After spending six weeks in the US for work, I am finally “home” in Bali. Or I should say I landed in Bali, I have been to the “Island of Gods” more than a dozen times, so I know a thing or two about this island. But I am not ready yet to be calling it home, simply because I don’t have a permanent place to stay… yet.

After three weeks of searching online at websites of agencies, contacting people on Facebook (where many advertisements can be found) and asking around in real life, I have yet to find a place that suits me. I have learned a few things during my search of a house or villa;

• First of all, since the borders are fully open again after Covid, Bali has seen a strong increase in tourists and expats, which is driving the price up tremendously. It is not uncommon to pay a monthly rent of 1200 to 1500 euro for a decent house or small villa. Not even big or extravagant.
• I like to stay on the East coast, in Sanur. Away from the large crowds and party people in the West (Kuta, Seminyak, Canggu, Pererenan). Sanur is one of my favorite places because I have all the conveniences of a big city close by, yet it is still relatively peaceful and quiet. Another bonus is the beach nearby. The drawback of Sanur is the fact there is not a lot of options to rent a place, so my options are very, very limited.
• It turns out I am rather picky about the place I am going to rent long-term. In the three weeks that I am here, I have had contact with dozens of people. Most places I rejected based on the photos alone. I have visited eight or nine places in person and although these places are all quite OK, they don’t give me that feeling of: ‘Yesss, this is definitely the one!!!’ And that is exactly the feeling I am looking for. I am a homebody, I like spending time indoors by myself, so the place needs to be more than just OK. It needs to be my home, not just a house.

With these lessons in mind, I have a few options; I increase my monthly budget; I expand my search area; I lower my living standard or I will remain patient and keep searching until something crosses my path. Increasing my budget is not really want I want to do, because it will limit other things I like to do. I am not ready to compromise on the location (not yet at least). Lowering my living standard is an absolute NO-GO, completely out of the question. So, I am left with only one option, and most of you know me, I am a calm and patient person and I will utilize these qualities. I will keep looking until I find something suitable, even if that means I am staying for several months in a cheap guesthouse or hostel. My patience has always paid off, and I am confident it will do so in my quest of house or villa-hunting.

House-hunting is not all I do of course. Reading books by the beach is something I enjoy doing. I get up early, around 6 am and start my day with yoga or doing other exercises like running or going to the gym. Eating healthy and delicious meals is a habit I picked up as well, although I have actually been doing that already for a long time; eating healthy.

The thing I am most proud of, and putting a lot my energy into; Saya sedang belajar bahasa Indonesia. In other words; I am learning the Indonesian language. I believe that any person living in a country for a longer period of time, should learn the language, or at least be able to have basic conversation. As an island that receives many tourists each year, the level of English in Bali is pretty good. But I want to go beyond basic conversations. Not only out of respect for the country, but mostly to make my life easier as well and I want to be able to mingle with the locals. Twice a week I drive all the way to the other side of the big city, to Canggu, where I am attending private classes at an Indonesian language school. The lessons are 1,5 hours and after only 3 lessons I feel improvement in my language skills and I am applying the new words in daily life.

Whenever there is time left-over in my busy schedule, I am trying to re-live my teenage years. As a sixteen-year-old boy, I used to have a 50cc Yamaha Aerox scooter and I have always really liked this bike. A 50cc bike is relatively small compared to the bikes here in Bali, where they are usually 125cc until 155cc. But when I found out that the Asian market has a bigger brother of the Yamaha Aerox scooter, I set my sights on this bike. I just have to have this fast, sporty and beautiful 155cc bike, if only for nostalgic reasons! The price for a new bike is 32 million Rupiah (approx. 2000 Euro). It is affordable, so I think I will go to the dealer soon and order one 😀

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