Bali Beyond the Brochure:
What Changes When You Live Here
The Bali you experience on holiday is not necessarily an illusion. But living here reveals another side of the island, where religious traditions, modern conveniences, everyday frustrations and unexpected kindness all become part of ordinary life.
Jalan Kajeng, Ubud, 30 November 2013. Photograph by Tom.
When I first visited Bali in 2002, the roads were considerably quieter, the pace of life seemed slower and the friendliness of the people was one of the first things that struck me.
I began living here in 2005. More than two decades later, Bali is a very different place in many respects. Tourism has expanded, development has increased and the internet has transformed the way people work, shop and communicate.
Yet some of the things that attracted me to Bali in the first place remain.
The Bali people imagine before arriving is not necessarily false. It is simply incomplete.
From internet cafés to WhatsApp
One of the most remarkable changes has been in something as ordinary as keeping in touch with people overseas.
Back then, getting online meant visiting a warnet, a local internet café. There were also wartels, where you could make telephone calls, including expensive international ones. Keeping in touch with people back in Britain wasn't nearly as straightforward as it is today.
Internet café in Bali, 2007. Photograph by Michael Coghlan
SMS was useful, but international conversations required rather more thought, not least because of the cost.
Now I can make a WhatsApp video call to my mother in England whenever we want to speak. Seeing someone thousands of miles away on a small screen has become such an ordinary experience that it's easy to forget how extraordinary it would have seemed twenty years ago.
The distance between Bali and England hasn't changed. The practical business of talking across it certainly has.
And communications are only part of the transformation.
Modern convenience in unexpected places
Digital payments provide another striking example of how everyday life has changed.
At small roadside businesses, I've encountered vendors accepting QRIS, Indonesia's standardised QR payment system. You can buy an inexpensive snack from a modest roadside stall and pay with your phone.
Yet elsewhere, a perfectly ordinary transaction might still require cash or a bank transfer. Learning which payment method works where is simply part of getting things done.
Online shopping has become another convenience. Tokopedia and Shopee offer access to a vast range of products, while food delivery services such as GoFood and GrabFood have made organising dinner remarkably easy.
Transport services such as Gojek and Grab have added another layer of convenience to the ordinary business of getting around.
I've even become rather proficient at finding Tokopedia vouchers. Not necessarily the sort of accomplishment you envisage when dreaming about life on a tropical island, but useful nonetheless.
The contrast with those early trips to the warnet could hardly be greater.
Some things take longer to understand
Technology is one thing. Cultural differences can be rather more interesting.
When I first came to Bali, I noticed a different approach to everyday interactions from the one I had become accustomed to in Britain.
One small example is being asked where you're going.
Someone you barely know might ask where you've come from or where you're heading. Coming from Britain, where strangers are often more reserved about personal questions, I initially found that rather intrusive.
Over time, I came to interpret such exchanges differently.
What had seemed like an enquiry into my private business could simply be a friendly acknowledgement of another person, an ordinary part of social interaction.
Not everybody asks these questions for the same reasons, of course. But I've learnt that the meaning I initially attach to a familiar question isn't necessarily the meaning intended.
The Bali of twenty years ago
It's sometimes difficult to convey quite how much parts of Bali have changed.
When I first arrived, there were far fewer vehicles on the roads and many places felt considerably less commercial.
Ubud offers a particularly visible example of the island's transformation. The number and variety of restaurants, cafés and other businesses have expanded enormously compared with the Bali I remember.
Today, there are venues whose appeal seems designed partly around how they'll look on Instagram or TikTok. Elaborate interiors, carefully arranged photo opportunities and experiences created to attract attention online have become a noticeable feature of the tourism landscape.
Not all these changes are unwelcome. The greater choice of restaurants, services and modern conveniences can make daily life much easier.
But there are trade-offs.
Busier roads, more development and the increasingly commercial character of some destinations can make the Bali of earlier years feel quite distant.
It's tempting to romanticise the past, particularly when you remember somewhere as quieter and less crowded. Yet Bali isn't a museum, and it doesn't exist simply to preserve the experiences of people who visited years ago.
