The following transcript was generated by AI and may contain inaccuracies.
Carlie: Hey, it’s Carlie back with another episode of the Expat Focus Podcast. You know when you’re on a sunny island holiday and you start spitballing about what it might be like to live there for good. If you’re like me, you check out the real estate shop fronts in the main streets and look at those listings, even if they’re unrealistic—like $5 million rooftop pool, five minute walk down to the beach—and you start planning your island life.
Well, Aussie Simone Collins did all the research, the budgeting, the planning. Then she packed up her family and moved them to Bali for two years. Now through her consultancy, Our Year in Bali, she helps other families, digital nomads, and retirees from all over the world realise their own dream of setting up a life in Bali.
Simone, I know so many fellow Aussies come back from Bali with dreams of moving there for good, but that’s something that you’ve actually done. So can you tell me how did you come to start your Our Year in Bali consultancy?
Simone: Thank you for having me. Exactly, been there, done that on holidays, like every Australian. I wanted to have an adventure somewhere around the world with my family. It could be anywhere—Europe, America, anywhere. But Bali actually came into the picture and it ticked all the boxes as an actual place to bring children, go to school, work remotely, and have a beautiful life, like a holiday, but living there.
When we decided to go there and actually do a gap year, we created a blog called Our Year in Bali. It was a place for me to share and document our journey—all the fun things that we were getting up to, what school looked like, what the culture looked like, the experiences from a living point of view. It was really exciting because it turned into two years, so it should be Our Years in Bali, not Our Year in Bali.
Towards the end of the second year, a lot of people were saying to me that I was really filling in a gap for people, that I had the right information, research, budgets, and really cool planning tools. They asked why I didn’t help other people do the same. It wasn’t until we decided after two years to actually go back to Australia that the blog was no longer needed to document my experiences, but could pivot to find this niche where I’ve learned all the lessons—some of them the hard way.
I wanted to fast track everyone else’s experiences and share that if we can do it, you can do it. It is a very different experience from holidaying to living there. But if you take on all the resources, the ins and outs, the tips and tricks, and the real local insights that you can’t get without actually living it and breathing it, then you can have a really great Bali life and be really prepared and confident.
Carlie: And so why did you and your family decide not to stay in Bali ultimately?
Simone: It actually came down to my son wanting a different school education. Bali is fantastic and has a lot of school choices that have grown over the years. But after two years it just didn’t suit his personality or his style of learning. Bali is very transient with a lot of children coming and going, so making those foundations and friendships, and options to be in a big school team or sport team, can be quite limiting on an island.
It just didn’t suit him, but it did suit my daughter. Had he not said after two years that he was thinking maybe a different school, it made me think that maybe our two years was up on the island from an education point of view. But otherwise, working remotely, living life, volunteering, having great adventures, accessibility to Australia time zones—it all made sense for our family.
We were going to do more than two years. We were probably definitely planning for three or more. That’s what people do—they get into a Bali bubble and say they’re just testing what a gap year or sabbatical looks like. Then, if financially everything works really well with the family unit, they continue. The gap year turned into two, and it would’ve been three. We’d planned the third year already, but towards the end of the second year, my son was just like, “Mum, I just would prefer a better school.” And I was like, “Yeah, I think our time’s up on the island.”
Carlie: It’s really difficult when the kids are in the picture and you have to think about what’s best for them, right?
Simone: That’s right. Otherwise, I would be a bit too selfish. At one point I was like, we could make this an extra six months, spread it out a bit longer, you can do it. And then within a week it was like, no, we can’t do it.
Carlie: There’s that fine line between encouraging the kids to dive into something and accepting they’re telling you something.
Simone: Kids are really adaptable and a lot of people are nervous about that. But especially Bali attracts anyone under age ten. They haven’t made their close friends or are in the high school years that they need to really navigate. So it is very flexible, very adaptable, and surprisingly kids just get on with it. It’s a beautiful world education to give anybody, and for children to grow up in that environment amongst an international community.
Hindu culture, the different way of life—it’s just an island way of life, slowing down, more family time. It’s fantastic for the kids.
Carlie: So do you think those sweet spots might be families with kids under ten, or digital nomads—solo or retirees? Is that what I’m feeling are the best demographics to decide to move to Bali?
Simone: You’re absolutely right. I do occasionally get some high schoolers as well that I get into the mix where it might be a family of three and there might be kids aged eight, ten, and twelve. So it’s still the early high school years. Occasionally schooling just doesn’t fit for the child anyway, and they’re like, we’re happy to finish our last two years on the island.
