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My Life Abroad: Being a digital nomad enables me to live the life that I want in Bali

Realising she thrives as an island girl, Jane moved away from the city life in Singapore and has been working remotely from coast to coast

By Kimi T - 

Artwork: Jane Tan
Artwork: Jane Tan
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Curious what it would be like to work or study abroad? My Life Abroad is a column by Her World that gives a glimpse into the lives of women from Singapore who have pursued their dreams and ambitions overseas. If you would like to share your experience, please email us at magherworld@sph.com.sg with the subject “My Life Abroad” in your email header, and one of our editors will get back to you.

In today’s column, we speak with 30-year-old Jane Tor (@janetoryl), who’s a senior manager in the consulting department of a Singapore-based marketing agency. A digital nomad, Jane has been travelling and working remotely since the start of 2020. She is working from Bali (for now) and to date, she has worked remotely from Croatia, Italy, Thailand, and Indonesia. 

Intuition can creep up on you like a soft feather or hit you like a truck. Mine ran me over. Three years ago, I got a divorce and felt destroyed. I asked myself, “You’re 28 – what do you want to do with your life?”

I decided to make a month-long trip to Mexico, which I had planned to visit when I moved to the US with my ex-husband. It was my first solo trip, and it forced me out of my comfort zone. I met so many different travellers with whom I shared my story – they too shared something of their life, which helped me heal and deal with my own pain. There were travellers who were unafraid of sharing their stories – not held back by stigma or shame, and there were travellers who strayed from conventional ways of living. They inspired me to change my life. 

After coming back to Singapore, I realised I love the country but didn’t feel like I fit in. So instead of continuing to live in Singapore, feeling unfulfilled and complaining about life every day, I chose the digital nomad life. 

I spent the rest of the year working in different corners of the world in exchange for food and boarding – babysitting in Oxford, doing restoration work on a Victorian house in Leicester, volunteering at a hostel in Albania, and more. The experience broadened my perspective and gave me the space I needed to be more introspective and figure out what I want out of life. 

After coming back to Singapore, I realised I love the country but didn’t feel like I fit in. It occurred to me that it’s more important to live a life that I find meaningful and fulfilling. So instead of continuing to live in Singapore, feeling unfulfilled and complaining about life every day, I chose the digital nomad life. 

As a digital nomad, I normally rent from locals as it’s the best way to immerse myself in the local scene. Right now, I’m living in Amed, Bali. For a one-bedroom studio apartment, with a kitchen and terrace, I pay 3 million Indonesian Rupiah ($300) a month. This doesn’t include electricity but it does include twice a week cleaning and wifi. Most people who live in Bali live in Canggu, Seminyak or Ubud, and in these places, you can expect to pay more. I know people pay between $800 to $1,200 sometimes but because Amed is three hours away from the hustle and bustle of Bali, rent is relatively cheaper.

I chose Amed because I’m a diver and want to be close to the dive sites. If you like scuba diving, snorkelling or free diving, it’s paradise. There are many locals here and also expats who have moved here have learned to speak the local language and married Balinese. There’s also a small international school in the area.

What’s interesting about Bali is that each province is run by a different village head, and the different characteristics of each province would appeal to different people. For instance, Canggu might appeal to surfers, as Amed does to divers. 

In Amed, there are potholes everywhere which might turn off people who don’t ride a bike well. The wifi connection in Amed is also not as good as in Canggu or Seminyak so I personally had to get my own router.

A work day in my life

Credit: Jane Tor
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My current and previous jobs have enabled me to work remotely. Work to me has to be a source of fulfilment. It’s knowing I can bring value to the company and people I’m with, and learn something from them too. I’ve moved away from the mentality that you work for money, but rather your job needs to help supplement your life force. If you don’t take care of your engine, you’re not going to be able to perform well and give back.

In Bali, my day starts early, around 6.45 or 7am. I start my day with some journaling and yoga, and I meditate at least twice a week. I still have many “toxic thought patterns” and I’m still on that healing journey to unlearn certain things.

