¶ Global Travel Adventures With Kristen and Carol
Hi , welcome to our podcast when Next Travel with Kristen and Carol . I am Kristen and I am Carol , and we're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure . Each episode , we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next .
Today we're meeting with Sarah from Bali , and , sarah , we'll have you introduce yourself and tell how did you get to Bali .
Good morning , yeah so this is quite a story in January . Well , first of all , thank you for having me on . This is so much fun . I love getting to talk to other people and share everything about travel because I'm really passionate about it , clearly , since I made it kind of my entire lifestyle now . But , yeah , so I left home in January 2020 .
I'm from Syracuse , new York , but I was living in Boston at the time . I lived in Boston for about five and a half years . After college . I moved there . That's another story to move there without a job . So clearly I'm a very like , you know , let's just go do it type of person and kind of figure it out and see what happens .
But , yeah , so left home , I quit my job to go for an around the world trip .
So I booked a one way ticket to Vietnam , you know , enjoying my travels there , did about three weeks in Vietnam , a couple days in Cambodia and then was planning to only be in Thailand , you know , for about a month , and at that time it was in March and I remember , you know , things started to get a little sketchier .
We're like , oh , whatever , we'll be fine . I could tell I'll share the story later about kind of how I found out about COVID and where I was . But yeah , I remember I was in Thailand at the time and you know me and some friends were planning to meet down in the South that I had made in Vietnam .
We're going to have like this nice little reunion and like reunite and start traveling together again In union , and like reunite and start traveling together again . In an instant everything just completely changed . I know a couple that was from Canada . They were like we have to go home .
They're closing the borders in a week and we're like , near the end of our trip , like we got to go tomorrow , so they had to book a last minute flight . I remember we like scrambled to find a hostel , then woke up the next morning to sign , saying that all the hostels are closed , you can't stay here anymore .
So like okay , like now I have to go find a new place . But yeah , so it was like okay , now what do I do ? Do I stay , do I go ? And there was that whole like battle and can share more on that as well and obviously , ultimately , ultimately , I decided to stay and had the most incredible time , amazing people .
So I lived in Thailand for about a year and a half and then I moved to Bali a little over two months ago just to kind of like get one more country in before I head home for a couple months in November , since it'll be almost two years and I promised my family I'd be home for Thanksgiving .
So going to do , you know , home for a couple of months and then move on to the next adventure . So that's a little like broad overview of the little journey and like happy to expand on some of those like little stories that are in there Love it .
So what's your next adventure when ? What do you have you ? That's so cool , you're already thinking about it .
It's so funny Whenever someone's like , oh , like , have you ever been here ? I'm like no , it's on the list . Or like my list is never ending there . The list I could give you is the one that I places . I'm like not interested in going in and eventually I'm sure someone will tell me a story and that place will get added to the list .
So it's just , I love it so much , it's such a great time .
But yeah , so I'm planning to go home in November for November , through like February , I have a friend's bachelorette , my 30th so I'm like let's , I want to celebrate the friends and family back home , so I'll do that and then most likely head to Central and South America for a couple months , then back up for a friend's wedding in July and then most likely
head back out in this direction . I think I'll have a lot of friends that making their way back to Thailand and Bali and things like that , and there's so much that I didn't get to do on this leg of my trip . But again , the beauty is that I'm committed to being a digital nomad , so traveling is my lifestyle .
So it's not like I'm constrained by like I have to hit these places . I kind of get the freedom to be like it's okay , it'll still be there .
Yeah , that's so awesome . So how do you financially support yourself while you're out and about ?
Yeah , so initially the plan was you know what I'll just kind of do more of the backpacker style , so staying at hostels , which I love and highly recommend anybody do . It's incredible and you can find really , really nice ones . We could talk more about that . That's a whole like topic on its own .
But yeah , so the plan was just kind of do like low budget travel , do that volunteer places and then maybe do a couple like freelance jobs here and there . I do graphic design work . At least at the time that was kind of my thought . I'll be like I have like one or two clients , I'll make a couple bucks to not like blow through my entire savings .
I volunteered at at a hostel for a month . I volunteered at a dog shelter for a month , so just ways to kind of offset costs . But obviously , as you know , covid happened . It became more of a permanent thing and I was like no , I want to be a digital nomad , like I want to live this lifestyle .
So I went all in , I was doing like I mentioned was a graphic graphic designer and I just went all in and like really like studied and got a coach , all that great stuff to really become a brand specialist . So that's what I do now . I help other , like solopreneurs and coaches , really build that magnetic tribe building brand storytelling and design to do that .
And it's my favorite thing , like I literally get to do something I'm really passionate about and love and help others like live their dreams to , whether it's like getting more financial freedom to travel , like I do , or just spend more time with their families . So it's amazing I get to do my dream while helping others live theirs too I .
I have so many questions I don't know .
Just like I .
I , I , I hear Bali . I've never been there . I think my my brother's a jet pilot , so he's traveled all over the world . I feel like he sent me a postcard from here one time when I was , when we were really young , and like , uh , it just looks amazing , so it's um , I was looking , hold on , I was looking and it looks like it's near Australia .
It's still relatively far . And Indonesia is huge , right like there are so so many islands , and Bali alone is one island and that island alone is huge . So it's a it's a big place .
There's so much to see for sure yeah , and why did you pick Bali , and what do you love most about it ?
yeah , I think , uh , part of it was like , okay , I want to get to just one more place before I kind of , you know , go home for a little bit just to like feed that like adventure in me , and I just kind of was ready to change things up a bit .
And honestly , the country was open , it looked beautiful and , like I said , pretty much everywhere is on my list so I'm like great , can go here and enjoy it . So that was . It was kind of like a perfect opportunity . Of course , while I got here as immediately was in a little bit of a lockdown . So it's been a bit of an adjustment .
