Bali is one of the most sought-after digital nomad locations in the world.
People flock here from all over the planet to make it their semi-permanent location of choice
for a multitude of different reasons.
Again and again, Bali seems to make it into the top 10 best destinations for digital nomads
on lists and blogs across the Internet.
However, Bali has changed a lot in the last couple of years,
and people are actually comparing it to how the island was before the pre-digital nomad boom.
With Indonesia actually issuing visas for tourist purposes now,
I'm going to give you 5 reasons why you need to come to Bali right now.
If you've been recently thinking of relocating and you're not sure where to,
or even fancy taking a vacation that you've been wanting to take for the last two years,
then this is the video for you.
With the sorry state of the world right now,
tourism has probably taken the biggest hit, and that is no different here in Indonesia.
Free movement has become restrictive, with never-ending tests and quarantines,
and a by-product of that is that tourist places that used to be teeming with people
are now deadly quiet.
Right now, Bali is empty.
It's probably as empty as it was back in the early 2010s.
With a limited flow of people coming and going on and off the island,
now is probably the best time to come here and see Bali at its best.
Don't get me wrong, though. There is a flourishing community of digital nomads here,
but most of these digital nomads turned up pre-pandemic,
and if these people turned up during the pandemic, they probably came with the intention to stay long-term.
There are very very few tourists right here in Bali at the moment,
and as a result, if you leave Canggu, the rest of the island is eerily devoid of the foreigners.
This once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see Bali like this
means that popular places where you have to queue up for hours to get that Instagram shot
are now completely dead,
and right now, you could probably enjoy them pretty much on your own.
Where tourists used to gather in droves are pretty much completely empty right now.
And that's if you go during the day.
If you're like me and you go to places at sunrise or early in the morning,
you're probably gonna have these places all to yourself.
Just for example, I went to Leke Leke waterfall the other day,
and there was nobody there.
I went to Nungnung waterfall and we had it to ourselves for about two hours
before anyone else turned up.
The other month, when I went to Lempuyang Temple,
we go there at 8 a.m., we were second in the queue for the "reflection shot",
and the only other people there were people that work at the temple
or a few local families turning up to pray.
I even had time in this temple to walk around and try a few different photography angles,
which you wouldn't usually get to do, because there would be crowds of people just in the way.
At Tirta Gangga, we went for the sunset at 4 p.m.
and there were probably two or three other groups of people around.
And the other week, I went to the Bali giant tree with a couple of friends
and we were literally there by ourselves for about an hour and a half / two hours.
This list could go on and on, but let's leave it there before I bore you
and move on to reason number two.
Now listen up and get closer, because I'm going to tell you a little secret.
Bali is ridiculously cheap.
All joking aside,
Bali has actually become a lot cheaper than you and your friends probably remember.
As the popularity of Bali boomed, so did the price.
Year on year, hundreds of thousands of foreigners would come and visit the island,
and as a result, accomodation and restaurant owners were able to charge a higher fee.
Right now, due to the lack of tourists, Bali has developed something called "The Covid price".
This is especially so with accomodation.
If you're looking to come here for a month or longer, you can do it on an extreme budget.
I should know, because I'm doing it.
Honestly, right now accomodation owners are just happy to have anyone stay in their accomodation at all,
and as a result,
a deal can usually be struck between the renters and the rentees.
Outside of Canggu, in places like Ubud,
I have friends that managed to find themselves a deal on like a full private villa
with a swimming pool for less than 400 US dollars a month.
Guest house monthly deals have also dropped.
I'm just about to move into a new guest house,
where I'm gonna be paying less than 200 US dollars a month,
bills included.
$200 a month!
Back in the UK, I was paying £500, or roughly $680
per month where I was staying.
Not even including bills.
And if that's not enough to convince you, then there's more,
because going out to eat even in Canggu has become a lot cheaper.
Restaurants have started offering Covid deals to try and attract more customers.
There usually take the form of a meal and a drink for a certain price,
or some places have even dropped the entire cost of the menu
to a certain price for a certain amount of time.
For example, all items on the menu 40k between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m.,
just to try and get more people inside.
If you enjoy drinking, then right now most places are offering some sort of happy hour in the evening,
which all of you lager loving louts would enjoy.
And right now, in Bali, the savings are just piling up.
It is ridiculously cheap to live here at the moment.
I actually made a video the other week on how much it cost me to live here in Bali for one month,
so if you want to, you can go check that one out, I'll leave it in the description below.
And this combined with reason one means that Bali is now
at his emptiest and cheapest in nigh on a decade.
Bali is ripe for a visiting.
Hold up real quick before we go to reason number three.
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If you find that this video is useful and handy, then please subscribe to the channel,
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So let's move on to reason number three.
Bali is the island of opportunity and self-improvement,
and I'm sure someone said that somewhere at some point. I don't know, probably.
But in my opinion, a corny phrase like that is not too far from the truth.
A result of living and staying in Bali long-term
means you're gonna probably find that you have some extra time on your hands.
And if, like me, you're from somewhere like the UK,
then Bali holds so many opportunities to try new things
that you just wouldn't be able to try back at home.
Is there something you've wanted to learn or try and never gotten around to it?
Bali is the place to do it.
Personally, I use my time here to improve on my videography, photography and business skills,
and in addition to this, I've been learning to surf, I've got back to the gym,
and back when I was last here in 2020, I did a freediving course.
