Indonesia Dreamin'

Prior to COVID-19, there wasn't a more talked-about destination than Bali. After multiple visits and hosting a few large group trips in this Indonesian paradise, here are some observations to feed your FOMO and push you towards Indonesia.

Prior to COVID, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more popular travel destination blowing up your social media feed than Bali. It’s an exotic, trendy escape full of a certain flavor of beauty personified by the people you’ll meet there.

No, not the locals—although they’re full of a more wholesome beauty, and refreshingly relaxed compared to what you’ll find in other touristy areas of Southeast Asia. I'm referring to the thousands of gorgeous “new Bali” sprites that eat, pray, and love this once quiet, meditative island into a booming permanent-vacation for surfers, yogis, backpackers, wanderlusters, or anyone that can appreciate avocado toast and a smoothie for under $5.

The different areas of Bali each revel in their distinctions, but a few things are consistent throughout: bad traffic, good food, exciting beaches, solid surf, caucasian tourists, and a perpetual feed of “lifestyle” models who recently launched an authentic, local fashion line you should totally check out after you follow them on instagram.

Just to be clear: I’m all for anyone leveraging their beauty and online influence into a sustainable career that they can operate from paradise—you do you. I’m simply in shock over how many expats in Bali are able to balance a grueling regiment of non-stop partying, professional networking, personal wellness, spiritual expansion, and serial entrepreneurship, while still finding the time for a surf sesh and an acai bowl, here and there. After a few weeks staying in Canggu I became unwaveringly convinced Ponce de Leon was wayyy off, and the fountain of youth has been hiding in Indonesia all along.

Although the explosion of Bali as an American destination is still relatively fresh, Europeans, Australians, and Kiwis have been heavily addicted to the island way before we began been gushing over #bali #hashtags on social media. As they’ll all tell you—and you’ll quickly discover when you visit—there’s more than one reason why it’s so easy to get hooked on Bali’s genre of paradise.

“Bali Addiction,” by the way, is a very real thing. After catching the fever first-hand, I’m already planning an indefinite relapse for Now or Never’s next trip there. I’ve traveled my fair share in Southeast Asia, and while you’ll hear the same “I came here for a holiday and just never left,” bit just about anywhere with a beach, Bali is a decidedly different animal. One night, at dinner, I swear I witnessed the spirit of the island at work before my eyes when a friend we'd met a few days earlier began musing aloud about how he’d be returning in a few weeks to buy a house and start a business… And then he did. It’s a regular phenomenon that begins to seem normal after you've heard enough stories and seen it for yourself.

Beautiful beaches are a dime a dozen in this region of the world, each claiming to be better than the next, but that’s not why people are so keen to overstay in Bali. There’s rapid growth taking over the island, causing more and more foreigners to make it their first or second home. It’s also not too expensive to build a villa or a business from the ground up in a popular neighborhood, which has led to a lot of forward-thinking entrepreneurs hopping from their ‘jungle’ to this one, packing and bringing their expertise and business acumen along with them. You’ll notice that developers and business owners across Bali all found success at one time or another elsewhere, but when the toxic grind of their respective environments became unbearable, they moved to Bali—having seen its potential—to begin their own business and start a new chapter. Honestly, encountering those that not only “bought the ticket, took the ride,” but actually stayed for the long-haul, is a powerful and relatable experience for any traveler, and even if you don’t see yourself going AWOL anytime soon, it’ll certainly get you thinking about it.

Although the pandemic might’ve slowed things down a bit, in its current stage of tourism development, according to many, Bali is ‘peaking’ to a degree due to its popularity and infrastructure. But aside from a few neighborhoods of Ubud, and maybe Seminyak, Indonesia hasn’t transformed into some of the miserable tourist traps you’ll find around countries like Thailand. A main reason is that the locals don’t seem to be jaded or corrupted by the tourism yet. Kind, genuine service and hospitality isn’t hard to come by at a decent price, and as long as you’re not a complete asshole, you’ll rarely encounter any hostility from locals. As I said, they're beautiful people, and as long as you do your part, they'll return all the the kindness you give.

Another factor has to do with why foreigners began moving to Bali in the first place. The growth of the expat population is undoubtedly driven by a very holistic, health –oriented, environmentally conscious crowd of people, and it has attracted creatives that embrace the local art community when they decide to build a new brick and mortar business in (u)budding neighborhoods. Those are the type of people you can attract when the barriers of entry are low, the cost of living is lower, and the quality of life is as good as it gets. Also worth noting is that the younger and older expat populations seem to coexist and thrive in the same habitat, creating an eclectic social scene that’s rarely just one specific age or geo-demographic of people.

When my Dad talks about falling in love with southern California in the 70’s, I can’t help but think the current state of Bali is the closest thing to it. Thousands of people flock to Bali, and many simply refuse to leave. For those who do, all it takes is a simple, unreasonable price tag or transaction, and suddenly we're Indonesia Dreamin' all over again.