Just to you know , obviously , anytime you go somewhere , it's an adjustment to kind of figure out , okay , how's my life going to look , how can I get into flow again , like with my work , life balance and figuring out how can I work and enjoy and meet people . So it was definitely a little bit harder to kind of get in that flow all here .
But Bali itself is beautiful . I mean , everything is just gorgeous . It's like everything feels really big and epic , like whenever you go see it , whether it's a waterfall or a landscape , just everything feels a little epic , like the coastlines and everything . So it's a really beautiful place and it's great to adventure .
That's kind of my like on the weekends , especially now . I think I figured out I have about six weeks left here , so I'm like , okay , like every weekend I need to be doing something . Like this weekend I'm going diving at a shipwreck , which is amazing .
I'm super excited for that , and yeah , so like then the next week I'm like , okay , I to go see this temple . So there's so much to do and see . And that's just Bali , not even Indonesia . And like my Indonesia bucket list is like three times as long . Yeah , it's an amazing country .
On the weekends you travel . So during the weekdays you're focused on work , and then , or what do you ? How is that ? How's your schedule ? I'm just curious .
Yeah , setting it up perspective Right . So that's , I mean I'm my own boss , so I get to decide . So I totally could be like you know what I want to go travel for Monday through Wednesday . So that means I'll work Thursday through the next Monday . So I'll work through the weekend . It all depends , and if I have more client work that'll be more demanding .
So then I'll probably most likely just stay work during the week and enjoy the weekend . So I get to really structure the things I want to . Right now I'm really trying to focus on my business a lot , so I am trying to give more structure .
So , okay , during Monday through Friday work , but I have like blocked out on my calendar , for on on Friday is when the weekend starts for me . Like I'm forcing myself to do that . I have blocked out .
So , like only Tuesday through Thursday can people put calls Because , like for me , since I'm on the other side of the world , you know I'll take calls in the morning or late at night . So I'm trying to protect myself in certain ways and that's something that , just as I've started doing more , I'm like okay , I need to figure out what's going to work for me .
That's fair to clients but also fair to myself . So it's definitely . You know , you have to have a lot of discipline and you have to be really passionate about it . Because you have to want to do this , because no one's going to make you do it besides yourself , even with client obligations , whatever it is like , you have to really want to do it .
Where are most of your clients ? Are most of them in the US or Europe or Australia ?
All over . I've had clients that were in Australia back home , friends that I met in Thailand , so it really runs the gamut and it's just a matter . That's why , like , scheduling is super important . Tools like Calendly come into play , like so they're like , I wouldn't be able to live without Calendly . So I'm just like listen , here's my schedule .
You pick a time that's going to work for you . If that means it's early for me or late for me , that's fine , but that's open on my calendar , so go ahead and book it . So yeah , I work with people all over the world , and that's the beauty of working from a laptop . As long as there's Wi-Fi , you're good to go .
And then I guess , other .
Yes , oh yeah , 100% . And especially , I mean , obviously , when you're in the like bigger areas , everyone speaks . You know really good English and I , even if no one does you figure out a way to communicate with people . There's either you know like , whether it's Google Translate , or just kind of being able to figure things out .
You know , it's just it's never I would say it's never really been an issue . You kind of find it with everything , and that's kind of why traveling is so cool .
Is you realize you're more capable than you think when you kind of put yourself out there and , like you try and navigate when your maps is down , or you know a rainstorm's coming , whatever it is , or you know trying to figure out how you get to the next destination . You are so capable of figuring things out because you kind of have to .
Language just never really becomes much of an issue .
Okay . And then what ? What sparks your interest in travel ? Like for me
¶ Travel Experiences and Business Ventures
. I grew up in Minnesota , went to Hawaii , had this opportunity during college , and then that opened up my eyes . I'm Minnesota , went to Hawaii , had this opportunity during college , and then that opened up my eyes . I'm like , oh my goodness , there's so much out there and I met people from all over the world visiting Hawaii and it was amazing .
So what was it for you ? Was it your family or friends , or watching videos and go ? I want that life .
Yeah , I mean , let's just say the fact that I took this trip was not a surprise to anybody in my family or friends or anyone in my sphere is like , yeah , that that adds up , that makes sense . Uh , I think , you know , we definitely did trips when I was younger with my family , so that definitely exposed me to it .
Uh , when I , you know , started working , I was taking advantage of all of my vacation days and booking trips . I would book . You know I remember I was like , oh , memorial , all of my vacation days and booking trips I would book .
You know I remember I was like , oh , memorial Day weekend , I'll book a trip to Mexico City and like whoever wants to come can come . So I was always , you know , booking the trips and being like I'm going , whoever wants to come is welcome .
So I think I don't know if it's just like in my DNA I know my uncle like did an around the world trip back in the day . You know my trip back in the day . You know my aunts and everyone . So it's just , maybe it's just part of my family's DNA , I don't know , but it's just kind of always been in me to enjoy travel .
Is that a thing still ? I remember when I did some backpacking in my 20s . It was a thing that you buy out around the world ticket and you stop . I mean , digital nomad is so big these days . Do you still hear people doing that around the world ticket ?
I don't know if people necessarily buy the around the world ticket , but a hundred percent Like when I started I was just backpacking and that's all that's . Who I met in the beginning was just other backpackers that were just like , yeah , let's go on a trip around the world and travel around .
People have been traveling for two years , three years or just started . So it is well alive and good and , like I said , there are so many ways to do it and I know a lot of people feel like , oh , I need to have X amount of money saved up , like I need a lot of money to be able to travel long-term . But the truth is you really don't .
