New in Lombok

Hi to all,

I am Inge, and I used to stay in Gili Trawangan for 1 year and 8 month, working as a divemaster and dive instructer. There I met my boyfriend (he is from east Lombok). Since then we have been together. Now we are thinking to life in Lombok. I like it there a lot, but what makes me a little bit think, is, what kind of work can I do there, except having bungalows or a restaurant.

Here in Europe I work in Marketing, doing adverstising, customer relationship marketing and so on.
What do you think? Is there any chance to get a work like this in Lombok? I am working for international companies. As I studied economics in Austria, I was also thinking maybe teaching at university in mataram?
Or being a marketing consultant...I also could imagine to be the link between local hotels and european tourists?

What do you think? Will there be a chance in this field? I would be very happy, if someone responds, just to get a feeling, whats possible or not.
Thanks a lot in advance!
Inge

Hi Inge,

You are likely to get a variety of views on your question but let me be the first one to offer a view.

As I understand, you are from Western Europe (Austria?), you had lived in the gili islands and now living in Europe with a boyfriend from Lombok. I suspect one of you is feeling very home sick.

Someone like you can have two choices. One is to work in Europe and relax in Lombok. For this, you will spend a major part of your time in Europe to save enough for the travel and stay in Lombok. It may work out as 11 months of work and one month of fun in Lombok.

The other is to earn your livelihood in Lombok. To earn enough to maintain a good standard of living, you will have to work in a service industry that caters to tourists. I suspect there will be lot of competition for that and also the tourism industry has not been like what it used be some four or five years ago.

What I am alluding to is the difference in earning capacities of Europe versus an underdeveloped country like Indonensia, Lombok. You could argue that the cost of living is much higher in Europe than in Lombok but the fact still remains the earning capacity in Lombok is lot less than of Europe.

My suggestion is "Work in Europe for Fun in Lombok".

Josi

Hi Josi,

thanks for ur feedback! The thing is, we are together now for 2 years, and at some point the question rises, where to life. In Austria we have very strict laws referring to foreign people. The only possibility is to get married, that my boyfriend can work here. But this is a big step.

And I was thinking, it could be possible to earn there "relatively" good, as living costs are low.
I don't expect the "European life style" there. I was there several times, but just as a guest of my boyfriends family. And we are not really sure, at the moment, where to live. We just discuss all possibilities, thats why I was asking in this forum, about experiences, other people made....

You life in Lombok or in the States now?
Inge

Hi Inge

I dont know anyone working in Lombok in the fields you mention. I am not saying it cant be done I just dont know of people. Do you not want to be a dive instructor again? You could try contacting the dive companies on the mainland.

Hi Inge,

I live in Washington DC area in USA.

I hope something will work out for you. I also hope you will get more suggestions from others.

Josi

Hi Inge
Probably your biggest chance of a job is to work as a dive instructor/master. The other fields (marketing etc) may be more a case of who you know - so if you are living in Lombok and working there, you will know more people and there is more of a chance of you moving into the other field, or seeing an opportunity to create your own business.

Getting a job where it is worth the company paying your working visa is very hard. Also, owning a restaurant/hotel is also very hard to make a decent living, and requires a fair amount of capital investment. If you have no experience in this area, it becomes even harder. I always say to people, if you have no experience running a small business successfully in your home country, you will find it very hard to be successful doing it in a foreign country - especially somewhere like Indonesia.

Another thing to consider is where in Lombok you want to live - Lombok is a fairly traditional place, you may find it a little challenging if you are living with your boyfriend and not married. The Gili's is not so bad, but you might find it harder on the main island. Not saying you can't do it, but just be aware that many Indonesians will refuse to rent you a house, village heads will not let you live in the village, etc. if you are not married.

I know so many mixed couples like yourself (I am also married to a Lombok guy), who would dearly love to live in Lombok, if only they could find a way to make a living that will cover living expenses, visas, not to mention decent schooling for their children, and health insurance. Plus the odd ticket home. Many try, very few are successful. In many cases, couples take the path of making money elsewhere and spending leisure time in Lombok - for some that is a 6 month/6 month deal, for others (particularly with kids) it is less time in Lombok.

Hi

I am new to this forum and my reply may be months too late. I hope your relationship is still going strong.

I work and live in Jakarta and have done for many years, with the right job and a commitment to living cheaply in Jakarta travelling to Lombok regularly can be an option and if your partner is not working he could spend periods with you in Jakarta, during this time you could work out your next move. At least you would have visa, be earning money and can be together.

Hope it works out for you both

Linzi