Bali on a Budget

Before my study abroad experience in Singapore began, I would never have even dreamed of going to a place as beautiful and breathtaking as Bali. Singapore’s prime location in Southeast Asia, though, made it possible. 

While “Bali” and “budget” being in the same sentence may seem oxymoronic, there are ways to visit the Indonesian province without breaking the bank! One thing my travel group and I did to save some money was to rent a car for a day and follow an itinerary we found online rather than pay a tour company to take us around to these destinations. Renting a car was an easy process and was relatively very inexpensive. While there is an added level of convenience with booking a tour, we had a great time exploring on our own and definitely appreciated the extra money we saved doing it on our own. Luckily, the local food in Bali is also very affordable, so we got to experience new cuisines all while saving money!

Some of the things we did during our time in Bali were visit the breathtaking Broken Beach, swing into the iconic Tegalalang Rice Terrace, and get up close and personal with monkeys at the Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary in Ubud. These activities were individually very inexpensive and traveling to them on our own was part of the fun!

All in all, Bali was an incredible experience I will never forget. If you’re willing to put in just a little more time and effort, travel doesn’t have to break the bank!

Jillian Pascual, Virginia Tech, is studying abroad in Singapore with TEAN.