A friend said to me: “Everything God’s  got, you guys here in Bali seem to have two of“

This was Tony, a guy who retired with 45 from his business in Broome, Australia.  Broome, as you may know, is famous for pearl production and there I think he made nice piles of money and sure understands what ’the good life’ means.
Now he says he is focusing on living healthy in body and mind, which you would believe instantly, could you only see him.  I did. I met him in the gym.
So we see, he is reasonably young, rich and healthy, is good looking and all –
well, I did not dive into his personal affairs but would think that he got this sorted out pretty well too.
Would we then say that is probably all there is to leading a fulfilled life?
He even goes every year to Europe ’to catch up with culture’, he says. He often travels to India for ’a bit of meditation and bumming around on the beaches’’
So I asked him: ’you know the world - why don’t you live anywhere else?’

’Bali suits me, Ubud is the crown, people here are getting to my heart, climate is great’. Why the heck would I want to live anywhere else?’

Back to further exploring – ’is early retirement and personal lucky circumstances all it takes to live the good life?
This seems a valid question, because despite all such lucky circumstances, if, for  example, we would live in the industrial area of Newcastle / England, breathing smelly air, pulling the coat tight because of crappy weather, surrounded by people rushing to work, not looking up, let alone smile, with living expenses being high – it is a thing to be most grateful for, being able to live where others would like to spend just 2 weeks next year
There we have the answer. The ambiance surrounding us, sure also is a most important factor to feeling good. No need to explain more.

Being used to negotiate throughout my career and look at all angles of an argument, I could not find a wrong word in what he said.

Of course, Tony is having plenty of money in the pocket and he does not worry about the day-to-day expenses of life here.  However, it goes for all of us, -if we make it to the end of the month and there are some Dollars or Rupiah carried over to the next month’s budget, that makes for worry free times already.  No need to fret about not being able to do a three week cruise twice a year.   For example, join the hash harrier runs on a tiny budget and have fun and boost your health and immune system this way.  Personally I have not done so yet, but heard a number of nice comments, so this is on my agenda too.

Now we move closer towards what today’s issue is about: Worry free times.
If the dust hits the fan, for example Americas unstable leader likes to go into war with Iran, or others, what becomes of us here in Indonesia?  What if the Cino overlords recall Billions of Dollars being invested in US Bonds, in order  ’…just to show them’ ?
Would we then be better off flying to old Europe if worldwide economic or political drama unfolds?   Or would Australia or New Zealand be the places to run to?  Do you know any place being 100% safe if things go haywire?

All is changing. Last week a visitor to our office coming from Poland, said that the Saudi Arabians, who were flocking to Paris and London for many years, are now travelling in increasing numbers to eastern Europe, because of their concerns for safety and worry about terrorist attacks.
It therefore seems we are indeed pretty safe here in Asia too. Pretty safe, in fact, here in Indonesia, where slowly but steadily the economy is growing and a moderate president just got his second term of doing a reasonably good job. Even better, we are very well situated in Bali, where we are far enough away from mainland Asia for not having to worry about huge hordes wandering about, should really serious trouble come up.

Maybe you remember, that in previous issues I may have seemed as if I am a positive bloke, embracing life and encouraging all good folks I can reach, to join life here and make the best of their days. Indeed, I am an optimist and always have been. However, it also helps, to keep the eyes open and bringing out the rain coat, if we see storm clouds creeping over the horizon.

You see the news, hear the stories and for sure there is no need to bring all dark clouds up again, whilst worldwide developments simply don’t seem to get any better.

Let alone talking about the spikes in weather patterns. Recently New Delhi had for a week over 50 degrees C., France 44 degrees. Bali will likely experience higher temperatures as well, but as an island the oceanic wind chill would help to reduce such extremes.

Just think again about what your life means to you, to your family and closest friends and how to make yourself  a.h.a.p.  as happy as possible, so that you can pass this on to everyone around you.
One of the pre-requisites is to have chosen the right platform on which to lead such a life.
I won’t say more. 
You need assistance to select your place in lovely Ubud ?  Remember : 260 m above sea level with sea breezes flowing up the slopes towards Kintamani , or  maybe if you want to find out about the special characteristic of each of the available areas, even banjar policies around Ubud, - why not just pop into our office?  15 years of experience are free for you to tap into…

You are well advised to call before.   0361 970 888   Make sure that you meet with our long-term advisers and leave again with free information and possibly a clear idea which road in life to take…

Yours truly,
Ray for the team of UbudProperty

Good bye to you and let’s keep our backsides to the sunset.