Diary of a Working Woman
Passionate, hard-working, fearless Educationalist, Psychologist and mother, Johnette Barrett talks to a selection of working women who have gone through many challenging experiences, often having to undergo many conflicting roles. Johnette unravels the secrets of being a successful woman in today’s world.
Diary of a Working Woman
A day in the Life: How a Former UK Teacher Built Her Dream Life in Bali. Part Two
What happens when a UK teacher decides to leave everything behind and start fresh in Bali? Lauren Allen takes us deep into her extraordinary journey of transformation in this second captivating episode that picks up right where her initial decision to relocate left off.
Lauren paints a vivid picture of her new daily life—morning yoga stretches to manage fibromyalgia, gym sessions, meditation, Indonesian language classes, and delightful social rituals that anchor her week. Her story of overcoming the fear of riding motorbikes serves as a powerful metaphor for her entire journey: facing intimidating challenges and discovering unexpected freedom and confidence on the other side.
The path to building community wasn't immediate. Starting with just one acquaintance who departed days after her arrival, Lauren navigated the transient expatriate landscape with openness and persistence. She describes how quiz nights, spontaneous conversations, and shared experiences of reinvention created the foundation for meaningful connections in a community she describes as predominantly female—"for every seven women, there's one man," a demographic she attributes partly to the "Eat, Pray, Love" effect.
With refreshing honesty, Lauren addresses the financial realities of her bold move. While trading hasn't yet provided the consistent income she'd hoped for, she expresses zero regrets about using her savings to fund this life-changing chapter. Her spiritual growth through meditation with monks, participating in collective peace ceremonies, and maintaining a "confirmation journal" reveals a woman becoming more authentically herself with each passing day.
Lauren's powerful message that transformative journeys are best undertaken alone resonates deeply—the challenges, discoveries, and personal evolution that occur when we step boldly into uncertainty without depending on others. Ready to be inspired by a woman who chose to rewrite her story completely? Listen now and discover what might be possible in your own life.
A new podcast in which Johnette Barrett, educational psychologist, seeks out inspirational working women who have transformed their lives and that of others through their courageousness and compassion.
The conversations that follow are sometimes eye-opening, sometimes heart- breaking and sometimes humourous.
Diary of a Working Woman (DOAWW) is hosted by Buzzsprouts .com.
Email: diaryofaworkingwoman@yahoo.com
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Welcome to the Diary of a Working Woman podcast. I'm Jonette, your host On this podcast. I'll be speaking to women from all walks of life, of different ages, and the thing that they'll have in common is that they will work in some way or another. Their stories will be motivating, inspiring, empowering. I just know you're going to enjoy it. Please follow me on Diary of a Working Woman to receive all the latest episodes. Tune in.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to part two of Lauren's story. Now. If you haven't watched part one, you really need to head there now and watch it, because I am speaking with the lovely Lauren Allen, bold, confident, brave lady, who made the life-changing decision to move from the UK to Bali a few years ago. So the first episode was all about her motivations, what inspired her move to bali, and this one's going to be finding out more about what life is like presently in bali, maybe starting a little bit with the first few months and leading up to the present day. So I'm going to say no more than welcome back to lauren. Hi, lauren from Bali. Hi again, it's so lovely to have you back. Nice to see you, thank you, lovely to be back.
Speaker 1:We're going to launch those too, because I think you remember what we spoke about last, and so, first of all, I'd like you to share what your typical day looks like. I'm looking onto that background again. Oh, my goodness, what is your typical day in bali? What's it like?
Speaker 2:okay, um, a typical. There's probably not a typical day for the whole week.
Speaker 2:Every day in the week looks different, but every week is repeated, right so no boring humdrum stuff um, I mean, there can be if I decide I don't want to do anything and I just want to just chill out and relax, um, but yeah, so like well, most days will start in the same way I'll I'll get up in the morning, usually around eight o'clock, and I'll do a yoga stretch, which is really helpful for my fibromyalgia, and then I will go to the gym three days a week and I do some meditation, some breath work, and then there'll be different activities. So I'm actually learning Bahasa Indonesian at the moment. So I go to lessons twice a week. I play badminton as well.
Speaker 2:I have a weekly movie night with a couple of friends every Wednesday, which is always a nice way to break up the week. Also, I go to quiz nights twice a week, which is a load of fun. Twice a week, um, which is a load of fun, and um games nights as well. So, um, that's kind of all of the kind of fitness and well-being and fun stuff that I do, but obviously I need to trade in that time.
