An American moved to Bali and lives 'in luxury' on $2200 a month: what are the prices there

Olumide Gbenro, 33, left the US for Bali and is living a “luxurious life” on $2233 a month, reports CNBC.

Photo: Shutterstock

The 33-year-old entrepreneur grew up in Nigeria until he was six years old when his ministerial parents decided to move to London. Then, seven years later, Gbenro received visas to immigrate to the United States through the green card lottery, so Olumide, his parents, and two siblings moved to Columbus, Ohio.

“Being a person of color, I felt like there were certain points in my life where I just didn't feel like I was a valuable person,” Gbenro says of growing up black in the Midwest. “I always felt left out.”

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Gbenro wanted a creative life: one filled with travel, art, and the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. But his parents wanted him to become a doctor, lawyer or engineer.

In 2016, he received a dual master's degree in epidemiology and behavioral sciences from San Diego State University. He found himself between two paths: to go to medical school and become a doctor, or to travel the world.

“My whole life I just followed the rules that came from my parents, religion or society,” he says. “But I knew in my heart that if I took a place in the PhD program, I would never be able to go back, I would never be able to go abroad... I would be stuck in the laboratory, so I decided to say no.”

Gbenro packed all his belongings and left the United States to see the world, but it took him years to stay in Bali, his permanent home.

Become a digital nomad

Gbenro's first stop was Berlin, where he had friends from graduate school. He spent three months there on a tourist visa, bouncing between friends' couches and dorms.

When Gbenro left the US, he had "almost zero savings and no plan." He quickly expanded his Instagram by posting travel tips, dance videos and other content. Gbenro decided to monetize his hobby: he messaged other creators and businesses on Instagram and offered to help them improve their social media strategy for a fee (often $250).

“It was very difficult at first to start a remote business,” Gbenro recalls, but he soon had a large list of clients and enough income to make social media his full-time job. He took an online social media marketing course that helped him structure his business, and an old friend from San Diego referred him to his first two clients.

When his visa expired, he went to Mexico for four months and then returned to San Diego. “But I realized that I still didn’t like living in America,” he says. “There was something about life in America that made me feel like I wasn’t growing.”

He continues, "Being black, I experienced trauma and pressure living there, especially as an immigrant, feeling like I didn't fit in."

Gbenro officially launched his social media marketing business, Olumide Gbenro PR & Brand Monetization, in 2018 while he was still in San Diego, partnering with celebrity chefs, real estate agents, business coaches and more. Despite enjoying the job, Gbenro still yearned for change.

One afternoon, he was browsing Instagram and stopped at a photo of one of his girlfriends who was traveling in Bali. She was relaxing on the beach, surrounded by lush palm trees, with a coconut in her hand.

“It was the perfect place to live,” says Gbenro. “The difference between Bali and every other city I’ve explored is that it seemed very peaceful – all the locals in the photos online looked genuinely happy and were spending a lot of time in nature.”

In 2019, he found an apartment in Bali through an Instagram friend, booked a one-way plane ticket, and never looked back.

"I live a luxurious life"

After moving to Bali, Gbenro was able to spend more on travel, dining, and other hobbies, as well as increase his savings. “I never worry about money again because the cost of living in Bali is much lower than in the US,” he says.

For the first nine months of his stay in Bali, Gbenro used a tourist visa. Indonesia offers tourists a single-entry visa valid for 60 days and allowing four 30-day extensions, for a total stay of up to six months in the country. Gbenro flew to Singapore or Malaysia for short trips after his visa expired and then extended it upon his return.

Shortly thereafter, he switched to an investor visa, which requires proof that you are contributing to the local economy. Gbenro has expanded his marketing business to help people advertise their property in Indonesia in order to obtain a visa, which he renews through local governments every two years.

As an entrepreneur, Gbenro earns about $140 a year. In addition to his consulting business, Gbenro hosts several digital nomad conferences, including the Digital Nomad Summit, which attracts thousands and will be held in Bali this September.

His biggest expenses are rent and utilities, which together add up to about $1010 a month. Gbenro lives in a one-bedroom apartment in a building with a private gym, pool and restaurant downstairs.

He spends about $600 a month on takeout and eating out, often ordering food from local restaurants through a popular app called Gojek. Gbenro's other larger expenses include medical insurance, transportation (he rents a motorcycle) and travel.

Gbenro loves to travel at least once a month and travels frequently to Uluwatu, a small region on the southwestern tip of Bali known for its surfing.

“I probably spend about the same amount of money every month as if I lived in San Diego, but my quality of life is much higher,” he says. “I live in luxury.”

Here is Gbenro's monthly breakdown of expenses (as of January 2022):

• Rent and utilities: $1010;
• Food: $600;
• Transport: $98;
• Phone: $28;
• Medical insurance: $137;
• Travel: $300;
• Laundry: $60.

Total: $2233.

Fall in love with Bali

Gbenro says the hardest part of his new life in Bali has been dealing with loneliness. “Every day I went to the beach, drank coconuts and watched beautiful sunsets, but I lived alone and had no friends here,” he explains.

Gbenro says that since he started visiting Bali's coworking spaces and personally participating in networking events, it has become much easier to build close friendships with fellow expats and locals. He knows conversational Indonesian but says that many people living in Bali also speak English.

“I was really loved and welcomed by the Balinese people,” he says. “Everyone is always smiling—there’s a really genuine, heartfelt tone here that you can’t get anywhere else.”

Gbenro says he does not experience the discomfort and discrimination he faced in the United States.

“Bali doesn't have the same history as America with racism and discrimination - in my opinion they are more tolerant of foreigners and people of different backgrounds... people just look at me as a person and not as a black person,” he says.

He has adopted some of the local traditions in his daily life: he wakes up at 8:00 every morning and meditates before making a cup of tea and checking email. Meditation has long been a part of Hinduism, which is a popular religion in Bali.

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“This is the best decision I have ever made,” Gbenro says of moving to Bali. He plans to spend the rest of his life in Bali and have his own homes in San Diego, Turkey and the Caribbean, which he can visit several times a year.

“There was something about Bali that drew me here,” he says. “You finally feel at home.”

As ForumDaily wrote earlier:

• An American woman moved from the USA to Mexico and spends many times less: you will be surprised what you can buy there for $5

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