Canggu... The City Of Walking Dead?

Hi friends 

As I enter my 5th week in Canggu Bali as a digital nomad I thought I'd jot down some reflections. 

I want to start with this first. 

The last 5 weeks have changed my life. 

In every sense of the word. I think if you know me it's been pretty obvious to see the difference. As someone who honestly at the age of 33 felt she had no real social life, felt pretty isolated and lonely reflecting back it has healed parts of me I didn't even expect it to.

Life in the UK for me personally had been a struggle the last 12 months, heck if Im honest probably years. Starting my own business, feeling overwhelmed with very little balance of work/ life I was just simply lost. 

My first week here I put a post in a Bali girls Facebook group if anyone wanted to meet up to just go to a market. Well...

That led to me meeting a bunch of incredible women who I don't even think realise how much they changed my life. 

The thing is. In Bali people walk around with smiles on their faces.The impact of being around this daily is possibly my favourite thing about Bali. They say hello to you. They go out of their way. There is zero sense of anyone being better than anyone else. No judgement. You can be in a coffee shop chatting to someone, grab their IG to chat later and realise they have a HUGE following. 

Apart from the first time in a LONG time being able to recognise genuine happiness in myself which has now impacted everything from my self confidence to my friendships. I could talk for days on how wonderful it is to be here. 

I found myself often trying to deny myself joy however with negative thoughts of "oh it won't last" 

"don't be ridiculous this lifestyle isn't for you"

"Yeah just wait im sure you'll get really ill or insert XYZ reason and hate it here" 

But i'm able to catch them quickly and recognise it's just my threat detection becoming active. I don't need to believe every thought I have.

It's funny that I feel the constant stream of thoughts in my head in the UK has changed significantly. No longer the negative inner critic but actually it feels like I have space now to sit with the self limiting beliefs that were holding me back. To name a few 

1. I'm rubbish at making/ can't make new friends. 

2. My inability to recognise my worth enough to justify spending money on myself. 

Anyways apologies for this tangent, 

I may do a separate blog post on the food. One of the many reasons i'm here is because I could have only dreamed such a place could exist where I have yet to truly have a bad meal. The quality of food, the variety, the way EVERY restaurant is incredible blows my mind. At such affordable prices. The most expensive meal I have had here hasn't exceeded £25.... 

Canggu caters to digital nomads needing to focus on their work like no where else in Bali. 

The amount of co-working spaces here is a blessing. B Work Bali has become my second home. It has allowed me to build a routine to my day and grow my business more than I could have hoped. 

As you can imagine however. Life on a tropical island half way across the world. Has its downsides. I want to be transparent so that anyone else considering the move to be here long term can have this information too. 

I open my phone today to see yet another of my friends hooked up to an IV drip on their 2nd round of Dengue fever. Cases here have risen dramatically. Since the beginning of 2024, Bali has reported over 4,000 dengue cases and five fatalities.

I was joking with my friend Katie that we as expats or nomads here are just a bunch of sickly walking dead. Another made me laugh by saying Canggu is the city of viruses. But ironically we are all some what ok about it. Not about how ill we all are obviously but our mental ability to cope is increased because we are in such an incredible location. I'm sure many do not however feel the same. The sheer level of gastrointestinal assault one can feel here with the likes of Bali Belly ect is unprecedented. Im only sharing my experiences/ opinion. Little me (Didi from Yorkshire). 

Now social media is one of documenting the highs and lows of life it seems. So after seeing yet another traveller I follow spend 2 days in hospital due to food poisoning I cant shake the health concerns of me being here long term. The dance studio I did some classes at, two teachers sick this week. 

My friend wasn't wrong that Canggu is a city of viruses. The level of construction here is something I have never experienced. Along with traffic and genuinely an over populated area for its current resources. I can only assume this together with pollution, hygiene and a host of new microbes not familiar to a westerners body is like an initiation process. Like Balis little test to see who can survive being here. 

Being a little scared to embrace scooter life I have been living in central Canggu so I can walk but am very much leaning on moving to a surrounding area to hopefully relieve myself of some of the issues I mentioned above. After all i'm very much of the belief there are solutions not problems here. I'm sure all of you have your mini violins ready ha. 

It's a little heartbreaking to see such an incredible area struggle with the pressure of demand. I accept almost a deep sense of guilt about me too being part of this problem by purely being here. It's tough to weigh the pro and cons of westerners supporting the local economy but at what point is it too much? 

The disparity of wealth from East meets West just personally sits a little uncomfortably with me too. I recognise my privilege in life here greatly. 

Health being your most greatest asset in life above all else. What is one to do? 

I myself so far, touch wood (I sit touching a coffee table as I write) has managed to sit ok with the bouts of sickness i've experienced here. Am I ticking time bomb until I join my friends though? 

So what does the future hold for me here? At the end of this month I fly back to the UK to renew my Visa and finalise the sale of my flat to truly start my new life. So I don't have the answer to this question if i'm perfectly honest. I'm still figuring things out. And i'm ok with that. But today as I sit writing this. Not to be the most cliche person on the internet right now. 

But I think I like this little life. 

I just want to take a second to acknowledge everyone who has joined me on this crazy little adventure. Your support has meant the world. From the DM's to the friends i've made here. 

Makasih 🙏

Didz x (who really just doesn't want to die via a scooter accident or Dengue fever 😅)