Secret Beaches in Uluwatu, Dating in Bali and the Challenges of Finding a Villa - Nomad Notes | EP 7

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Curious what daily life is REALLY like for a digital nomad in Bali? 

Ryan shares his experiences with local coworking spaces, and reveals how he found hidden beaches that tourists rarely see. From hunting down reliable transportation to navigating the local real estate market, he reveals the real challenges and victories of settling into island life.

This update offers a genuine glimpse into both the challenges and rewards of living and working in paradise. 

Listen and be inspired, whether you're actively planning your escape to Bali or just curious about what digital nomad life actually looks like day-to-day.

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DISCLAIMER:
Listening to stories of beachside zoom calls, mountainside work views, and island-hopping entrepreneurs may cause severe wanderlust and an irresistible urge to turn your laptop into a passport to freedom. Side effects include daydreaming about tropical coworking spaces, working with Ryan to learn how you can start working and traveling and buying a one-way ticket to Bali. Get ready to start living your dream life today!

Transcript

Ryan Mellon (00:01.932)
Hey guys, welcome to another episode of digital Nomad Nation Nomad Notes Edition where I give you a little bit of a glimpse of what's going on in real time here in Bali where I'm living for the next six months. So yeah, I'm recording from a small villa in Bali, a new one. I found a new place. It's kind of like an A-frame one bedroom. It's got outdoor seating area.

And then it has a very large kitchen actually for Bali standards and a large bathroom, which is nice. So there's also an in-ground pool as well. That's really beautiful. And there's some kittens out there playing a common area and a common kitchen as well for hanging out with others. And they have star link here, which is awesome.

The internet has been really good. It's definitely a big plus to have Starlink here. You don't see that everywhere. So yeah, I just want guys wanted to give you guys an update on how things are going. First, I was searching for a good scooter, a motorbike to to rent by the month and I found the right one. It took me like five different places to find a newer version Honda that I wanted.

I just wanted something new and that wouldn't break down on me and that was going to be something that I could rent by the month. So I got a really good price on that. It's about $125 a month. And so I have my ride to get around, which just riding anywhere on Bali on the scooter through the jungles to the beach. It's just always amazing. It's, it's just such an awesome way to get around.

there are points where there's a lot of traffic in certain areas and that definitely does get frustrating, but it's a lot easier to get, get through it when you're on a motorbike, then you're in a car. So that is nice. Also the house search in general, I'm here for the next few weeks. I like this place. It's a little more expensive than I liked to pay.

Ryan Mellon (02:23.584)
It seems that the real estate prices both for sale and for rent have gone up quite a bit here. Most of the folks are posting everything on Airbnb and booking and they're being very cautious and they don't want to do any deals outside of booking or Airbnb. So that makes it a little bit challenging. I guess one of the pluses is, that, you know, when I do book with Airbnb, at least I'm getting money back.

I use my Delta SkyMiles account to log into Airbnb. So I get a dollar for every or one mile for every dollar I spend on Airbnb. And I'm also getting three points for every dollar I spend on my Chase Sapphire card. So some of that money is coming back in future free travels. So that's nice. I went to one of the coworking spaces, Ula Watu Hub.

It's right down the street. It's in the jungle. It's very natural. They have a great restaurant there. They have a pool there, indoor outdoor work area, a place to do yoga. You can get food and coffee delivered right to you as you work. So I paid for a four hour day pass the other day. Really fast internet and just a good place to put your head like get your head down and really get work done because that's what other people are doing as well.

I met a couple people there as well, which is awesome. I've been to a couple.

Ryan Mellon (03:57.176)
Been to a couple beaches since the last time I talked to you. One is the name is Pantai Nangalan and it's, you know, lot of the beaches on the southern part of Bali, you know, you're up on a bluff about 500 feet above the beach. So that's almost always a hike down to get to the beach. And this was one of those about 10 minute hike down through the jungle, about 20 minutes up.

can be a little bit much if you're not too in shape, but it's definitely good to do those hikes. And there was a really cool shipwreck down there that had some graffiti and some art on it. Good spot to take photos. And there was not very many people down there. There was two, one or two little warongs, which is Indonesian word for like a family owned restaurant.

There were a couple of those down on the beach, just serving up a little bit of food and, and, some beers, which is always nice. and, I went to another beach just the other day that, where you could actually take the motorbike all the way down to the beach. was kind of steep getting down, but the road was good. So that was really nice, especially not having to,

do the hike all the way up and down, which can be a little bit brutal, especially after you spend all day in the sun at the beach, you don't feel up for that hike back up a lot of times. that the name of that was war rung party people. I don't know the name of the beach, but it's on a small little beach. It's about 10 minutes from here from where I'm staying. And I found it on Google Maps and it's absolutely so clean. And there was

is not too many people down there, but they had a little restaurant bar down there that was very modern. could rent chairs and lay out with umbrellas, or you could just go on the beach for free. So definitely a place I'm going to go back to. It's a little bit rough for swimming. You need to be careful.

Ryan Mellon (06:17.012)
Uluwatu and Bali is known for surfing and so the waves are a little bit gnarly and there were definitely some surfers out there surfing so it was nice to be able to just hang out watch them hit the waves. So that was a cool beach. I'm glad to be there. I went out on a couple dates on Tinder which was interesting. One ended with a conversation on guns in the US which is seems

Seems like you can never escape that conversation no matter where you are if you're American. So that was interesting. And went to a very nice restaurant down on the beach. I like the Four Seasons, which was quite classy and a little expensive, but a very nice place. And I have been just working the past two weeks on getting

together, I've been working the past week, so I'm getting together an outline for a video course that I'm putting together. That's going to take people step by step from where they are now to becoming a digital nomad. And it's going to be self-paced, eight to 10 modules. You'll be able to log in and, go through all the modules and learn how to become a digital nomad all on your own.

Right? So a lot of you might not need a one-on-one coach like me to take you step by step through it. It'll be a lot more affordable as well than one-on-one coaching. So I'm really excited to bring that to, to a lot of people, to help a lot of people to become digital nomads. And then the past week I've been having a little bit of a flu. You might be able to hear it in my voice, but just kind of like a cold, no fever, but cold sore throat.

just not much energy the past week. And that can kind of happen when you're transitioning from a cold environment to the tropics, like where I am hot and humid. So, I'm feeling better. and so, you know, it just, kind of goes with the, travel lifestyle that you do do sometimes get sick, but I find that, you know, it happens more when you show up to a place.

Ryan Mellon (08:40.014)
But once you get past it and kind of get used to your surroundings, you get acclimated. other than that, just been handling work and recording some really awesome podcast episodes. I have a new podcast episode coming out next week. And that's with a friend. His name is Sunil.

and he is a freelance UX designer from London who's now based in Chiang Mai, Thailand. And Chiang Mai, Thailand, if you don't know is a very, very popular digital nomad hub now. It wasn't when I visited before COVID, but yeah, had a very good conversation about Chiang Mai and why a lot of people are attracted to it. It's a very cool place. Thailand is amazing in general. So you guys are gonna love that episode.

Check that out next Tuesday. And thank you for listening and hope that you guys have an amazing week. So check, see you next week. Thanks.