Our Travel Style:
One of the factors in our decision to go on a month-long Bali & Beyond trip was that we knew travel in South east Asia can be really affordable. Plus, we were already in Perth, Western Australia, so flights to Bali were super cheap.
Campervan travel has the advantage of low or no nightly costs, but backpacking meant we would be paying for accommodation every night, as well as eating-out every meal. As we travel for months at a time, we really don’t have the funds to spend like we are on a two-week holiday, so sticking to a budget is a must. This usually means we travel more authentically and get to experience the local culture – which is exactly what we set out to do.
That said, we are no longer kids and have some non-negotiable cleanliness standards, a private bathroom, no dorms and on this trip, we insisted on A/C.
We are happy to use public transport, but given that Damian is 6’4” we sometimes choose a grab/uber over trying to squeeze in a bus for longer journeys. We also like to go at our own pace so will often hire a car, or in Indonesia a scooter. And after all this, we still like our treats! I’ll happily pay £2-3 for dinner then splurge on a G&T or sunset cocktail.
We had set ourselves a budget of £100 per night for the both of us, to cover all accommodation, food/drink, activities and transport.
Accommodation:
All our accommodation was booked through bookings.com, no more than a week in advance. Damian has the Genius discount which sometimes saves a little but I don’t think it’s much, or gives an upgrade. Accommodation in Bali can be really cheap and super low standards compared to other countries we’ve stayed, but it’s also a great place to get luxury at a reasonable cost. We opted for somewhere in the middle, trying to always keep above an 8 rating on bookings.com while keeping our nightly cost under £30. Almost all of our hotels had a nice pool and all had A/C.
All but one of our stays included breakfast, which varied in quality but was generally good, choice of eggs, fruit coffee and juice, some offered local food too (rice and noodles). We made one booking error in terms of dates (Damian trying to be organised) and one in terms of standards, so not bad really!
Food & Drink:
Eating out is very cost effective, even more so if you eat local dishes such as Nasi Goreng, curries and rice dishes at the local warungs. We could both eat with a beer for under £8, we love trying local foods. However, it will cost more if you want western style food like burger/fries or fresh foods like buddha bowls and smoothies. After a week or so I get bored of eating out and craved a home cooked meal, but we didn’t have much luck sourcing fresh veg in shops as I think these are sold in weekly markets. It’s easy to find a 7-11, but these are mainly stocked with processed package foods and snacks.
Alcohol is not as cheap, we usually like to get a bottle of gin or wine to sip at night on the balcony, but this was harder to find outside Bali and tourist areas, maybe because of the religion, (most of Indonesia is Muslim, but Bali is mainly Hindu).
Bintang (larger) was usually the best option ranging between £1.50 and £2 in bars and restaurants, we found wine to be way more expensive. Cocktails in tourist areas could be anything up to £10.
Transport:
Grab (Asia’s Uber) – We took 10 trips while on mainland Bali and Lombok, mainly for longer transfers between regions, average cost of a 2/3 hr journey was about £25.
Ferry’s – we took 8 trips to and from The Gili’s and the main Islands. Prices ranged from £1.50 to £45, depending on the route.
Scooters: We hired scooters in Amed, Lombok and Nusa Lembongan. Usual cost was £4-£5 per day including helmets.
Excursions/Activities:
When in Bali there are absolutely millions of tour operators, all wanting to take you to that famous spot to get the Insta shot, on a swing, at a temple or water palace. This really isn’t our thing, being squashed on mini busses, led around and queueing up with hundreds of other tourists is not how we like to experience another culture. We also hate being restricted to time schedules and much prefer to set our own pace. So, we generally don’t spend much on organised excursions. Our exceptions on this trip were in Tetebatu, where we paid for a local guide £35 for both of us, to show us around the area, and a snorkel trip to Nusa Penida – £15.
Visa’s:
The 30-day visa cost around £23 each, but as our stay was 34 days we ended up having to renew the visa while on Lombok and pay twice (not the smartest move). Damian goes into more detail of the process we went through in the Lombok blog – OR Click for official info on the visa on arrival process.
That’s a bit about our backpacking style, now let see how we actually got on. (All costs are for both of us and converted to £ on a rough rate of £10 200,000IDR)
We had set ourselves a budget of £100 per night, to cover all accommodation, food and transport.
| Accommodation (33 nights) | 756.00 |
| Food/Drink/Snacks/Bits (inc toiletries, flip flops & and an adapter) | 1100.00 |
| Taxis/drivers (10 trips) some ‘grab’ | 150.00 |
| Boats/Ferrys (8 trips) | 175.00 |
| Scooters (8 days) | 36.00 |
| Visa (inc extension) 4 x £23 | 92.00 |
| Ent/Excursions/tours inc buying snorkels) | 110.00 |
| E Sims (Nomad) | 45.00 |
| Total | £2464 |
| Return flights from Perth | 317.00 |
| Grand Total | £2781 |
So, total cost per day (not inc flights) is about £75 for the both of us, and we are pretty pleased with that, well under budget. We also came in under budget for accommodation, spending just £23 per night.
We think it’s definitely possible to do it cheaper as there is plenty of accommodation options, always eating local dishes, and staying in less touristy places or out of peak season. That said if you do want a bit of luxury, you can have a beach front room and eat in smart restaurants for so much less than at home!
Hope you’ve found this breakdown useful and it helps with planning your Indonesian adventure.