Like you can stay at hostels , especially in southeast asia , if you're in vietnam , for like two or three dollars a night , like food is like to this day still to the states . Two three dollars yeah and like food is like cents , it's like . It's amazing . Like I said , you can volunteer .
I volunteered at a hostel for a month so I got to stay there for free and got you know a little bit of money for food . So there's so many ways you can do it . It's just figuring out the best way that's going to work for you and what budget you have .
Wow .
That's amazing .
I did have a question . I was just curious from a client perspective . How did you ? How do you find your clients ? How do you book your business , or as a referral or just a repeat business ? I was just curious from that standpoint of someone who may be interested but too afraid to like , not knowing where to start .
Yeah , I think when starting , like reach out to your network , that's a great way to begin and see , like , who might be interested and be less focused on necessarily making money . When you're just starting and get that experience and , you know , figure out what's going to work for you .
Obviously , when you get to a different point , when you're ready , like okay , I'm going to go all in and make this a business , there's a whole process behind that , you know . Like hiring a coach is always recommended , like getting clear on your niche , all that great stuff . But as far as for me , getting clients like that is part of being a business owner .
You have to do lead gen , you have to do sales , like you wear all of the hats in your business . So for me , it's reaching out to people on Instagram . It's putting out content , it's going on different podcasts , doing all the things reaching out to people on Instagram . It's putting out content .
It's going on different podcasts , doing all the things reaching out to people , hosting workshops , webinars , all that great stuff . Because now and this was when I was just doing freelancing it was more like oh , someone posted on Facebook , I can do that , or like a referral . But now that I'm more of like an actual like full on business and all in .
It's the same as it would be for any business . So lead gen , sales , everything .
Okay , and if anyone wants to reach out to you need some branding help . Solo boss design co on Instagram .
Yes , that's a great way to get in touch with me or my website . Solo boss designco .
Very good , Cool . All right , let's get more into details about Bali . How long have you been there now ? Just about two months . Okay , that's a pretty good amount of time . So we want to know about food safety , weather , best time of year to go wherever . You want to start with one of those .
Yeah , let's see .
So I think the pictures on here that I'm looking right now . I just have a map and it looks like artwork . It's so beautiful .
I think , like I said , everything is epic , it's just like like , everything is just like . Oh , that is a sight I would say . Like , food wise , I definitely got more into the Thai food than necessarily the Indonesian food . I'm slowly getting into it .
I think where I'm staying in , canggu is like a city , so very westernized , and that's what I found is like you can get any type of food you want , but as far as Indonesian food can be a little spicy . So just be warned of that . And weather wise time of year , I would say this is getting on onto the edge of when rainy season is about to start .
So I think the next couple months from like November to , I think , maybe February , maybe even a little bit into March , is when the rainy season is . That can be a good time . If you're looking to get things a little bit cheaper , a little , you know , less crowded , you could definitely do that .
And I think with anything when you think of rainy season , it's going to rain , but usually it's not like all day , every day . It's just a little bit , you know , spotty , and you're going to get rain that probably at some point during the day , and it might not be fun some weeks .
So it's a little more of a gamble if you come during that time , and I think the rest of the year is a little bit more dry season . So I mean , even today it's raining a little bit . So you just kind of make it work and figure out . You know how you can see things . Let's see what else . What other questions ? Well , back to the weather .
So is it prone to hurricanes and typhoons ?
No , I'm not 100% sure . I do think it gets some pretty torrential downpour for sure , and I think it . I think it's had some pretty rough storms in the past . Okay , what's the temperature like ? Um , it's hot . I think , honestly , thailand was hotter and more humid . I think I haven't looked at a you know thermometer in a while .
I've been in Southeast Asia now for almost two years , so I'm just kind of used to the temperature . It's just kind of like yeah , you know it's , but actually Bali is feels less humid and not quite as hot as Thailand did , so probably in the eighties .
But then obviously , if you go up to different areas and get more into the mountains , the temperature drops pretty quickly .
And then , since you've been there for two years , have you seen ? Has there been any torrential storms and other things like that ?
That's what I was asking at the same time rainy season then , and you know you're driving and streets get flooded and you have to turn around and find a different way because you can't really make it through there . So it's definitely part of it . I've definitely gotten caught in plenty of rainstorms when driving around on my scooter .
You know that's not , it's never fun and it's pretty painful to drive in the rain . But sometimes you're like , well , there's nowhere really to stop or hide . I guess I just got to keep going to make it home .
Totally , totally , carol , do you want to ask a ?
question .
So I heard scooters , so is that your main way of transportation ?
Yeah . So when I was in Vietnam , I learned how to drive a scooter and that is now my new favorite thing and the best way to get around . Obviously , in Southeast Asia , that is like the best way to do it , yeah , and like .
So say someone was going to go visit , say I want to go work there for two months , just to , you know , get a break and get a change of scenery . Do I need a vehicle ? Is public transportation viable in this town that you're in , or what town is it better in ?
Or do people like rent cars or cars , just you know , expensive , or what's transportation like in general ?
yeah , so I'm . I'm pretty sure there is some sort of like bus system I haven't just when you're like more in like the bigger city area , um , but there's , it's called gojek or grab and that's basically like uber and lyft , so super cheap , but there's bikes so you can literally go somewhere for a couple cents .
So that's a great way to get around if you're not comfortable and actually renting a scooter super cheap . But there's bikes so you can literally go somewhere for a couple cents . So that's a great way to get around . If you're not comfortable and actually renting a scooter , you can rent a bike or rent a car very affordable to do not a problem .
But yeah , those are kind of the two ways if you're not comfortable with renting and riding a scooter .
