Bali looks like a paradise to those living in Australia. And it largely is
With its cheaper lifestyle, relaxed vibes, good food, and picturesque landscapes, there are many reasons more than 1.5 million Aussies travel to Indonesia every year
But living there is a very different ballgame from when you’re just visiting
Phoebe Aston has been living in Bali for the last two years, and while she’s been stationed in a few areas, Canggu is where she has mostly called home
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It was the perfect place for the fitness coach to escape her “Groundhog Day” life in Adelaide, but she recently hit her “Bali ceiling”
“I’m living a life that so many would want to live, but I think, like anything, the novelty wears off,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle
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There’s no single issue causing this view for the 28-year-old, and she said others who had left their home countries to live in Bali eventually hit the same ceiling
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Whether it’s a few months or nearly a decade of Bali bliss, that epiphany strikes eventually
“Bali, in many ways, is a place where people come to build, they come to heal, they come to run away,” she said
She’s done all of those things, and the sheen that the island used to have has largely disappeared
Have you moved to another country and have a story? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
Why do people want to move to Bali?
There are roughly 10,000 Aussies living in Bali at the moment, and many are drawn to the digital nomad lifestyle. Online fitness coaches, especially, can thrive in a place like Bali
They have clients back in Australia and elsewhere whom they organise exercise routines and meal plans for, and regularly video-call to check in on their progress
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They do this for a few hours a day, then relax at incredible gyms, get a yoga or weights session in, dunk their heads in a cold plunge, and open their pores in the steam room
You can imagine how many people working dead-end office jobs would trade anything for that
The money that these nomads receive can also last them a long time in Indonesia
Phoebe, for example, has been living in a beautiful two-bedroom villa with a pool for just $1,500 per month, or $375 per week
A three-course meal at a decent restaurant typically costs around AUD$16, while a grocery shop of milk, bread, a dozen eggs, chicken, and some fruit costs just $17
Why do people hit their Bali ceiling?
But being constantly surrounded by nomads hustling and grinding for new clients can get “exhausting”, though
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It’s also difficult to make friends and meet romantic partners because the island is so transient. Everyone is on their own journey, so it’s hard to really lock anyone down for long
But the main thing that stands out to Phoebe is how “dirty and polluted” large parts of Bali have become
“Just going for a walk, and there’s rubbish everywhere, and dogs everywhere,” she said
“I literally got bitten by a dog last week. It’s just things that I just don’t want for myself anymore.”
A poll of nearly 4,000 Yahoo Lifestyle readers found 45 per cent felt Bali had become “dirty and overrun”, while 37 per cent said tourists had “ruined it”
What’s Phoebe’s advice for people before moving to Bali?
The last two years have been incredible for Phoebe, and she wouldn’t trade them for the world
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But she has some advice for those wanting to pack their bags, ditch Australia, and live the high-life in Bali
“Bali is not for everyone,” she told Yahoo Lifestyle
“Only a certain type of person can last here without it running them down. Bali will chew you up and spit you out if you’re not careful.”
She’s leaving Bali to live in Dubai from September and is hoping the UAE city will provide what she’s been lacking in the Indonesian hotspot
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