The idyllic island of Bali seems poised to become the post-pandemic world’s epicenter for the hipster drifter with ‘digital nomadism’ finding a strong footing in the millennial lexicon.
By Raul Dias
“Trust me, it’s paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven’t tried before…”, says Leonardo Di Caprio’s mononymous character ‘Richard’ in the 2000 film The Beach. A backpacker cult classic, so ahead of its time that it effortlessly segues into the current milieu, exactly two decades later. A time when digital nomadism seems to be the way forward for millennials-on-the-go, as they chart their course in the (hopefully!) post-pandemic world. One that is ruled by the unholy trinity of anxiety, apprehension and uncertainty.
All this, while attempting to precariously juggle travel, work and a little adventure on the side. Constantly searching for their version of a modern-day Valhalla if you may. Nesting in places as far flung as Cancun in Mexico to Bali in Indonesia where tribes of wannabe digital nomad warriors like themselves—be they app developers, social media marketers or the ubiquitous travel vlogger–hunker down for extended periods of stay. Armed with their hi-tech weaponry and millennial coolth, ready to conquer the digital world and beyond, one oat milk latte at a time!
Digi go-go
Loath as I may be to admit, I am one of these people now. Even though I have been on the fringes of the digital nomadic lifestyle for nearly a decade as a freelance travel and food writer, setting up temporary ‘shop’ wherever I travel, I have somehow always found succor and comfort in being tethered to the familiarity of my writing desk, here in my home base of Mumbai. The fulltime, peripatetic lifestyle scene was not something I could wrap my head around for an assortment of reasons that seem trivial to me today.
Like a lot of things in our lives that have changed over the course of the tumultuous first half of this pandemic-ridden year, I have done a rethink. I guess it was the ennui resulting from five months (and counting) of suspended animation that has sealed the deal for me. I want…nay, need a change. “If I can work from home, I can work from anywhere”, is a mantra I now chant on a loop.
As we do a rethink—both about how we work and how we travel—an important realisation comes to the fore. The tradeoff by combining work with leisure over an extended period, while remaining socially distant is far greater than the ephemeral lure of a short trip. The latter no longer as attractive and realistic as before, what with mandatory Covid-19 testing and fortnight quarantines putting a kibosh on everything.
I am not alone in recognising this need of being untethered. Quick on the uptake and saddling up to this cultural sea change are countries like Estonia which recently announced a special long-term digital nomad visa. The eastern Caribbean island of Barbados too has unveiled a similar 12-month digital nomad work visa to allow visitors from all countries to live and work there, tax free.
Seas the day
But we need not look that far. As a frontrunner on the honeymoon-meets-family vacation scene for decades, the sea-n-surf paradise of Bali has had a facelift of sorts. Transforming itself into a hip digital nomad haven for the last couple of years, the Indonesian island is undoubtedly poised to become the post-pandemic world’s epicenter for the hipster drifter for a host of reasons that I will unspool shortly.
Exactly a year ago, back in the day when ‘Corona’ to me was just a brand of bottled beer, served with a wedge of lime bunged down its neck, I took a wee detour to Bali in the middle of a two-week-long work trip to Thailand. The purpose of my two-day trip to the island was to scope out an abridged version the digital nomadic lifestyle there as part of a writing project I was in consideration for. While said project did not work out, what I gleaned from that trip was a destination ripe for the picking.
Like almost every prospective digital nomad, I found myself in Canggu, Bali’s de facto digital nomad capital along the south coast of the island. A place that is relatively inexpensive to live and work in and easy to navigate around. I was there checking out the three main things a digital nomad in Bali seeks: accommodation, a place to work and something extra when R&R beckons.
Ticking all boxes
While other areas in Bali like Ubud—the rice terrace-surrounded bucolic heart of the island—and the more upmarket Seminyak are no less attractive, there is something to be said about the beachy vibe of Canggu. Here, surfing lessons on lunchbreaks are the norm, as are al fresco sunset yoga sessions that replace post-work drinks.
With its explosion of avocado-toast serving cafés, cheap dive bars, art galleries and Insta-friendly vistas, Canggu garners some serious cred on hipster street. But is the wide variety of both coworking spaces (with lightning fast internet speeds) and a plethora of accommodation options available here that make it the very epicenter of Bali’s digital nomadic scene. From inexpensive guesthouses and plush Airbnb rentals to communal ‘coliving spaces’—the latest buzzword in digital nomad circles—the search in Bali ends here.