Okay , and before I forget , I was curious do you to work there , short term , long term , do you need a visa or what's the kind of how do you work ?
there . Yeah , so every country has their own rules and regulations and all that stuff . So technically , you know , as a digital nomad , there's no from . In most countries . There's no real digital nomad visa . In some countries there are . That's kind of the new thing , so it is you have to be a little bit careful if you're going to be like working online .
Just In most countries there's no real digital nomad visa . In some countries there are . That's kind of the new thing , so you have to be a little bit careful if you're going to be working online , just have to be a little smart about it . And I would never really try to work with anybody in Indonesia or the country I'm in .
It's more like , ok , I'm working with people other places , just to not feel like you're taking money from someone actually in the country you're in . So you have to be a little bit careful of that .
And then each country , depending on where you're coming from and where you're like , which country you're going into , will have different rules about how long you can stay , either visa free or how long your visa is . But most visas , last you know , anywhere from one month to two months for Americans tend to be I think Vietnam was , you know , a month .
And then Thailand you got a month and like that was a whole mess because during COVID , you know , usually for visas you have to do visa runs , you have to leave the country at a certain point and then come back and because of COVID we couldn't do that .
So luckily in Thailand they gave us a major extension and let us stay visa free for several months and then eventually kept letting us extend . So that was beautiful . And then in Indonesia I got a six month business visa because they don't have a tourist visa right now . So I'm able to come here for six months .
You know you pay for the visa up front and then you get each month . You have to pay for the visa after that . So that is a big component when you're looking to travel long-term . It's just you have to kind of research and see what's going to best fit for what your plans are . There's always a way to do it .
You just kind of have to do a little research to figure out what's going to work for the time length you want to stay .
Just curious also when you say Indonesiaonesia and bali and thailand and everything so bali's in indonesia and is that the country and bali's an island feels like it's an island or a state within indonesia . Is that how you say ?
that . Yeah , so indonesia is the whole country . There's like hundreds of islands , such a big country . There's millions and millions of people in Indonesia . And then Bali is one island , uh , within Indonesia , and it's one island , and I'm not .
I don't know if they consider it like a state , I'm not quite sure what they refer to it as , but it's within , like a , you know , a region , and they have a name for the region and like that includes different areas too . Okay , and what's the town that you're in ?
So I'm in Canggu right now and that is , you know , very like hip , you know very westernized city , like almost so tons of restaurants .
All everything you could ever imagine is here , and what
¶ Living and Exploring Bali With Kristen
part of the island is that ? Is that down South , then I can't find it quite yet .
Yeah . So it's kind of yeah , it's not all the way down in the South . That's , uatu is all the way down . More in the South you know a little bit closer to where the airport is . So it's like if you look at Bali , there's like that smaller bit of the Island and then it goes up into the bigger part . So it's in kind of the South West a little bit .
And so how do you spell that , is it ? C-a-n-g-g-u okay , how is it in terms of um , uh , housing and um , I don't know , you know , cost of living there also crime , you know what ? What does uh thai food ? It sounds like thai food is what you're eating . What are typical meals that you would eat . So the kind of basics yeah .
So for food , I love local food here . A chicken satay is delicious , there's um like fried rice , which is really good , and like fried noodles . So those are kind of the main ones that I've been having . I haven't delved as deep into Indonesian food as I did with Thai food . For Thai food I would say cow soy is the most amazing dish you'll ever have .
You can only get it in the north . It's like this noodle curry dish with like coconut . It's just amazing . It's like crunchy noodles on top . It's spicy and I don't do spicy but I have like trained myself to eat it because it is so good . So you have to get that . You know , in Chiang Mai or Chiang Rai .
So those are the bigger cities in the north in Thailand . For Bali , like I said , I don't eat too much of the local food yet it's just there's so much Western food here and it's easy with you know , gojek , you just order on your phone and it's there in seconds . So I've been a little bit lazy as far as that goes .
And then what about housing ? What's a typical when do people live ? Is it just regular apartments or houses , and then costs to stay there .
Yeah . So I think with COVID has been very lucky because things are , you know , discounted , whether it's food or places to live . So right now I'm in kind of like a guest house type setup . So I have like a nice little room . It has a rooftop , a pool or a community kitchen . There's about I think , 10 to 12 people that live in this like guest house type .
It's like a little apartment , um , and I'm paying um about 250 us a month and it has a pool , a rooftop , so it's like it's a beautiful little spot .
It's a small room but it works , um , and then obviously you can get beautiful villas is definitely a big thing in Bali and you , you know , if you get enough big enough villa with enough people , spend a couple hundred bucks a month , a little obviously more than I'm spending now . You know a couple hundred bucks for the month .
You know there's so many different options . Again , you can stay in hostels for a couple bucks a night . Is it really ? You can , you know , go luxury , like I've splurged on Airbnbs for the weekend , or really nice . You know , hotels for the weekend that you know obviously are more expensive . What's a splurge ? I got to hear what the splurge is . Splurge .
I gotta hear what the splurge is . Well , even that , like I booked a , I stayed at a really cool Airbnb the other weekend and typically I think it's like you know , 100 something , maybe for the weekend , or I don't even .
I can't even remember what it was , but I think I spent closer to maybe like 80 or 90 bucks for the weekend , like something like that , so you can find really affordable things .
Or I know if anyone's watched Vacation Rentals on Netflix , one of the places I stayed I didn't stay at one of the places there , but I stayed at a place like around the corner of this Airbnb . I was talking about the same area , but the place that's on that show is a couple hundred bucks a night .
So there it definitely ranges and you can find things that are going to be luxurious , but obviously it's still a lot cheaper than it would be back home . So that splurge is kind of like you know what this is a really cool experience . Sometimes you know you kind of need to do it so you save money in other places .