Eventually, if I can make time for it,
further on in my journey I would like to get into meditating as well, and possibly scuba diving too.
But Bali is the place to try something new, and that I can 100% agree on.
Not only can you try new things here, but it's really easy to find a community
of other people wanting to try the same things.
And if not, it's really easy to find people that are already involved and can show you the way.
Professionally, you could improve your skills in videography,
coding, website building, social media management.
The list goes on, and there are communities of people
also trying to improve in those areas here as well.
On top of this, co-working spaces are abundant here in Bali,
and they are perfect places to meet up with people of the same mindset,
enjoy some good food and spot some knowledge.
Through my experience, the nomad community here in Bali exists to lift each other up,
help each other grow and provide the best support network.
Put your mind to it, and now you have a remote skill that you can monetize
while you travel around the rest of the world
thanks to your time you spend here in Bali.
When it comes to leisure, the list is literally endless.
You could pick up surfing, skating, scuba diving,
freediving, kitesurfing,
gym, yoga...
It goes on and on and on.
You can pick one, see if you like it, progress if you do,
and if not, you can just pick another one and try again and keep repeating the cycle,
until you find a nice hobby with some great friends that you really enjoy.
That sounds easy enough, right?
Just another reason to pack up your things,
grab that plane ticket and come to Bali right now.
The modern world of endless scrolling through social media
has given Bali that God-tier status that everyone recognizes it by.
Although Bali is put on a pedistal, it really does have its ups and downs.
However, one thing that is definitely possible here in Bali is to live that perfect island life
that you see on Instagram and TikTok and YouTube.
Picture this.
White sand beaches,
beautiful blue waters,
beachside parties and an endless flow of coconuts.
This can all be achieved in Bali incredibly easily.
If you've ever dreamed on being whisked away to that island paradise
to work on that bronze skin complection of yours
and eat every tropical fruit under the sun,
then Bali is the place for you.
Altough Canggu is best known as a digital nomad haven,
it is not the best place for beaches, as it's not all that cracked up to be.
But if you venture further a field to places like Kuta,
Uluwatu or Nusa Penida, you will find that island paradise that you have been searching for.
You could sip on a cold fresh coconut,
or eat an ear of corn that's just been barbecued right in front of you,
watch as the sun dips below the horizon with all of your favourite people surrounding you,
or finish off the day with a massage that literally costs you pennies,
Bali has it all.
And if that's not enough for you, then you can just hop of a 2-hour boat over to the Gili islands
like I did the other week, where you can swim with turtles and enjoy all of the beach buzz.
It is a true island paradise.
Why would you not want to come to Bali
and live that dream life that you've been seeing all over social media,
because it's right here, waiting for you.
Okay, now I know this is a bit of a cop-out reason, and it doesn't necessarily relate to just Bali,
but it is a brilliant reason nonetheless.
For some reason, I have no idea why,
people always seem to find barriers for achieving their dream life.
And although some of these barriers are understandable,
in my experience, the majority of them are just excuses.
These barriers always just tend to be problems, to be honest,
and problems always have solutions.
So many people have said to me:
" I wish I could do what you're doing, your life looks like so much fun!".
And I always reply with...
"Well, do it then", and the conversation always goes something a little like...
"Ryan, I have a mortgage to pay".
"Well, rent that house out and use that money to find your life abroad".
"I don't know, I don't know if I'd be able to make any money".
"Well, learn a new monetizable skill then.
"Chances are you're going to enjoy it more than your current job,
"you'll get to be your own boss.
Money comes and goes, but you only have one life."
"I'm not even sure if I would even like it there".
"But that doesn't mean you can't try it out. If you don't like it, try somewhere else instead,
"or you can go go home safe in the knowledge that at least you tried.
That shows more courage than most people".
Life is all about getting out of your comfort zone,
trying new things and challenging yourself every single day.
You shouldn't be scared of failure.
If it doesn't work out, so what? You tried!
You've gained your knowledge, and when you try again, you'll be in a much better position to succeed.
This will give your life so much more purpose than being stuck in that 9 to 5 rut
every single day for years on end.
I can say without a shadow of a doubt
that if you try the nomad lifestyle, you will try something new
every single day without fail.
Trust me when I say if I can do it, then you can do it too.
And you can do it, you just have to put your mind to it, and it's not that difficult.
If trying a nomad lifestyle is something that interests you and you really want to try it out,
then feel free to drop me a message,
reach out to me and I'll help you as best as I can.
I'm always happy to try and help someone escape reality and live that dream life.
And you can do it right now.
So have I convinced you to leave that potentially boring life at home
and try something new today?
Maybe you've already put that plane ticket, I really do hope so.
But these were my 5 reasons why you should come to Bali right now.
And in my humble opinion, they're 5 great reasons to come to Bali right now.
Come and enjoy the island life while it's cheap and empty right now,
come and learn some new skills, meet some great people,
integrate yourself into some awesome communities,
and just overall come and promote some self-improvement.
Only you can take the leap.
Thank you for watching this video, and I really hope you found some value in it.
It would really help me out if you hit that subscribe button and come along with me on the journey,
and also hit that like button, it's really good for the algorithm.
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And with all that said, I will see you next week for another video.
Peace.