I was barely an hour into my dalliance with ‘digital nomading’ working at the open 24 hours a day Tropical Nomad Coworking space near Canggu’s Echo Beach trying hard to swallow the luridly purple contents of my acai fruit bowl, when I got chatting with Sarah. A digital content curator originally from Texas, she had been based in Bali for the last six months and by the look of it was still in the honeymoon phase with her digital nomad life. “It really does not matter if you are an aspiring digital nomad or an experienced one,” Sarah says rather encouragingly. “Bali is the kind of place where you are almost guaranteed to find some truly unique and inspiring places and people who help you get to your productive best, while living life to the fullest.”
Quite the prophetic solution for these bleak times, no?
Travel log
Getting There
As there are no direct flights from India to Bali, one can take connecting flights via Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Travel within the island of Bali is extremely easy with cheap and plentiful transport options available, including private taxis and bikes on hire. Citizens of 169 countries (including India) get a free 30-day on arrival which allows one to work as a digital nomad and which can be renewed by taking a short ‘visa run’ to places like Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand and coming back to Bali.
Stay and Work
* Dojo Bali (dojobali.org) along Canggu’s famuous surf break of Echo Beach ticks all three boxes offering a trendy coworking and coliving space along with recreational facilities like surf lessons and Balinese cooking lessons, all at very reasonable prices.
* Outpost (destinationoutpost.co) with its flagship sister property in Ubud is another great coworking and coliving space with an apt slogan of “design your best life.”
Tip
While the whole of Bali is very safe for women, there are places like Goddess Retreats (goddessretreats.com) which is a women-only retreat offering everything from accommodation and outdoor activities to transformative yoga sessions and spa treatments that are perfect for solo women digital nomads.
(Note: While it is not advisable to travel at the moment, the above information is intended to provide a general idea for future travel—whenever it is safe to do so again.)
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 25th July 2020 issue of The Hindu Business Line newspaper's BLink section on page 20 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/bali-is-the-capital-of-digital-nomadism/article32177278.ece)
By Raul Dias
“Trust me, it’s paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is a generation that circles the globe and searches for something we haven’t tried before…”, says Leonardo Di Caprio’s mononymous character ‘Richard’ in the 2000 film The Beach. A backpacker cult classic, so ahead of its time that it effortlessly segues into the current milieu, exactly two decades later. A time when digital nomadism seems to be the way forward for millennials-on-the-go, as they chart their course in the (hopefully!) post-pandemic world. One that is ruled by the unholy trinity of anxiety, apprehension and uncertainty.
All this, while attempting to precariously juggle travel, work and a little adventure on the side. Constantly searching for their version of a modern-day Valhalla if you may. Nesting in places as far flung as Cancun in Mexico to Bali in Indonesia where tribes of wannabe digital nomad warriors like themselves—be they app developers, social media marketers or the ubiquitous travel vlogger–hunker down for extended periods of stay. Armed with their hi-tech weaponry and millennial coolth, ready to conquer the digital world and beyond, one oat milk latte at a time!
Digi go-go
Loath as I may be to admit, I am one of these people now. Even though I have been on the fringes of the digital nomadic lifestyle for nearly a decade as a freelance travel and food writer, setting up temporary ‘shop’ wherever I travel, I have somehow always found succor and comfort in being tethered to the familiarity of my writing desk, here in my home base of Mumbai. The fulltime, peripatetic lifestyle scene was not something I could wrap my head around for an assortment of reasons that seem trivial to me today.
Like a lot of things in our lives that have changed over the course of the tumultuous first half of this pandemic-ridden year, I have done a rethink. I guess it was the ennui resulting from five months (and counting) of suspended animation that has sealed the deal for me. I want…nay, need a change. “If I can work from home, I can work from anywhere”, is a mantra I now chant on a loop.
As we do a rethink—both about how we work and how we travel—an important realisation comes to the fore. The tradeoff by combining work with leisure over an extended period, while remaining socially distant is far greater than the ephemeral lure of a short trip. The latter no longer as attractive and realistic as before, what with mandatory Covid-19 testing and fortnight quarantines putting a kibosh on everything.