You know you stay at cheaper hostels most of the time so that you can enjoy that really cool experience .
I didn't know about this show . I'm gonna have to . I like to watch House Hunters International , but they don't . They don't cover that much in an episode , right , there's like you can see three houses and there's the backstory . So this vacation rentals do they go all over the world ?
Yeah , they go all over the world . World . I think the first episode is actually in , uh , bali , and they do three different places and they're all like beautiful epic kind of setups and then we're looking at these pictures online with all , like the dancers and the , the headdresses .
I mean , do you see that normally , or is that just for a special event or a wedding , or maybe at a ceremony , or is it kind of like around you ?
yeah , I mean you definitely . I mean I don't not the full like dress and like the dancers and stuff like that . That's more of like going to a special maybe ceremony or something like that . But there's people walking around all the time . Um , a bit at least in on Bali , big Hindu culture .
It's called the island of the gods because every kind of home has their own temple and like like it's very , you know , in tune with that . So there's definitely a lot of Hindus walking around and they're in their traditional dress , whether they're going to a ceremony at a temple .
So it's really cool , like I'll be working at a cafe and then all of a sudden a procession comes by and it's always fun to kind of see , you know , the different cultures that are going around around you .
What's the fabric that they ? Is it like bright and shiny , or is it just kind of like what are the typical colors , or you know ?
what they wear . Yeah , it's a little more subtle . It's usually a little darker .
There's like black and white , like checkered pattern , um , versus Thailand , which is a lot more bright and , um , a little more like vibrant in Thailand , the color so , and actually even like the temples , like at least in Bali , it's a lot more like stone and brick and things like that and versus .
And then there's like beautiful flowers and all this stuff , and then Thailand is a little more like a lot of bright colors , really intricate temples , so very different styles .
I'm looking at the pictures here , and , and , and almost feels like half the pictures . There's this one temple that's on the water side and the only thing I can describe it it looks like a black ice cream cone .
Yeah , I think I know which one you're talking about . Yeah , where is that ? You know , I'm not 100% sure . I think I have it marked on my google maps because Bali and Indonesia has been bitten , been in a lockdown . I haven't been able to explore as much as I would like , but the temples do seem to be open now .
So now that I have my like six weeks left , I'm like all right , let's go , do all the road trips and get to see everything so I can report back if I make it to that one .
Totally . I see it says well , I think it's a website that says 11 , myanmar when I hovered over it , but all the they're all different names , so I was just curious . But yeah , it looks very popular because it's in most of the pictures here .
Yeah , bali is very , very popular destination , so I'm lucky to see it right now because , like I'm going to waterfalls and me and my friend are the only ones there , or there's just a handful of people and able to take , you know , beautiful photos , and I know we went to a waterfall last weekend and she's been to Bali before . She was like in 2019 .
All of this greenery was like not here , because there were so many influencers coming and their dogs and everything and just like trampled everything and now it's like beautiful lush growing back . So it's been really an amazing experience this past like two years almost getting to see places without tourists . Like it has been such an amazing experience .
I can imagine what about like . So what are the great the hotspots that you have ? Like that people , if we were traveling there , would want to see and and also like the . What do people do when they come there ?
Snorkeling , I'm assuming , because it just looks beautiful , but or diving , or what are the typical things that people like to do when they come there and snorkeling
¶ Bali Travel Experiences and Safety
, I'm assuming , because it just looks beautiful , but , or diving , or what are the typical things that people like to do when they come .
Yeah , so in Bali there's so much to do so it's like waterfall chasing going on , pretty epic hikes , a lot of sunsets and sunrises . Uh , if you , you can go snorkeling . If you're like me , you can do some diving , which is incredible .
I learned how to dive while I was in Thailand and that's like my new favorite activity and highly recommend to anybody that's interested . Yeah , bali I mean Indonesia is huge . You can do like paragliding . You can really do anything you could ever imagine . You could probably find a place to do it .
You could take art classes , you know , whatever , whatever it is , it's , it's probably here .
Sounds amazing , and how big is the island ? Like I know , you know I'm in Maui . You can drive around the island and flowers or whatever . How large is Bali ?
I think it's much larger than that , but it was just curious in terms of you know , you know getting across it and how long it takes and all that good stuff yeah , I'm not sure exactly how long it takes , but just for reference , like so where I am and going up to kind of the next big you know area , so I'm in Canggu and then kind of the next popular
area is Ubed that takes a little over an hour . And then to go like even further up to like the Mount Batur , which is , I think I'm not sure if it's the biggest island on or biggest mountain on Bali , but it's a very popular sunrise hike , that would be like almost like another hour and that's , um , not even quite to the top of the island from the two .
So it's definitely like from top to bottom couple hours and I'm I have no idea how long a cross it would take , but I don't think you could do it in a day . You probably could , but you'd be pretty exhausted well , it looks like Maui in a way .
Yeah , it does kind of look like Maui . I was curious . What was that mountain called that ? You said like the for the sunrise or sunset yeah , uh , mount vittor how do you spell ? That v-a-t-u-r . Oh okay , just like it sounds vittor . And is there ? Is there crime there ? Is it safe to travel ? Women travelers ?
uh , single yeah , I think , uh , you have to be a little bit careful with , like pickpockets , I don't know .
I think , just because of COVID , things are a little more rampant , because it's a hard time for everyone and people are trying to , you know , live their life and a lot of people rely a lot on tourism , so their life's kind of been turned upside down , so there is a bit more of that .
So you do have to be a little bit careful in terms of that , like me , you know , don't leave your phone out , you know . Just , you know , be a little more aware .
