I traveled to Bali with my husband and young kids to decompress. 2 years later, we're still here.

18.10.2024 - 02:05 / insider.com

When we arrived in Bali, we had nine suitcases, one child getting over a cold, the other not sleeping through the night, and the hopes that a few months away might help us figure out our next steps. At least that was the plan.

After spending three years in Singapore for my husband's corporate assignment, we shipped all our belongings back to the US. My husband worked at a tech company, and I was a freelance photographer. Singapore was a great city to live in, but after a few years, it started to feel small and expensive.

Our plan was to spend a couple of months in Bali, gain some clarity about our next steps, and then return to our home in Colorado.

It's been two years, and we're still here.

As the weeks went by, and life slowed down, we realized we really liked it here. The cost of living is very attractive, and the food options are endless. We pay about $2,200 a month for a modern, three-bedroom house with a pool in Bali — one-third of what we were paying for an apartment in Singapore.

Food is a lot less expensive here as well. Our family of four can eat out at a Western restaurant for $30 and significantly less if we go with local food.

One expense that surprised me in Bali was school fees. While tuition is less than in Singapore — fees at the Singapore American School start at over $35,000 — international schools in Bali range between $3,000 and $20,000 a year. We're paying around $10,000 for our 7-year-old son.

A friend once told me that Bali either draws you in or pushes you out. We felt the pull. Our kids are still young, 4 and 7, making things like starting at a new school and making friends less of a challenge.

My husband and I were both at turning points in our careers. We decided it was the right place to build our new paths.

Over the past two years, we've realized just how much there is to do in Bali, and across Indonesia. In addition to regular dinners on the beach near our home in Sanur, and short drives to watch the sunset and surfers in Canggu, we're always exploring.

So far, we've hiked across the coffee plantations of northern Bali, swam with manta rays on Nusa Penida, sailed around Komodo Island, climbed volcanoes in East Java, and tubed through hidden WWII-era tunnels near Ubud.

Our new morning routine includes a family bike ride to school drop-off while passing Balinese neighbors who are attending ceremonies at the neighborhood temple. We buy coconuts from Nyoman — a wiry man in his 40s who rarely wears a shirt and keeps a pet squirrel on his shoulder — and look forward to his greeting each time we pass.

I love the way the streets transform with decorated bamboo poles during Galungan, a festival that takes place twice a year. Our daughter is learning Balinese dance at