You’re a hundred percent right—that ten and under, obviously getting domestic support for the real young ones. Just before, I was actually talking to a family who’ve got twin three-year-olds and a six-month-old. So a lot of kids under the age of three, and they’re just needing nanny support or just not having to clean and do some washing. It’s just a huge gap that would fill for someone in Bali rather than Australia. So you’re right, they’re the sweet spots.
Carlie: In terms of the people you help, I’m guessing your client base is many, many Australians, but what other nationalities are interested in moving to Bali?
Simone: Absolutely. As you said, Australia is really strong, but I love that I reach out to a lot of people from the UK, and also obviously the US. Surprisingly, a lot of them have come to Bali before on a quick holiday, got inspired—maybe a honeymoon or something similar. They made their way there maybe before COVID, and then a lot from Europe as well. It’s a beautiful mix.
I’m just shocked at all the different places I’ve reached out to—probably 55 countries. It’s incredible. Bali pulls at everyone’s heartstrings somehow. It gets into people’s ideas. Whether it’s a school that attracted them, like the Green School, or whether it’s Eat, Pray, Love from an American point of view. They think it’s magical and it’s safe and it’s completely different to what they think. So it’s a really big, mixed global community that are really interested in Bali.
Carlie: I’ve got countless friends who have done a bit of a sabbatical in Bali, whether that’s been a week or two months or half a year, and the pictures look absolutely stunning. I’m curious though—if you don’t want to go to Bali just for a break or a longer break, but you want to stay as you did for a few years, or use it as your retirement home, what are your visa options?
Simone: That’s a good question. Visas do change every now and then, but there are a few stable ones which are really quite accessible and easy. They don’t take long to get, and there aren’t that many requirements compared to other countries. So people are quite surprised.
If we go down the retirement path, there is a retirement visa for age 55 plus. It’s a yearly visa that’s renewable, and then after you live in Bali for four years straight, they change that visa to a five-year visa. What you need offshore, back home, when you apply for this visa isn’t that much. You do need some health insurance and you do need to show a stable income, even though you’re retired—money in the bank. But there isn’t a requirement for second homes or big financial outlays.
When you are in Bali, they do expect you to have a lease or rental agreement. If you were already in Bali and actually employing a local person to look after the house—but if you’re offshore, it’s really not that many requirements. It doesn’t take long, and it’s about 1,300 Australian dollars a year per person. And then you get some benefits as well.
You might be able to access health insurance that’s not the local insurance, but it’s going to be a health insurance policy that’s for Indonesia only, rather than using your passport as an international policy. You get lovely discounts and you’re not treated like you’re on a holiday—you can get some local rates. You can open a bank account and act like you’re actually living there rather than holidaying there. So the retirement visa is pretty accessible and easy.
Remote worker visas are similar as well. You do need to show a contract of 60,000 US dollars or more a year, as well as some income showing that that’s constantly coming through month to month. Apart from that, it doesn’t take long, same price. It’s a yearly visa with multiple entry, so you can come and go and never leave. I call it sort of set and forget—you just pay it once for the year and then you’re done. So there are some really nice options, and that’s what most of my clients are using.
Carlie: That’s actually much easier than I anticipated.
Simone: Yeah, absolutely. I think it is a bit of a struggle when you find things online and everyone’s got a little bit of a different viewpoint or a different way of explaining things. But it isn’t really that hard. It’s pretty straightforward to be honest.
Carlie: When it comes to—I have a few different questions from what you’ve just told me. First of all, income requirements. Bali doesn’t care if your income as a retiree is coming from a pension, for example, or if you’re a digital nomad—the country or Indonesia doesn’t care that your income isn’t being derived locally or that you have local clients?
Simone: No, that’s right. They actually prefer the other way—that’s what they prefer. A remote worker visa would want to show that you are being paid offshore, outside of Indonesia. Otherwise, it’s served against the law, and you would want to have a working visa, a working permit to be able to make money on the ground, do activities and services, maybe charge Indonesians directly.
The other side is that you could possibly pivot and open a business in Bali that’s a foreign-owned business, to have an opportunity to have a working visa in that respect as well. So there are a lot of ways you can pivot. Definitely remote work, offshore earning, offshore income, and paying taxes offshore is the easiest step forward. Then taking it from there and seeing what opportunities there are, because Bali is so entrepreneurial and there are amazing, lots of different business communities to tap into.