After yoga or meditation, I have a coffee or juice and start working. For lunch, I take my scooter out and visit one of the warungs in the area or a nasi padang stall. If I’m not hungry, I go for a quick dive around Jemeluk Bay in Amed. Then I work until about 6pm – after which I go for a workout or wind down on the beach.

A weekend in my life

Credit: Jane Tor
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Weekends are usually for exploring but every weekend is different. I’ll take my scooter out to nearby towns – maybe ride to Sidemen or Ubud. In Bali, I love exploring waterfalls or taking some local workshops like wood carving or silver jewellery making. Sometimes, friends will organise barbecues and they’ll cook the fish that they catch from spearfishing.

Credit: Jane Tor
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To meet other digital nomads, sometimes I join Facebook or WhatsApp groups, but you can meet friends anywhere – at a restaurant, dive shop, or while singing karaoke. If you think of people as magnets and life forces – balls of energy – then I think that same magnetic force can attract others with the same mindsets as you.

 

A shift in mentality

Credit: Jane Tor
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Nomad travelling has definitely changed me a lot. Bali in particular taught me that I really don’t require much to be content with life. I feel much more appreciative of life now, and Bali helps me stay grounded in the things that are truly important in life — not a car, condo, big career, or shiny new things. Those things are nice to have, but they shouldn’t be the only cause of happiness or the bane of our worries. We might be living in a capitalistic world, but we can still choose not to be trapped in capitalistic definitions of success.

The definition of success in Bali is definitely very different from Singapore. I don’t really see myself settling anywhere yet, but Bali has been home for some time now, and I really enjoy it.

Life in Bali is simple and beautiful. There are beaches, volcanoes, and great dive sites, and the people here are wonderfully kind. I used to live behind a farm, and you see the farmers hard at work each day but they always stop to greet you with a smile when you pass by. The locals here normally treat everyone with respect and kindness.

One big difference between how I am now and how I was before is that I don’t make long-term plans anymore. I enjoy my present life, and know the direction I’m headed towards, but I don’t feel pressured to make plans anymore. None of my plans have ever worked out anyway.

Living in the present but still dreaming big

Credit: —
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My family comes out to visit me every year. My mum came to visit me in Italy for a month, while my dad came to Bali for a month. Both my parents visited me with my brother and his girlfriend in Thailand last year and Bali this year too.

I visit Singapore once every two months, as my workplace is based there and it is pretty close to Bali.

My parents always gave me the freedom and choice to pursue a life that I want for myself. Growing up, they brought my brother and I to travel around the world. My mum told me I’ve the privilege to do what she didn’t have the chance to. I know my parents worked hard so I could decide for myself the future I want. I’m grateful for many things – that my parents don’t need me to financially support them, that I don’t have children, and that I earn my own income.

When I started travelling and working remotely, I created a digital nomad telegram group in Singapore that grew from having six to over 100 members. What I plan to launch in June is a platform to showcase their stories as well. Only certain people will relate to my story, but there are many who come from different backgrounds and have overcome their own set of challenges. Statistically shown, over 50 per cent of digital nomads come from the US but I believe Singaporeans have an advantage to do it too if we want – we have the passport, the financial literacy, and a strong command of English. It’s just not yet a norm for us to even consider it.

My long-term direction isn’t to stay in Bali forever but if things work out as I hope they will, I would like to have a partner and start a family. Our kids might not fall into the same mainstream routine as Singapore kids traditionally would – they might attend a forest school or be privately tutored. There are nomadic homeschooling families who have their kids attend school for three months in Europe, then spend other time elsewhere. If I find a partner who values the same things as me, this is a dream that I would like to manifest.

Another dream I have is to elevate local communities – women and children – to get out of the poverty cycle. Worldwide still, many women don’t have the privilege or means to have choice. They’re bound to the fate of needing to marry and have children. I hope one day to build businesses that can help change their lives and give them a choice so they can decide for themselves, how they want their futures to look like.

After a while, if you see humans as puzzle pieces, you’ll see the roles we play and what is required. Then it’s all about finding our place in the puzzle to form a more positive picture.

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