I traveled to Bali with my husband and young kids to decompress. 2 years later, we’re still here.
Alison Emerick loves walking down Bali streets and smelling incense burning.
When we arrived in Bali, we had nine suitcases, one child getting over a cold, the other not sleeping through the night, and the hopes that a few months away might help us figure out our next steps. At least that was the plan.
After spending three years in Singapore for my husband’s corporate assignment, we shipped all our belongings back to the US. My husband worked at a tech company, and I was a freelance photographer. Singapore was a great city to live in, but after a few years, it started to feel small and expensive.
Our plan was to spend a couple of months in Bali, gain some clarity about our next steps, and then return to our home in Colorado.
It’s been two years, and we’re still here.
We settled into Bali life quickly
As the weeks went by, and life slowed down, we realized we really liked it here. The cost of living is very attractive, and the food options are endless. We pay about $2,200 a month for a modern, three-bedroom house with a pool in Bali — one-third of what we were paying for an apartment in Singapore.
Food is a lot less expensive here as well. Our family of four can eat out at a Western restaurant for $30 and significantly less if we go with local food.
One expense that surprised me in Bali was school fees. While tuition is less than in Singapore — fees at the Singapore American School start at over $35,000 — international schools in Bali range between $3,000 and $20,000 a year. We’re paying around $10,000 for our 7-year-old son.
A friend once told me that Bali either draws you in or pushes you out. We felt the pull. Our kids are still young, 4 and 7, making things like starting at a new school and making friends less of a challenge.
My husband and I were both at turning points in our careers. We decided it was the right place to build our new paths.
The author, her husband, and two kids embrace Bali life.
Bali felt like the right fit for our family
Over the past two years, we’ve realized just how much there is to do in Bali, and across Indonesia. In addition to regular dinners on the beach near our home in Sanur, and short drives to watch the sunset and surfers in Canggu, we’re always exploring.
So far, we’ve hiked across the coffee plantations of northern Bali, swam with manta rays on Nusa Penida, sailed around Komodo Island, climbed volcanoes in East Java, and tubed through hidden WWII-era tunnels near Ubud.
Our new morning routine includes a family bike ride to school drop-off while passing Balinese neighbors who are attending ceremonies at the neighborhood temple. We buy coconuts from Nyoman — a wiry man in his 40s who rarely wears a shirt and keeps a pet squirrel on his shoulder — and look forward to his greeting each time we pass.
I love the way the streets transform with decorated bamboo poles during Galungan, a festival that takes place twice a year. Our daughter is learning Balinese dance at pre-school and is required to wear traditional clothing on Thursdays and special holidays.
Life feels easier, and we have more time
There is a new kind of freedom that I’ve discovered with life here — the feeling that anything is possible. I love zipping around town on my motorbike, smelling the incense of the morning offerings as I complete my errands. I love just how easy everything is from food delivery to childcare to the amount of activities on offer.
I don’t miss Colorado winters and appreciate being able to send the kids outside to go for a swim when we all need a reset. I love that we don’t have Amazon and Target here, making impulse purchases difficult and keeping unnecessary consumption down.
The author loves how easy it is to pick up the kids from school and head to the beach as a family.
Living in Bali has also given us the gift of time. We don’t feel like we’re rushing around every day and are able to say yes to a coffee on a random Tuesday morning with a friend or go get ice cream after school with the kids on the beach.
We’ve met interesting people from all over the world who have opened our minds to what is possible and to think differently about what is important in life. We treasure getting to spend more time together as a family and prioritize our physical and mental health.
My husband now works for himself in real estate and alternative investments. I’ve stayed busy blogging about traveling with a family around Bali and beyond. We both work remotely and set our own hours — recognizing both as incredible privileges.
Life on the island isn’t perfect
Is Bali a perfect oasis? Not by a long shot. I’ve met people who are disappointed by what they find here. In recent years, Bali has been inundated with influencers, posting postcard-perfect photos of landscapes that often hide the trash and excessive tourism that has plagued this island.
Overdevelopment is taking over many beaches and rice fields, and the current pace of construction is alarming.
Traffic is often at a standstill or, at best, crawling along at a snail’s pace. Many locals burn their trash, and the landfills are often on fire, creating dire air quality. Rivers and beaches are clogged with plastic.
The water is not safe to drink, and medical care is not up to the same standards we were used to. I find myself living with constant low-level anxiety about all these things.
We’re also almost 10,000 miles away from our families back in the US and know that our days here are numbered. Eventually, we’ll need to be closer to them. Until then, we’re still figuring things out, but remain thankful for this time to curate our lives in a way that works for us.