Some people start pivoting and creating their own business. You can get a working visa for some categories to then show your services on the ground, make money on the ground, all that sort of stuff. But everything’s usually offshore in most cases, and then just showing a work contract or a bank statement or something like that.
Carlie: Is it difficult as a foreigner to secure a lease, and/or buy a home?
Simone: Good point. As you mentioned, things like rental history—there’s no mortgage or anything like that, so it’s a very paid-upfront culture. It’s not hard at all. You can be on any visa basically and find a lovely home. There are two systems: a leasehold system and a freehold system.
The leasehold system is literally just paying rent upfront for a number of years. It could be five years, but most commonly it’s 25 to 30 years. It’s just paid upfront. Here is your few hundred thousand dollars for the next 25 years. During that time period, you might want to only be in Bali for five years and you’ve got 20 years left. So you can on-sell that portion of your prepaid lease—that 20 years left—to somebody else. Contracts can be written in lots of different ways, but it’s not hard to secure a rental at any point. But it is paid upfront, so you’re going to have to budget for all of that upfront cost.
Then they’ve got great support like conveyancers, notaries, or legal support just to make sure, because contracts are always in two languages—Indonesian and English. You just want to know that everything’s safe. There are things to navigate with housing in Bali because of how it’s built. You are living in the tropics. There could be mould, there could be lots of ways things are built. It’s just a bit frustrating to navigate to get a good quality home and even budget for maintenance because it’s a different world.
There may be flooding, there may be all sorts of weird and wonderful things you want to do to the place. Everyone can be a property developer in Bali. There are licenses and conditions, but over the years they’ve let things slide every now and then, depending on what you want to do. But it is extremely easy to get a leasehold. That’s the first, most common way. It’s 80% of sales or real estate buying.
The other way is freehold, which gives you more choice—longer, up to 80 years of use on whatever you want to do on that piece of land and property. It can only be bought through a company. So the company, rather than a personal individual, can get that freehold because you’re not an Indonesian citizen. So there are two types of ways as a foreigner: either leasehold or freehold, but the majority always go the leasehold route—super easy.
Carlie: I think I have heard that rule before—that only Indonesians can actually own property in Bali. Why do they enforce that rule?
Simone: I think it’s just the protection of keeping everything local, sustainable, all that sort of stuff. The actual island is just full of tourism, and the growth is sometimes really frustrating with people. Rice paddies are disappearing and there’s sadness to be seen, absolutely. So keeping it local and making sure that the growth keeps going local—otherwise, foreign investment, which is extremely popular at the moment of course, will just take over.
We then constantly need to give back to the locals for their longevity and hopefully growth and support and education in that space. So the most common way is a foreign-owned business or person investing in property, which is extremely common, but then it’s the Indonesian that can actually always own. So you’re renting off or leasing off the owner of the land, the local Indonesian, and it’s passed on through generations. It’s a beautiful thing like that.
Carlie: So it’s benefiting their family as well?
Simone: Absolutely, yes, long term. It gets passed down all the time.
Carlie: I want to ask, Simone, because as Australians, we know those popular areas of Bali that are spoken about as being full of tourists, over-touristed, almost not nice anymore. I’m guessing if you are moving to Bali for a longer stint, maybe to live out your retirement years, you’re not going to base yourself in those areas. So where do long-term Bali expats live?
Simone: That’s a good question. The island looks quite small in some ways, and in other ways, because of the infrastructure, how things have been built, the rice fields and all that navigation, it’s really quite far away. So you do make a strong decision on where your community will be, what your daily routines are going to look like, and so forth.
From a retirement point of view, from age 55, I would say the most common is Sanur, which is down south. The majority of population for expats is down south, close to the airport. But it is very easy to navigate. It’s flat, it’s accessible. Yes, there are hotels—there will be everywhere in most cases. There will be the Airbnbs, there will be that tourism push all around everywhere. There will be less traffic and less commercialisation perhaps in certain pockets as well, depending on—you’re not going to be on the beach front.
There are some beautiful local areas where people can pop in and live amongst local areas as well. So Sanur is a really hot spot for many different reasons. If you’re happy not to be part of an intense community or close to hospitals and things like that, there are lots of other little spots on the coastline. There are other places like Candidasa, Amed, and Lovina. So there are other little spots that retirees like to hang out in.