I am not alone in recognising this need of being untethered. Quick on the uptake and saddling up to this cultural sea change are countries like Estonia which recently announced a special long-term digital nomad visa. The eastern Caribbean island of Barbados too has unveiled a similar 12-month digital nomad work visa to allow visitors from all countries to live and work there, tax free.
Seas the day
But we need not look that far. As a frontrunner on the honeymoon-meets-family vacation scene for decades, the sea-n-surf paradise of Bali has had a facelift of sorts. Transforming itself into a hip digital nomad haven for the last couple of years, the Indonesian island is undoubtedly poised to become the post-pandemic world’s epicenter for the hipster drifter for a host of reasons that I will unspool shortly.
Exactly a year ago, back in the day when ‘Corona’ to me was just a brand of bottled beer, served with a wedge of lime bunged down its neck, I took a wee detour to Bali in the middle of a two-week-long work trip to Thailand. The purpose of my two-day trip to the island was to scope out an abridged version the digital nomadic lifestyle there as part of a writing project I was in consideration for. While said project did not work out, what I gleaned from that trip was a destination ripe for the picking.
Like almost every prospective digital nomad, I found myself in Canggu, Bali’s de facto digital nomad capital along the south coast of the island. A place that is relatively inexpensive to live and work in and easy to navigate around. I was there checking out the three main things a digital nomad in Bali seeks: accommodation, a place to work and something extra when R&R beckons.
Ticking all boxes
While other areas in Bali like Ubud—the rice terrace-surrounded bucolic heart of the island—and the more upmarket Seminyak are no less attractive, there is something to be said about the beachy vibe of Canggu. Here, surfing lessons on lunchbreaks are the norm, as are al fresco sunset yoga sessions that replace post-work drinks.
With its explosion of avocado-toast serving cafés, cheap dive bars, art galleries and Insta-friendly vistas, Canggu garners some serious cred on hipster street. But is the wide variety of both coworking spaces (with lightning fast internet speeds) and a plethora of accommodation options available here that make it the very epicenter of Bali’s digital nomadic scene. From inexpensive guesthouses and plush Airbnb rentals to communal ‘coliving spaces’—the latest buzzword in digital nomad circles—the search in Bali ends here.
I was barely an hour into my dalliance with ‘digital nomading’ working at the open 24 hours a day Tropical Nomad Coworking space near Canggu’s Echo Beach trying hard to swallow the luridly purple contents of my acai fruit bowl, when I got chatting with Sarah. A digital content curator originally from Texas, she had been based in Bali for the last six months and by the look of it was still in the honeymoon phase with her digital nomad life. “It really does not matter if you are an aspiring digital nomad or an experienced one,” Sarah says rather encouragingly. “Bali is the kind of place where you are almost guaranteed to find some truly unique and inspiring places and people who help you get to your productive best, while living life to the fullest.”
Quite the prophetic solution for these bleak times, no?
Travel log
Getting There
As there are no direct flights from India to Bali, one can take connecting flights via Bangkok, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur. Travel within the island of Bali is extremely easy with cheap and plentiful transport options available, including private taxis and bikes on hire. Citizens of 169 countries (including India) get a free 30-day on arrival which allows one to work as a digital nomad and which can be renewed by taking a short ‘visa run’ to places like Malaysia, Singapore or Thailand and coming back to Bali.
Stay and Work
* Dojo Bali (dojobali.org) along Canggu’s famuous surf break of Echo Beach ticks all three boxes offering a trendy coworking and coliving space along with recreational facilities like surf lessons and Balinese cooking lessons, all at very reasonable prices.
* Outpost (destinationoutpost.co) with its flagship sister property in Ubud is another great coworking and coliving space with an apt slogan of “design your best life.”
Tip
While the whole of Bali is very safe for women, there are places like Goddess Retreats (goddessretreats.com) which is a women-only retreat offering everything from accommodation and outdoor activities to transformative yoga sessions and spa treatments that are perfect for solo women digital nomads.
(Note: While it is not advisable to travel at the moment, the above information is intended to provide a general idea for future travel—whenever it is safe to do so again.)
(An edited version of this article first appeared in the 25th July 2020 issue of The Hindu Business Line newspaper's BLink section on page 20 https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blink/takeaway/bali-is-the-capital-of-digital-nomadism/article32177278.ece)
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