This is our second time back to Bali since 2014, For Suzy, she has always longed for the beach and the sun. Somehow when I thought of Bali, I expected a small isolated island where you had little to do other than sun worship. When we arrived in Bali we found this was not the case. Australians have always been coming here to vacation, you see it’s quite close by for them, only about 1600 miles. They have long known Bali to be a fabulous place to enjoy art, culture, cuisine of all types and the fact that Tourism is Bali’s #1 industry makes it a great place to find just about anything 
you’re looking for. Hotels are abundant and readily available most times of the year. No matter which 3+ star hotel you may choose, they all seem to be quite beautiful and offer a comfortable stay at a very reasonable price. Because of this, Suzy and I find ourselves indulging and splurge on a better hotel. By any US standards, the hotel pricing for a wondrous beach hotel is less than what you’d expect to pay for a hotel along the interstate. Dining in Bali is very cosmopolitan. You can choose to dine at a four star Hotel restaurant which is plentiful or you can walk along the main drag and find a Sports bar, an English pub, or an elegant privately owned restaurant where you can dine with tablecloths, water glasses and fine cuisine. Shopping is abundant in Bali with no shortage of shop owners willing to barter for your best offer. Shopping does not stop there, while sun bathing you can expect beach hawkers to offer you everything from top line Mac cosmetics, watches, bracelets, sarongs, T-shirts, kites, but no drinks…. That is reserved for the myriads of beach bar owners along the coast. Let me explain… A beach bar owner in Bali is an independent vendor, a Balinese resident, who has a few beach chairs lined up in the sand. His Beach bar extends only about 30 feet in width, once you’ve exceeded the width you’ll find yourself at another guys beach bar and this will continue the length of the beach. With every beach bar come several ice coolers full of beer, ice teas and Smirnoff coolers. What you will not find is wine or alcohol but you can certainly bring your own and do your own cocktail mixing while enjoying the sun and surf. The beach bar vendors don’t mind, just make sure you patronize their bar and buy the tonic water or sodas from them.
Once you’ve been to Bali, Suzy and I are sure you’ll find it so enjoyable you’ll be returning year after year. We find it to be a magical place where you can disconnect, kick back and enjoy. The atmosphere in Bali is just that. Everything seems to happen on a day-by-day calendar. We are already looking forward to next year’s visit.