Some of them also love the Ubud side, which is very touristy of course. But there are some little areas where you can avoid that really intense time that everyone spends in the centre. Parts of Ubud—I’ve got a lot of retirees that love life there too. Nowhere near the beach, so that’s the only thing to offset. And then there’s also down south again—the Bukit Peninsula, Uluwatu, which is that beautiful clifftop landscape, a little bit of rice paddies, majority beach.
A lot of people love to surf there and it’s super popular. Obviously, people get married and have lots of holidays and honeymoons there, but there is a lot of community for retirees as well. So there is a lot of diversity, both beach and jungle. There are spots you would avoid, like the Legian, Seminyak, Kuta, Canggu—all those ones that we know from a holiday point of view. So there are areas that you can definitely get further away, but still have retirement community and leaseholds.
Carlie: When you’re helping your clients with their Bali plans, are you also helping them identify where is the best place for them to live based on what they want to do?
Simone: Absolutely. Especially with families, that’s the most important because there are about 80 schools that I’ve personally documented on the island. I’ve been to about 60 of them, and we really want to get close to the school from a commuting point of view because there aren’t school buses and easy ways to get around to schools. So you have to be really strategic on where you want to live.
There are quieter points, and a lot of people are navigating more to the quiet areas. So yes, I have to really understand what their daily routines are like, what their goals are, what life looks like, what they want to slow down. Are they happy to commute by scooter every day? How far are they willing to commute? There’s a lot that goes into play to get that sweet spot and that perfect place.
That’s why I always say just sort of land, have about a few weeks up your sleeve, maybe if you’ve already chosen the school or the types of areas. Because there are lots of little villages that keep growing and popping up where you don’t have to be in the crazy busy part. You can definitely, especially if you’re happy to go on a scooter, access much further away. So just take your time, settle in, do a couple of weeks where you think you might want to be and where the school might be.
We also present that to real estate agents and explain this is where we’re going to base ourselves around—that’s our main commute. And then where do we go from there? It also depends on people’s price points and what lifestyle looks like. But Bali’s got just a great choice of activities, coworking spaces, cafés, paddle, gym—all this great stuff. There’s so much choice in an area, so you’re not isolated or left behind in any way.
Carlie: What are some important accessibility factors if you are older and looking at Bali as a retirement destination?
Simone: Definitely. You have to look at the transport side of things because that’s the one thing that will let you down in that you feel like you might lose your independence. You have to rely on their Grab and Gojek system, like an Uber system, where you might get on the back of a scooter or you might jump in a car. You literally have to order your rides every single day.
Some people are not confident in driving, and that will definitely be something that will be quite frustrating in Bali life. You just have to get used to it. There are positives and negatives about that. Again, it’s not really walkable. Bali is not a walkable—let’s just go out for a walk—sort of place.
Carlie: They don’t do footpaths?
Simone: Not really. Well, there is obviously beach access and lovely walk paths along the beach. But the footpaths are very hit and miss, and even if they’re constantly working on that infrastructure, it’s still up and down, and in the heat and those sorts of things. So there’s a lot to navigate just from a getting around point of view. I think that would be probably the best thing to think about—the accessibility from a getting around and transport point of view would be the big one.
Otherwise, what’s really great about Bali is everything—when I say accessibility, that is a negative—but everything is easily delivered to you. You can have medicine delivered to you, a doctor to you, food to you, a cleaner to you, postage, whatever it might be, in a very affordable, quick, within-the-hour type of system. Everything can just come to you and you’re like, well, I don’t feel well enough to go here or do that or see that—everything can come to you really, really quickly.
Carlie: Speaking about medicine and doctors, Simone—health insurance. It’s so important for anyone anywhere abroad, of course, but even more so in somewhere like Bali. I’m sure we’ve both seen those horror stories of Australians getting into scooter accidents in Bali and needing to raise money to get airlifted home. If you are moving to Bali, what sort of level of health insurance should you have? How important is proximity to, say, a hospital? And what’s the difference between having an international health insurance policy versus something local?
Simone: Okay, so many questions—I would love to talk about all of it. So there used to be—the retirees used to be able to access the local insurance, very affordable, like an Australian Medicare type thing. That’s no longer available. So you definitely have to, and part of the visa requirement is, have some health insurance, and that would be at least hospital only, or you could do outpatient as well. But definitely having that choice of being actually medevaced out of the country, so you’ve got some flexibility there.
