Bali & Indonesia

Bali is the trip most Australians take first and take again, which is exactly why the packing gets careless. Six hours is short enough to feel like a domestic flight and long enough to matter, and the things that go wrong are always the same things.

The water is the one that catches people

Tap water in Bali is not drinkable, and neither is ice made from it in places that look improvised. This is not a precaution we have invented to sell you something — it is the single most common way an Australian loses two days of a ten-day trip.

A filter bottle is in the Essential tier because two weeks of bottled water costs more than the bottle does, and because the plastic ends up somewhere.

Temples have a dress code and they enforce it

Shoulders and knees covered, at nearly all of them. Most will rent you a sarong at the gate for a few dollars, which is fine once and irritating by the fourth temple.

The scooter question

Motorbike injuries are the single most common travel-insurance claim from Bali, and hiring one without the correct licence voids most Australian policies. We are not going to tell you not to. We will tell you to read your policy before you do.