And personally , I mean , I've been traveling solo for a while , like over the years , like , whether it's a short trip or a long trip , think that , as long as you're smart about things , you know , don't put yourself in kind of maybe not the smartest situations and just be aware of , like , maybe if there's a location you shouldn't be going to , um , but overall
places are safe . You just have to , kind of , you know , do do a little research and be aware . I think , as a female solo traveler , that's just kind of something you have to have in the back of your mind a little bit . But overall , yeah , very safe . Has your scooter ever been stolen .
No , nothing has been stolen and actually Thailand's incredible like , uh , you know , left phone someplace or whatever and nothing's taken . So Thailand was definitely a place like , especially living on a small island for a while like never really locked anything , anything like that and in Bali and Chiang Kuo it's just a bigger city kind of vibe .
So you know , just be , I don't do that here , but definitely Thailand was would leave stuff in my bike all the time and have no issue so , sarah , you seem very fond of Thailand .
Is it kind of it felt like , is that like your Asian home base , or you just yeah ?
I think it was such a such an experience , right ? So going through this whole thing of do I stay here , do I go , meeting all these people and kind of navigating COVID with strangers that became family . So Thailand is such a like .
I got to spend so much time there , I got to see almost like so much of the country and still so much I would love to see , so I really fell in love with Thailand . I mean , I never thought I would get a tattoo and I got a tattoo . So like there's just like things like that , like Thailand is always going to be a very special place to me .
Just this experience I can't really begin to like put it into words what it was like , but it's a crazy experience to go through such an uncertain time in the world with people that you just kind of met a couple , like days ago , like we met people and we moved like a friend . Tinder is kind of the way you met people , not even dating .
It's just like , okay , who's in the area ? When you're in Thailand , when things are kind of locked down , it's just like , okay , who else , who else is still here ? Like we're all the other , like you know , backpackers that have decided to stick it out . So my friends like connected with people . We went over to their villa for like a party and hung out .
And then hung out with them one more time . They're like do you guys want to all move in together for a month ? So like , yeah , let's do it . And like then spent months together .
We like moved to another island with everybody and like you have this whole community of people just kind of navigating this uncertain time together , trying to make the most out of the situation . All these people that you know had epic travel plans and life plans and things just kind of blew up in our faces .
So we're like , all right , let's , let's make the most of it and like , do things together and enjoy this experience as much as possible . So it's a very special place .
Yeah , it sounds like almost like you're like Gilligan's Island . You got like you're gonna stranded on this island from a shipwreck and you're all like how are we gonna ? Survive and oh my gosh , that's hilarious yeah , definitely , probably , definitely .
Moments could have been a reality show , for sure well , and I was .
You were saying something about um , asking you later about your COVID story . I don't know if you've shared it already and whether you're going to stay or go or some of those um experiences that you had yeah .
So I remember I was in Vietnam at the time I was doing . It's called the Ha Giang loop , which is a motorbike loop up in the North and it's one of the most amazing things you can ever do and highly recommend . You don't have to know how to ride a bike I didn't at the time . You get a rider and you just hop on the back of their bike and enjoy .
So if anyone's going to Vietnam , put that on your list because it's one of the most amazing , amazing things you'll do . When you say bike , is it like a motorbike or yeah , so it's more like a motorbike , even beyond a scooter . So it's like a real , like motorbike . Okay , what was it called again ?
So it's H-A and then G-I-A-N-G and then L-O-a-n-g and then l-o-o-p , like yeah , okay , got it . Okay . Yeah . So if anyone's going to Vietnam , put that on your list because it's amazing . But so we are on the loop and part of the experience is you're really close to the border with China and like , oh , there's like this little spot .
You can kind of like cross the border for like two seconds and be like you're like oh , I went into China . But that day where our guide was like oh , there's something like there's some sort of virus going on right now in China , there's some weird thing . So I just got a warning we're not gonna do that today . We're just gonna kind of avoid that area .
It's like okay , cool , whatever . And then , little did you know it's gonna be this whole whole uh you know world event for much longer than anybody expected , absolutely . That was kind of like when we first learned about COVID and I mentioned how I kind of was .
Like you know , I was kind of out running it and like you know , whatever it's not really going to matter . No , I'll just kind of keep traveling . It'll go away , yeah , and then , like out of nowhere , things just kind of change . You know , the hostel put the sign up , you got to leave and that was a . That was a fun time .
I think I was with four other travelers at the time and again , we're just kind of navigating this crazy thing , like , do you stay , do you go ? I know two of the girls we were with . They had like just started their trip . So they're like , do we stay for this ?
So the five of us ended up finding an Airbnb and we stayed in one room together with three beds at this kind of like little resort type thing , and for about 10 days . It's just kind of this like weird feeling . And you're like do I stay ? Do I go ? Like what am I doing ? Like everything's kind of shutting down , like what does this look like ?
I felt pretty determined . I remember , standing on the beach , I was on a phone call with my mom and you know having the discussion like what do I do ? Like what does this mean ? What does this look like ? And it came to the realization like I could go home and go back to Syracuse and , you know , stay with my mom .
I didn't have at that point I wasn't , you know , going all in on a business . I was like I don't have a job , I don't have a place to live , like it just nothing about going home really sounded like it was going to be a good choice .
And if I was going to be quarantined , I'd rather be doing it while getting to stare at the ocean and be on the beach . At least , if I couldn't do anything , at least I could enjoy some sunshine . So I was like you know what ? I'm going to stay . I was able to convince my friend to stay with me too .
So the two of us were like all right , let's do this thing . So we were staying on one Island in Thailand and the South and then we decided to hop on to a different one . Just that was just next door because it had a hospital and airport . We're like okay , we'll go to the bigger Island , so easier if anything happens . And you know that was kind of it .
From there we kind of made it work . We started meeting other people and really formed this crazy , like quarantine family of going through the craziness together .
