospital.

It's Saturday night in Kuta.