People live here, run businesses, raise families and pursue opportunities. Their needs continue to evolve, just as they do elsewhere.
That doesn't mean every development is beneficial or that concerns about the direction of change should be dismissed.
The story is more complicated than saying Bali was better twenty years ago, or that everything new represents progress.
Beyond the tourist experience
Something that continues to distinguish Bali is the presence of Balinese Hindu religious and cultural traditions in everyday life.
Penjors, the tall, decorated bamboo poles associated with Galungan, are among the most recognisable sights during the festival period.
Galungan and Kuningan, temple ceremonies and religious processions aren't simply attractions arranged for tourists. They are expressions of a living religious culture, with significance for the communities who observe them.
Sacred Barong and Rangda masks and ritual costumes at a Balinese Hindu ceremony in Penestanan, Ubud, early 2014. Photograph by Tom..
Nyepi, Bali's Day of Silence, provides another particularly distinctive example of how religious observance can shape life across the island.
Visitors may encounter these traditions as something fascinating or beautiful, and often they are. But their importance extends far beyond their visual appeal.
After more than two decades here, I still appreciate the way cultural and religious life remains so visible, even as tourism and commercial development continue to reshape parts of Bali.
Familiarity doesn't mean understanding every aspect of these traditions, and it certainly doesn't make them any less deserving of respect.
For me, this continuing cultural presence is one of the most meaningful contrasts with the pace and appearance of modern development.
Not everything belongs in a brochure
Living somewhere also means encountering things that rarely feature in promotional photographs.
There's traffic, of course, and road behaviour that can be quite different from what newcomers expect.
Dogs barking, rubbish burning and litter are among the everyday issues I've encountered. Some are merely frustrating. Others raise genuine concerns about environmental quality and the experience of living in particular areas.
They're not charming cultural peculiarities simply because they happen in Bali.
Nor does familiarity necessarily make them easier to accept.
A holiday offers the luxury of selecting which parts of a destination you experience. You might spend your days enjoying beautiful surroundings, eating in excellent restaurants and returning to comfortable accommodation.
Living here means dealing with the ordinary practicalities as well.
You still have shopping to do, arrangements to make and problems to solve. Sometimes things work remarkably well. Sometimes they don't.
That is true of virtually anywhere people live, but it's worth remembering when the destination has been presented as a tropical paradise.
Bali's attractions don't disappear when you become a resident. They simply become part of a much larger picture.
The kindness of strangers
One experience earlier in 2026 reminded me of something I had appreciated about Bali since my earliest visits.
I was rounding a corner on my motorbike when the edge of the road gave way. Both the bike and I ended up in a river.
Fortunately, I wasn't injured. The immediate problem was working out how on earth I was going to get the motorbike back out.
Before long, people from the nearby village and passing motorists stopped to help.
Several men joined me, and together we managed to recover the bike from the river. It wasn't an easy task, and I was enormously grateful that complete strangers were willing to stop what they were doing and lend a hand.
Nobody had expected anything in return.
What could have been a considerably more difficult experience was made manageable because people saw someone who needed help and decided to do something about it.
The whole experience reaffirmed my faith in humanity.
I'm not suggesting that every encounter in Bali will be like that, or that spontaneous kindness is exclusive to the island.
But it's an example of something that has stayed with me throughout my years here: the genuine warmth and willingness to help that I've encountered among people in the community.
When the extraordinary becomes everyday life
I've watched Bali change considerably since my first visit in 2002. There are aspects of those earlier years that I miss, and many conveniences available today that I wouldn't particularly want to give up.
There are problems I wish were addressed more effectively, alongside traditions, places and communities that I continue to appreciate.
And occasionally, as happened when my motorbike ended up in a river, an unexpected experience reminds me why I was drawn to Bali in the first place.
Perhaps that is the most useful distinction between visiting somewhere and living there.
You don't stop noticing what makes a place special. You simply discover that there's much more to it than you first imagined.
For anyone considering the transition, our guide What to Decide Before Moving to Bali explores some of the practical questions worth considering.