It’s really surprising—there are so many amazing international hospitals. There’s one just built maybe six months ago in Sanur, first time ever allowing international doctors, because it’s usually only Indonesian English-speaking doctors that have been trained perhaps overseas. Now they’re allowing international doctors at this particular hospital.
But overall, everyone’s really supportive and happy with the medical care. It’s only when it’s like you need a second or third opinion on something really, really important that you may want to go back to your home country and feel comfortable that way. But of course, some good quality health insurance—it’s only expensive like everywhere would be in some cases. But it just depends on pre-existing conditions and date of birth, and then some quotes can come together.
Yes, you have to apply for international health insurance. Then you can just nominate Indonesia only, or nominate all of Asian countries plus Australia. There are lots of different ways I can support and suggest, maybe a little bit of travel insurance on top of that. But the visits to doctors are very affordable. As I said, they can come to your home. They’ve also got apps where you can order medicine and get it sent to you really easily.
There are lots of things I suggest about obviously vaccinations. But overall, from a safety point of view, being close to a hospital, yes, because to some degree ambulance and things like that with the traffic can be a bit tricky to navigate. So you need to be prepared and understand where your options are. There are 24/7 medical clinics around anyway, so you don’t necessarily have to be next to that amazing international hospital because where you are in your neighbourhood, there will be some great options as well.
Then there’s other great support that I love helping people with. One could be where it’s an actual system that has many clinics. They navigate the whole medical network for you, provide you a seven-day-a-week WhatsApp support from a medical point of view. So they’re really there. There are a lot of options out there that can help people just make them feel a bit more comfortable about how things work.
Carlie: Sounds really sophisticated.
Simone: Yeah, that’s what I was going to say. All my clients when I ask them—
Carlie: I don’t think I have WhatsApp support with my doctor!
Simone: That’s so true. No, it’s a bit of a surprise. People are actually pleasantly surprised with the service, the level of care, obviously the affordability and all that sort of stuff.
Carlie: How about language barriers? In your few years in Bali, did you encounter any difficulties navigating life in Indonesian, or is English very prolific?
Simone: So prolific. The whole island is based on hospitality and tourism. So most of the people growing up are learning about hospitality and servicing that industry. I think it’s some statistic like 95-98% for English speaking, and they’re having to navigate people from all around the world making Bali their holiday destination or maybe their life.
They’re all coming from all around the world with English as a second language. So I’m very blessed that we could just speak in English. Maybe a time when you’re in a taxi it may be very useful for you to know forward, straight, left and right in Bahasa Indonesia, but apart from that, there were no issues. And of course we’ve got the tech, like Google Translate and things like that. But overall it was perfect.
Carlie: I almost feel like it’s a cheat these days. I feel like it’s hindering my ability to learn because I can just easily hack what I need—in my case, in French. How about your kids? Out of interest, a few years in the Indonesian school, did they pick up much Indonesian?
Simone: Yeah. So they were in an international school. Turns out that there are so many choices. We actually—there’s only one Australian school that’s on the island. So they went to the Australian school, but they had a lot of Indonesian teachers and they were forced to learn Indonesian—the language twice a week—and do some cultural lessons and things like that.
So I personally learned with them. I had a Bahasa tutor, they were learning, and we were just testing each other along the way. We all picked up the language. And of course, wherever you go you want to pick up that language. There are some skills to learn for sure. Maybe when you get there, you go to a language school, you get a tutor. But in school it’s a beautiful way to immerse yourself.
There are some bilingual schools where children are more than happy to just jump straight in and a lot of the lessons are taught in Indonesian straight away. So there are a couple of those choices, but the majority are international—Indonesian support teachers and maybe international teachers—and always language classes and then other things that they learn about the festivals and celebrate lots of things together.
Carlie: I imagine there’s so much catered to Australians from, as you said, an Australian school to Aussie products. What about for Americans? Is it just as common to have, say, an American food shop or an American school?
Simone: No, not an American school. That’s a really good point actually. There may be an American curriculum or a Cambridge curriculum where they try and make it quite universal, and it’s quite challenging as a school to tap into all these different people that come in from different backgrounds and different styles of learning.
Americans are happy to even leave the American system in most cases, try something different. It could be a completely different curriculum or a nature-based style or something different like the Finnish curriculum. So it’s not necessarily—yes, Australians have obviously got the Weet-Bix in the supermarket and things like that, and then maybe a UK shop here or there, those sorts of supports. But not as much American specifics.