Speaker 1:So before you talk about your trading before you talk about training, can we just talk a little bit about how you went to form new relationships in Bali? The community Was it difficult navigating your way through all of that. And this movie night and the you know, those sound amazing. So how did you form friendships, new friendships?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so when I arrived I knew one person who was only going to be here for I think it was like four days. So I arrived and four days later she left and we met up twice in that time and that was actually the facilitator of the retreat that I had attended in June. So I was pretty much on my own. I had booked into a hotel for a week and used that first week to view different places where I might like to stay, and it was probably about the third or fourth day in that I found a place where I wanted to stay. And just for those listening to understand, in Bali there are family compounds, so a lot of the local families will have villas or guest houses or units within their family compound that they rent out.
Speaker 2:Um, so I found a lovely, lovely apartment with an incredible family. I actually knew when I walked in the gate and first met my host that I was going to stay there. So within a week I had moved in and I was just sort of getting used to my local area. I had done a lot of research before I arrived. So I knew the area where I would like to live and I knew the yoga studios in that area and sort of different restaurants. So I was spending probably the first I'd say the first month going to the same places, just getting really comfortable with traveling around, because I can't just jump in my car, like in the UK, you have to really have to ride a bike out here. I came saying that I was absolutely not going to ride a bike, not like a push bike, an actual, like moped or motorbike.
Speaker 2:Did you ride a bike when you got there? Oh, did I? I'll get there, I'll get there, I'll get there. I was riding on the back of like we have Uber. They actually have Uber for bikes. It's called Gojek and you can get a car, but you can also get a bike.
Speaker 2:So I was on the back of bikes the first time I got on a bike. The rider, the driver he asked me is this your first time on a bike? Because I had clamped down on him with my legs so hard. I was like, yes, and I'm so scared, please be careful.
Speaker 2:Um, but after a month of getting go-jacks, I felt like I needed my independence, because I'd seen other people with their bikes and they would just jump on their bike and go. Um, and it's that's when I decided I was actually going to ride. So by the end of the first month, I found someone who did lessons and I did like a three and a half hour lesson and he was like you're ready, get a bike. Um, so yeah, I've been on a bike ever since, which is, um, I'm kind of used to it now, but at the time I just felt like this is an incredible step on my journey, um, something that I didn't think that I would do and I was actually doing it really confidently, really well, um, and yeah, so I was going to different places at that point because I could kind of go further out and, um, I, to be honest, the first few friends that I met I say friends, but people that I met, I say friends, but people that I met um, I'm not in contact with now, I think, because it's a very transient place. People come and go, um, and so it took me a little while to find people that are here long-term, that actually live in Bali, um, quiz night, um, I went to, probably about three months in, a friend of mine, my best friend, came to Bali to visit me and we went to a quiz night. That was the first time I went to quiz and I met people there who live in Bali.
Speaker 2:And it's actually really easy to make friends because you can be like in a restaurant and then just spark up a conversation with someone, or someone will just spark up a conversation with you, and then you're there talking for, you know, 45 minutes or a couple of hours, um, and then you exchange numbers and it's actually a really small community, um, so you're like seeing the same people. The time depends on where you're going. You know, there's people that you'll see at yoga, or people that you'll see at quiz or games or different places. So it was quite easy for me, being the person that I am, to just go up to somebody and have a conversation. If somebody approached me, I would engage in a conversation, and a lot of the people the expats here are in the same situation.
Speaker 2:They've left their lives behind and moved to Bali. So just sharing those stories and understanding what we have in common, especially being so far from home, I think that's kind of like the foundation for a lot of my relationships. And then from there you meet their friends, and then you meet a friend that's doing something that you'd like to do, and then from there you meet their friends, and then you meet a friend that's doing something that you'd like to do, and so you then go off with that friend and you're doing that, and so I've been really, really fortunate to have the circle of friends that I do now, who have similar interests as me. But then also, I think the first maybe month that I was here, I did actually meet two women three actually who I've stayed in contact with, and I see one of them regularly because she still lives in Bali, and two of them have been traveling back and forth and when they come back I'll always see them, so yeah, I think it's daunting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I absolutely did. Yeah, it can be daunting at first, not knowing anybody, but yeah, everyone's so welcoming and you just need to have your wits about you. You know, not everyone is for everyone, so if you come across somebody that's not your type of person, then you just kind of yeah, you just don't hang out with them until you find your tribe and I've found that now.
Speaker 1:And you just kind of yeah, you just don't hang out with them until you find your tribe.
Speaker 2:And I've found that now and you've found your tribe. That's lovely, but as well, jeanette, I think it can change.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, as people come and go.
