Revisiting Bali in 2016

Revisiting Bali in 2016

So we flew from Singapore to Bali.

Literally a sea of islands beneath us.

Do you have any idea of how many islands Indonesia has? 18.000! Yes, you read that right: eighteen thousand islands! Amazing, right?! Of which I visited only three: Bali, Java and Bintan. Bali being my favorite.

Retiring on Bali - sounds like a dream

In the weeks leading up to our small holiday I was caught by what I shall call The Bali Living Bug. Let me explain:

Years ago, when I had a burn-out, I seriously explored my options to retire early. I was dreaming of a stress-free life somewhere in Andalusia, Spain. Long story short: not gonna happen, not enough money. Boohoo…

Then Frits happened, Singapore happened, and my focus changed. Ofcourse.

But while preparing for Bali, the retirement-bug bit me. Again. It did not come out of nowhere, but that’s a story for another time. Anyho…

I stumbled upon this website with Bali-villas. Freehold, leasehold. Fantastic houses with tropical gardens and pools.

Like this one or this one.

If we would sell either Frits’ or my house in Holland we could easily get such a villa. And then, with a monthly income of 1500 euro per month, ok, maybe 2000 euro per month, we could live there a good, lovely, sunny, care-free life.

I could not stop dreaming, getting all excited….

Getting out of the ratrace (mainly Frits) and enjoying life at a relaxed pace now, instead of Frits working all the time for another 9 years. It sounded fabulous!

But was it really? Wazzit? Luckily I was able to take a closer look…

Bali in 2016

So how was Bali this time round? Had things changed? Much of the good stuff is still there!

Beaches everywhere? Check.

Capturing beaches on camera, doing selfies and welfies? Check.

Sunsets? Due to cloudy weather not as orange and glorious as other times, but still….check.

Taking sunset pics? Check.

Balinese culture? Still everywhere. Check.

Trying to mimic a Balinese pose (and failing;-))? Check.

Petrol for your scooter? Still comes in Vodka Absolute bottles. Check.

Absurdly enormous sculptures at roundabouts? Still there. Check.

Hip, cool places to shop, lounge, eat and drink? Everywhere! Only more and more every year.

Bali (especially the stretch from Nusa Dua up to Canggu) is so hip it hurts.

The Balinese have a great sense of style and design. They know how to pick up trends. So yes, check!

And we were able to scratch off many of them off our hipster-bucket-list. Check!

I will show you several of the coolest shops, bars and restaurants over the coming weeks.

“It’s a no for me…”

So, Bali passed the test as Dream-Retirement-Destination???

Surprisingly maybe, but no. Not at all.

Traffic’s a b*tch

I never experienced the hectic of traffic in the area that I just mentioned (from Nusa Dua to Canggu, and especially the stretch from Kuta to Seminyak) as much as I did this time. Traffic was CRA-ZY! Traffic jams at all hours. Scooters everywhere. SO MANY scooters! Dangerous traffic situations. Scary to walk. No room to walk.

Crime gets more and harder

Combine that with many stories I heard and read. Stories about crime (robberies, burglaries, fatal traffic accidents and the list goes on). Stories that say if you are an expat there, you need to get (watch-) dogs, guards and/or an alarm-system at your house.

The traffic and crime situation seems to worsen each year. That does not appeal to me one bit. So that’s one Dream crashed. Bali is scratched off my list of Dream-Retirement-Destinations. For realz.

But hey, that does not mean that we did not have a lovely holiday there! And I’m gonna show you all about it. So stay tuned to find out which shops, bars and restaurants are not to be missed!

Have you been to Bali? How do you feel about this Island?

Do you ever dream of retiring somewhere sunny and carefree? Where do your dreams take you? Do you think it’ll stay with dreaming or do you see yourself actually emigrating to a sunny place?