There are communities that would support specifically Americans living in Bali. So wherever you go, there’s such a strong cohort—there’s a huge French community in Bali, for example, a Dutch community in Bali. So you can always find commonalities or where to find things.
Carlie: I’m not American, but I was searching for canned pumpkin to make American-style pumpkin pie yesterday. I went to the fanciest supermarket in Strasbourg, certain they’d have it on their international shelf—canned pumpkin. I was so disappointed!
Simone: That’s so funny. And they’re expensive, those imported products.
Carlie: They are. Is there a pathway to become a citizen of Indonesia?
Simone: Only if you’re married to an Indonesian—so you’re a foreigner and you’re married to an Indonesian, there would be that pathway. But unfortunately, there’s not a pathway such as citizenship otherwise. It would be just literally being in Bali for many, many years and just changing it to a longer-term visa. So there wouldn’t be a citizenship option unless it’s through marriage.
Carlie: Interesting. So even if you join a local company, employ locals, buy a few leaseholds—in the government’s eyes, not enough?
Simone: Not enough. There are people that have been on the island for 20, 30 years and they’ve done so much for Bali itself, but they’re not a citizen as such.
Carlie: I’m curious—you mentioned that the whole island is so hospitality driven. What is the attitude today, and how receptive are the locals to foreigners? I mean, it essentially runs their economy, but we know that not all foreigners in Bali are good foreigners, are good tourists, are good expats. So what is that ebb and flow like between locals and foreigners in Bali?
Simone: That’s a good question. There will always be an underlying mix of opinions, absolutely. The majority are extremely welcoming, extremely happy—the most wonderful people that people comment to me time and time again. I can’t get over how kind and how patient, how caring, how loving, how welcoming the local people are on the island to foreigners.
But then there’s that challenge. There may be a few people that are like, well, where do you draw that line of foreign investment and rules and regulations, and feeling like I’m employing a person at a quarter of the price—like a nanny or some domestic support at a quarter of the price of what I would back in Australia. So sometimes it’s a challenge and people are challenged by that, just from a moral point of view. How do I feel? Am I paying the right thing? How does this all work and flow together?
In most part, they know that’s what the island is generating, and that’s where income will be for the next generation to come. People are trained up in that space all the time. And as I said, there’s stopping—you can’t own the land outright. So there are some great rules and regulations put in place, but that’s always a challenge of what can be done, what can’t be done.
If anything, people are really trying to value that sustainability, the environmental approach, looking at beautiful ways of building in a sustainable way. That message is always super important on how to give back locally, support locally, build sustainably. That is an ongoing challenge. In most part, what I’m saying is that the locals are just unbelievably welcoming, and that’s a great thing. But then it’s trying to match everyone’s expectations and growth for the future.
Carlie: And just be a respectful, good person while you’re there.
Simone: Absolutely. There’s lots of etiquette things and understanding their Hindu culture and worshipping in temples, daily offerings, what to do, what not to do when you see that. But in most part, they’re like, we want to show you why we’re praying and what we’re blessing and what gratitude we’re giving. So they’re very open to sharing what their belief system is, which is really lovely, and people learn from that. It’s just such a lovely way to exchange as well from all around the world. People do get so much out of it when they live there.
Carlie: Finally, Simone, I want to talk budget. Finances. How much money you need to live like royalty in Bali or have a good life. The point of retiring to Bali is to really tap into that lower cost of living for a really quality, relaxed lifestyle that meets your values. But let’s be real—it takes cash. So how much money do you need to make that a reality?
Simone: That’s a really good question. I’d love to be able to give you a perfect number or a formula. Wouldn’t that be great?
Carlie: Tell me the magic!
Simone: I know—I’d be like, you should just have that ready to go when you want to retire or whatever it might be. It is a good question. Everyone’s finding Australia or anywhere around the world that that cost of living is just not giving you the value, the affordability, the time and space.
What’s good about Bali is there is really a budget for everyone. You can live frugally if you want to, really basic, and not doing much extravagant stuff at all. Then you can go right through, and each day can be different. You can eat really local, go to a local place, and just keep it really simple. Then you can go all the way through to living like you’re on a holiday again.
When I help people from a retirement point of view, they manage the budget where they know there will be some blowouts or there might be some different times. But from an affordability point of view, it depends obviously on where you want to live. The further away from the hotspots are going to be cheaper. The style of accommodation you want is going to be cheaper. The longer lease is going to be cheaper. So there are some things in place where you want to put in advance, like long-term costs.