Speaker 1:Exactly, definitely. But you've found a tribe and you've got your community and that will give you that inner peace and you know, just know that you've got a bit of social capital. You can move around, you're mobile now. You've got a community of friends that can help you to do what you went there to do. So would you say that you've met more women than men do. More women go for this, this change in lifestyle, than men do in your experience yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I think there was, um, or I know there was a huge, uh number of women coming over to Bali after Eat Pray Love was released the movie with Julia Roberts, um, so that, yeah, that was the start of like there being a huge influx of women coming over so I think, like the ratio seems to be something like I don't know, for every seven women, there's one man, something like that. There's, there's a.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of a lot of women, yeah, which is, which is lovely. It's great. Any love on the horizon.
Speaker 2:No love on the horizon. No love yet.
Speaker 1:But you've got sisterhood, which is really really good. So, um, yeah, we've talked a little bit about lifestyle there. It just sounds like you're doing you, you know, your exercise, uh, dealing with your physical condition, your fibromyalgia, and doing lots of social activities. You're mobile, you're able to move around and get some independence, but how are you managing to stay there? It's been a few years now. How are you making money? Or are you just rich?
Speaker 2:you're so beside me well I was a teacher yeah, yeah I was a teacher before I came out here, so obviously I'm absolutely not rich?
Speaker 2:yeah, no, I've been. I've been very fortunate to, um I mean. So part of the reason why I left the UK is at the time the interest rates had gone up so much, um, and it came to buying a house and affordability had changed and when I thought I was in a position where I could finally purchase a property, um, I was kind of, I guess, priced out of the market and I was like, okay, this is not working for me. I'd already been thinking, you know, I kind of I don't want to be in the education industry anymore or sector, and I was trading. So it all kind of came together for me to say I'll take my savings and I'll spend it in Bali, which, I mean for me it was an easy decision to make because I wanted to be here so much. So I thought actually, I can't think of anything better that I can spend this money on right now, and I've had such good experiences, life-changing experiences, things that I will remember forever, and you can't really put a price on that. So, yeah, I mean I've kind of joked to my family that I will be coming home at some point with, you know, empty pockets, empty bank account.
Speaker 2:For me, with trading. It has been a very slow progress. So I would love to be able to say I'm now consistently profitable and affording this amazing lifestyle living off my own money from trading. And that's not the case. And this is like, maybe like a it was a reality check for me. I said, well, I'm going to give myself a year. Within a year I'll do it. I'll obviously be consistently profitable trader. Um, that was a year, would have been September 24. We're now in at the end of February 25. Um, so I've given myself longer than a year because I can see my, my small steps, progress, um, and so, as much as I say, yeah, there's a chance, I'm going to come home, you know, and say, okay, I, I have, I have nothing, I have no money, I've spent all my money, but I don't regret it at all. Um, I'm very fortunate I have a career.
Speaker 2:Um, so it's not very scary that I can always go back and work if you know, if I need to and I think maybe, if I didn't have that, coming out to Bali wouldn't have been such an easy decision, especially that I was spending all my savings as well.
Speaker 1:So, lauren, if you could have taken any woman along with you on this journey, either fictitious or alive today. Who would you have taken with you or who would you have with you now, but probably not a family member. And why would you choose that person?
Speaker 2:um, I I honestly think that this is a journey that every woman that takes this journey should do alone, because it's such a personal experience to pack everything up, move away and find your feet somewhere where you've never lived before, and there's so many things that come up that you have to navigate, and doing that, I feel personally doing that on my own has made me better, it's made me stronger, it's made me more confident, and having someone alongside you, I kind of feel that maybe you would have a very different experience. And coming to somewhere like Bali, I do think that it's important that you're able to develop and experience new things that you want to experience, without having that sort of pressure or worry of having to consider somebody else.
Speaker 2:It's quite a selfish thing to do, but I think, sometimes we should be selfish, um, but in terms of someone who I would have with me now, now that I've I've done the journey and I'm settled, um, I who would I like to be here experiencing Bali with? So, not a family member, right?
Speaker 1:not a family member no, not a friend, not a friend, and if you can't, that's fine, because I accept your, your truth, that it was more empowering to do it solo, because, yeah, let me just move on a little bit, perhaps because I know that you've been on a spiritual journey as well, haven't you?
Speaker 2:I think you spoke about um previously, when we've had conversations about spending a bit of time with the monks yeah, so you can easily find spirituality in Bali, um, and there are so many ways that you can do it. There are so many different modalities for all the different things that you want to do, which is amazing, and Bali is a really spiritual place, um, and then to have the expats here as well I'm in Ubud and there are a lot of expats here that are also on a journey, so there's a lot of things that cater to women and men who want to, maybe, you know, go on a journey where they're figuring out what's important to them, maybe some power that's higher than them, in order to live a more humble, grateful life. So, some of the things that I've done yeah, I've done meditation with monks, which was an amazing experience. The first time I did it, I was sort of like not sure what it would be like, and I was so at peace, um, so that was a.