And how was that ? Was it kind of like ? I mean , was there some I don't want to say fear , but just not knowing right , you don't know and how it's going to affect ?
And did it hit where you were , like not knowing right , you don't know and how it's going to affect , and did it hit where you were like you know , was there cause I know here in California got hit really hard and the you know hospitals got totally , you know , filled . And so how was how ? Was COVID there ?
Yeah , I mean there was definitely like nervousness and fear , especially in the beginning , not really knowing like what this actually was going to look like . And I know I have underlying health conditions , so I was like a little like even more concerned . I was like , okay , like what does this mean ?
But thankfully Thailand did a really good job in the beginning of shutting things down and especially out on the islands . I think the bigger cities , you know , had more of an issue , but the islands were pretty good . There were hardly any cases for most of the past , like year and a half .
So I know , like the one , one of the islands , not the one I started on , uh , koh Phangan , that one didn't have any cases until the past like couple months . And then like Koh Samui , which is the bigger island , which is where I was , uh , for the beginning of the lockdown and all that stuff , I think had a handful of cases as well .
But I was thinking things were kind of closed and you kind of made the most of it and you , you know you wore a mask , you did your thing , but for the most part you were still able to , you know , live your life because you kind of met other people we would have , you know , villa parties , um , and you know , go on little boat tours or things like that .
I do remember . I think the only time was like once or twice they're like there's going to be an alcohol ban , so everyone's like , oh my god , no . And then like didn't really make a big deal , like it was totally fine for like a week or something . It was like , okay we're .
So I definitely lucked out in the fact that my lockdowns and , you know , experiences like that were not that horrible .
And then I just saw somewhere that Bali might be opening back up for Americans . Have you heard about that ? What's the latest ?
Yeah , I think it's always changing and you know , I think since things started they've been saying next month we're going to open , next month we're going to open , but I think they're getting closer . They've done a really good job vaccinating people here , so I do think it's going in the right direction and I think they're planning in October .
I don't think to tourists , but you know they suspended the type of visa that I came on . You couldn't get it anymore , but they just reinstated that Right now the Bali airport is still closed but is rumored to open in October . So we'll see , we'll see for the news when that happens .
I think it's hard with everything and everywhere it's just things are changing so quickly . It hard to necessarily uh , put too much stock in things until it actually happens and is the news in english , if you watch it on tv um
¶ Global Travel Insights and Experiences
, I do not watch news on tv , but you can definitely find yeah , yes , but you can definitely . You know there's Facebook groups and everything , so if there's something in Indonesian people you know are able to like , translate it into the English and it's great yeah definitely . You can find out anything .
Okay , so what do you do about health insurance ? I've heard of , like safety wing and these other like I don't know , remote worker health . Do you just like tap into what you had from college ? No , probably not anymore .
No , definitely not from college anymore .
So how do you , what do you do for health insurance ?
Yeah , so if anyone's looking to travel long term , 100% get health insurance . You're gonna need it whether something actually happens or not , you're gonna to have . You need it just in case . Um , I know plenty of other , especially out in , like Southeast Asia .
Infections are really easy to get bike accidents , whatever it is so you definitely want to have that insurance . Um , I personally looked up um using in Sioux by and like looked on there to find a plan that was going to work for me . Um , but safe doing is really really popular and probably I'll look into that more .
Cause when I first got my insurance , I wasn't really thinking , you know , long , long-term like lifestyle . It was more like , okay , for the year , I just need something , so I'm covered . So I'll probably look into , uh , something else that's a little more robust . Uh , for my , my new lifestyle .
What's safety wing ? I've never heard of that .
It's just an insurance company , okay .
For travelers or something .
Yeah , it's really popular with travelers .
So digital nomad ? I asked just random people Cause I listened to a lot of digital nomad stuff so it's pretty top of mind for me . But I asked people like I don't know what that is , or they think of it just like a younger person . You know , maybe someone like you know , a graphic designer , photographer , travel writer .
But what other professions do you see some of these digital nomads doing ? Because I assume it it's , it's very , it can be very professional , um , it coders , et cetera . What are some of the jobs that you see people do that are digital nomads ?
Yeah . So there's coaches , there's coders , there's um . You know crypto . It's kind of its own little subsect of you know the digital nomad worlds , but crypto is really huge . Um taught travel photographers you know more of that like kind of travel influencer type vibe um .
Taught travel photographers you know more of that like kind of travel influencer type vibe um . Website designers , graphic designers uh , online teaching . That's kind of shifted a little bit because of the crackdown from China with their program . So that's been an interesting shift for people I know Um .
And then there , you know , that's more of the digital nomad thing . If you can work from your laptop , you're good .
And then I've met people that you know they're because of COVID , they've been able to work remotely and I've been like , okay , I'm going to go somewhere for a month and , you know , try it out , maybe not full-time digital nomad , but definitely being able to have a bit more flexibility with where they're working from . So people do everything . People own stores .
Like , if you can work online and you figure out a way to make your schedule work , you can , you can do it right .
And what about the ages of digital nomads ? Because I feel like there's like I see this new retirement where , like I , you know , once my kids are off to college , now I can work from my laptop and go anywhere . Do you see the older generation , your parents' , age people out ?
there doing this 100% . I see all age ranges and it was really cool , especially when I was in Thailand , because I haven't gotten to do it so much here just because it was in a lockdown . But there's digital nomad meetups so you're able to meet other people that are 10 steps ahead of you , a couple of steps behind on the sameup .
So you're able to meet other people that are , you know , 10 steps ahead of you , a couple of steps behind on the same level . So you meet people from all different stages of life , all different stages in their business , and it's great to learn from different people .