Or on a daily basis, there’s so much to really explain. It’s a can of worms—it’s so hard to explain. But I think from the domestic support, which is a lot cheaper, to having a bit of adventure and living and exploring within Bali—very affordable instead of travelling around Australia, which would cost a lot more money. And just the healthy lifestyle, the medical system’s great. So all of those price points are usually 20, 30, even 40% cheaper.
I’m getting on average from all around the world that they’re saying my dollar is going much further, plus my quality of life is getting better. Then there are all these extras, like I’m slowing down more, I’m not having to do certain things, my expectations are changing, I’m in a different environment. So there are other benefits that are not financial. But on average, I’ll probably say let’s call it 30% cheaper or just generally on.
Then there are things that you may not have to pay for back in Australia or wherever you’re from that you have to pay in Bali. So there’s always just seeing what works for you. Upfront costs, like a visa that you wouldn’t have to pay in your home country—not expensive, but some things, there are cycles of budgeting or payments made, upfront payments. And then once you’re settled, you can go into a nice flow of things.
Carlie: As you mentioned, that 20 or 30 year leasehold that you have to pay in full—that’s not nothing.
Simone: No, that’s right. But then you’re—
Carlie: Sorted for the next 20, 30 years.
Simone: That’s right, exactly. It depends how you want to look at it. And then you don’t have to worry about rent for that long, however long you want to make your Bali chapter. But as I said, eating out’s affordable, things that we—your money goes a lot further in most cases. That’s what people are looking at, and especially retirement ages.
People are going, when I’m still fit and I can walk around and I can get on maybe the back of a scooter—or maybe not—but they’re looking at a chapter of retirement where they actually are fit and healthy and can do yoga and can go on travel adventures and do fun community surf or do anything like that. So it’s like, okay, let’s do that in Bali at that time with my life, between say 55 and 70. Who knows what we all look like and feel like at the end of the day, but that’s when people are giving it a go.
Carlie: This is a perfect segue, Simone, into how people typically work with you and how they can get in touch with you to go through their specific circumstances and how they can make a plan to move to Bali.
Simone: I’d love to help people. Their plans could be six months, 12 months, two years’ time. I understand they might be dreaming about it but they might be planning about it. It might be a time in their life where they’re waiting—maybe for their child to finish school, who knows. I understand everyone’s got a different situation, so I would love them to obviously join the newsletter, follow the socials, have fun on the website, get inspired by stories.
I offer a free 30-minute discovery call, and I get everyone’s goals, expectations, and maybe an idea on budget. What are the burning questions, whether it be visas and housing and budgets and things like that? We have a lovely discussion and we just go through it all, and I give them food for thought.
From there, you can actually buy some services that I’ve put together in this comprehensive solution. It’s like a one-stop shop. I think it saves you hundreds of hours—stuff that doesn’t exist online anyway. So I’ve got a beautiful bronze, silver, and gold package depending on where you are on your journey.
I’ve got beautiful digital guides on relocation and cost of living Excel spreadsheets in multiple currencies—housing, as I mentioned, planning timelines. All these just—you’re basically your own relocation guide. You’re basically a one-stop shop for everything.
Carlie: They’ve done it.
Simone: It’s all—everything and anything you want, we hopefully can help you. I’ve got so many people from all around the world asking and needing different things that I can just hopefully add to every single thing for them in one spot. And then you can build along the way, and I help them with finding the right visas and the insurance and housing.
So we help everyone depending on where they’re at. They’re just some lovely support packages and more consultations with me. WhatsApp is the big one in Bali, and we WhatsApp each other. So we stay connected in WhatsApp, and we’re here in that simple three-step process: bronze, silver, gold is how we run it.
Carlie: Amazing. Well, Simone, this has been such a great conversation. I feel like we could have three more episodes diving into all things Bali. Thank you so much for coming on the Expat Focus podcast to talk about how to move to Bali.
Simone: Thank you so much for having me. It’s been fun.
Carlie: That’s it for today, and my gosh, my chat with Simone left me with so many more questions about moving to Bali. If you have some too, please leave them in the comments on our YouTube channel, or maybe you’ve made the move yourself, in which case we would love to hear from you. Now for comprehensive country guides and recommendations for everything from international health insurance to financial planners and moving companies, check out our website, expatfocus.com. And if you like what we do, please rate us, leave us a review, however you like to listen to the show. I will catch you in the next one.