Speaker 2:That was a really good experience, um, for me, and I think as well that probably the one that sticks out for me most is there was the light and peace festival that I attended, and there were a thousand people there, it was outside and there were speakers. Um, we were basically there just to meditate together and to spread peace and light across the world. So it was a really impactful experience because you know to have a thousand people that were silent, eyes closed, meditating, and we had lights as well, that we were holding it was a. It was a really impactful experience for me just to know that you can get that many people in one place who are all there for the same thing, for a really good cause.
Speaker 2:Um, I've attended spiritual mastery classes as well. The facilitator isn't in the country anymore or at the moment, but that's where just a group of people come together and there's meditation at the beginning of the session and then go through different sort of areas related to spirituality and no matter what your religion is or how spiritual you are, it's a really warm and inviting, safe space, if you like, and I've really found that I thrive and I flourish and it helps me just day to day to have that time out from the things that I do that are really fun, or maybe trading, which you know can be more challenging and just be at peace and feel that gratitude and just be at peace and feel that gratitude.
Speaker 1:I'm saying it's radiating, I'm just thinking just to talk about all these people in one space radiating peace and light. You said, and when you said that it's really great, I had a wash, a wave of light, you know just feeling. You just seem so relaxed and peaceful. I'm just mindful of the time. We've literally on our last minute and I just want to ask you and I think I know already who is the woman that you've become, that you're in love with, who is this woman that you've become as part of this journey and a little 30 seconds, to sell it to other people, other women who may be stuck in a rut in their life with work or relationships or everything and just looking for something a little bit different. Who's the woman that you have become today?
Speaker 2:try and inspire and uplift my, my listeners and viewers now love it um, well, I'll just preface it by saying I'm still on my journey, but I so I've become, and I wasn't displeased with the woman that I was as well, and so that's really important for you to sort of recognize that I might be. You know where I am now. I'm not necessarily happy with you know, maybe it's relationships or work or whatever, but you as a person, if you're a good person, you know it and you've got good traits and you've got good, strong relationships. Um, for me, I brought that over to Bali and I just wanted to, um, enhance all of those good things about myself, and I did have to do a lot of reflection and look into things about me that maybe I I wanted to change. And so I have a journal and I have a confirmation journal, and so every day I write, at the end of the day I write things that I've done or I've said or I've experienced that confirm that I am the person that I want to be. So the journal starts with a list of it's kind of like traits.
Speaker 2:So I want to be grateful, I want to be graceful, not sort of graceful in the way that I move, but to have grace for people. I want to be confident, I want to be strong, I want to take risks. So, yeah, I think that I'm, as I said, I'm still on that journey, but I definitely think that I've become more like the woman that I know that I'm going to be eventually and it's really fun. But I have to say, going home can be a challenge. So, for anybody that does go on this journey, don't expect that you'll spend a year somewhere and then you're completely changed, because going home is a reality check and I've been home twice, um, and it's kind of. It's actually a good thing, I think, for me to come away from Bali, to go home and to see how I am and how have I changed or how am I reacting to people, and then come back to Bali and reflect on that and just get better each time, oh my goodness, and I think we're better to end this podcast.
Speaker 1:So we've been listening to lauren allen talk about her life-changing decision to move from the uk to bali. She has always been a formidable lady um who's taken risks all her life, is bold as confident, works incredibly, incredibly hard at everything she does. She took a year out of education to learn trading, has gone off to Bali, met a community of minded people, has grown spiritually, physically, emotionally maybe, and is releasing this love, peace, light and calm. So, lauren, I want to applaud you for your journey that you've taken and say well done. I'm sure you've inspired me today and I hope you've inspired a few other people today and I will be in touch again for you to share your the third chapter of your um, of your journey, because, as you said, it is a journey, it's a story, it's ever evolving, we're ever changing, reflecting, but thank you today for taking time out from your yoga and your, your, all your other lovely things I'm very jealous about um to uh, spare, uh, spend a bit of time with me.
Speaker 1:So thank you so much and thank you so much.
Speaker 2:I would love to come back and give you an update that'd be lovely.
Speaker 1:So thank you, uh, everyone, and I'll see you next time. And diary of a woman follow me, I'll do Podcast. Bye for now. Thanks for tuning in to Diary of a Working Woman. I hope you found this episode as motivating and uplifting as I did. Please follow me at at Do it Podcast on tiktok and instagram. For now, I want to say bye, bye and keep striving to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be, wearing all the many hats that working women do, sending you love.