So I've definitely met people that are , you know , years older , same age and even people younger than me . So you can definitely meet tons of different types of people you know , from different corners of the world , different perspectives , so it's a really eye opening experience .
Yes , yes , you say what those are families . I was just curious is it just usually single people , or is it like couples and families too ?
Yeah , it's everything . There's couples , there's families , other people that are single , so again , it's all different people coming together with this , like the common love for travel .
Love it , love it , love it . Okay , well , we're almost at the end of our hour , so I have some rapid fire questions , just that we ask everyone . So popular religion there , and do you see people recognizing them , identifying themselves as Buddhist or other religions ?
Yeah , so Indonesia itself is a Muslim country , but there's a lot of Hindu as well , so it's both of those .
And we already talked about your foods , but what did you have for breakfast this morning ?
I actually haven't had breakfast yet .
Okay , yesterday , what's a ?
typical breakfast for you . I've been really bad lately and I've been going out for breakfast , but usually maybe either smoothie or , you know , some sort of eggs on toast , something like that .
So you can get really anything here ? Or if .
I'm good , I'll have yogurt and granola in the fridge .
Okay , and is the ? Is the fruit other countries we've talked in , either tropical , like everyone's , like , the fruits are amazing . Do you have a lot of really amazing fruits in Bali as well ?
Yeah , really , really fresh , delicious fruit , for sure .
Okay , awesome . And what's the music ? Do you listen to Western music , or is there some kind of local BTS Bali version or something ?
You know , I haven't really noticed that mostly Western music . Or if you're going to like a club or whatever , there's usually a theme night , so you know it's uh , whatever the theme is , I guess . Or if it's like a techno night , whatever it is , but yeah , definitely western music .
I haven't really noticed any local music yet is there good club dancing in Bali ? there are a lot of bars and clubs here , for sure , and a lot of pool bars and pool , like you know , day clubs type thing . So there's a lot of different styles you can get into here .
Nice , very nice . Okay , and what's the money called there , rupia ? Okay , and what's that Is it ? Does it change all the time or is it tied to the dollar ? We've been talking to a lot of people where their money is tied to the U ? S dollar . Isn't it interesting ? Their money is tied to the US dollar .
Isn't that interesting . You know , I'm actually not 100% sure , but when I was in Thailand I had the money conversion down . But since I've been here I haven't quite gotten as into the conversion yet , I think just because I knew I was only going to be here for a short time .
So I was like credit card money , let's just get it done , done you just pay credit card all the time and just like , yeah , I'll take money out and you know . Either way , whichever I have on me , and you mentioned crypto .
Do you see in your travels people are using crypto to pay for things .
I'm still a little fuzzy on the whole crypto no , I haven't seen anyone really paying for it , but I do see a lot of people working in it . I'm not 100% sure on it either , but yeah , it's definitely it's a thing , but I don't really know what the thing is .
Right , exactly , all right . And then what's the surfing like there ? What's the closest ?
you know surfers and it looks like I would assume it'd be a good place . Yes , surfing is really really popular , something I'm hoping'm hoping , hoping to . You know , take a couple lessons before I leave , um , but just down the street at the beach I can go really surfing anywhere .
It's about like maybe a minute drive for me to get to the beach where people can surf . So surfing is really popular . Um , in uluwatu really big there , um , people didn't change it , but yeah , it's super popular surfing , big surfing culture here all right , Kristen , any last questions ?
no , she's answered all of them . It's amazing . I was really looking forward to Bali . There's a lot of countries we've explored and they're all they've all been amazing . Uh , Bali to I grew up in Redona beach in Southern California and beaches to me I don't know .
I think Bali and I was like oh my gosh , it's like I'm going to get a mini vacation tonight , so thank you A lot , of , a lot of black sand beaches here oh there's a lot of volcanic action over here , so so there's live volcanoes there . Yeah , I think there are . I don't know if on Bali , but in Indonesia for sure there's still active volcanoes .
But , yeah , a lot of black sand beaches .
Oh sounds beautiful . I can't wait to go and visit , for sure .
Yeah , definitely make it on the list .
Yeah , well , thank you . Thank you so much , sarah , thank you so much . Sarah , what a pleasure . It was so nice to meet you and , yeah , thank you , this is great . So impressed with you , by the way , I mean I , you know I've done little trips here and there , but I just am so impressed and how brave , and especially during COVID , I couldn't imagine .
You know your parents also like you know , down in my kid .
I'd be like okay , I got to go to to Bali right now I'm just gonna make sure my mom's had one or two like freak out moments . But then we kind of like , okay , it's gonna be okay . Like one thing started when the new variant came out , was like I think you should come home because Bali wasn't doing great .
But I was like , okay , it's gonna be bad in the states too . Like if anything you've seen , like if it ends up being bad one place , it ends up being bad everywhere at some point . Yeah , it was just kind of like does it make sense to travel , like all that stuff ? So it's just kind of figuring out what's going to work .
My mom's definitely had some freak out moments , for sure .
Very impressed with what you've done yes , very much . I appreciate that .
Love the story and thank you so much for sharing , of course , and I hope that everyone realizes like it's not as scary or difficult as it and it as it kind of sounds . You know , you just kind of book the flight and figure it out from there yeah , I love .
I wrote this line that you said in the beginning . You are more capable than you think . I almost want to name this podcast that's so true , and uh , yeah , that's amazing . So thank you , so , so , so much . Thank you . This is great . All right , take care Bye .
If you enjoy our podcast , be sure to subscribe to our show , rate us in your podcast app and follow us on Instagram at where next podcast . If you are interested in being a guest on our show or would like to nominate someone , please contact us on our website at wwwwhere next podcastcom . Thanks for listening , bye .