I spent most of my adult life in Asia. I first ventured there as an acne-faced eighteen-year-old with messy dreadlocks. I bought a one-way ticket on the Trans-Siberian Railway with the money I earned from washing dishes in England. This way, I traveled through Russia, Mongolia, and into China. This journey was significant for me in several ways.
First, I realized that I loved traveling and wanted a lifestyle that would require money. This led me to think more seriously about business and earning a living. Second, I caught lice in Mongolia and had to cut off my dreadlocks. This change in appearance made people take me more seriously. Third, I made a fool of myself during this expedition and experienced my first epic failure. Trying to climb the highest peak of the Altai Mountains without any preparation, I lost my way and proudly ascended the wrong mountain.
This experience taught me to take a step back from myself and adopt a healthy approach to planning and handling my failures.
However, the most important consequence of this expedition was taking up a job as a reporter for Polish Radio, which had a lasting impact on my future life. Over the following years, I crisscrossed Asia, from Afghanistan to the Philippines, working as a journalist and guide. I documented my experiences from this period in the book “Dawns at Dusk,” published in 2006 by FOKA. It wasn’t a remarkable book, but it might have captured the enthusiasm of a twenty-year-old who naively believed he understood the world enough to explain it to others. The book didn’t bring me wealth or fame, but it helped me believe that anything is possible.
In 2010, I bid farewell to Poland for good and settled in Bali, which is still my home and workplace today. If you were to believe influencers and Instagram pictures, you might think my life had turned into a fairytale in a tropical paradise. After all, I live on Bali, the legendary Island of the Gods, where life is simple, and problems seem to solve themselves. Fortunately, when I moved to Indonesia, Instagram didn’t exist yet, and not many people had heard of influencers. I decided to live in Bali based on my own experiences and a far-from-easy love for the island. It was only because of this that my idea of Balinese life had any chance of success. If I had come to Bali with my head filled with nonsense about paradise on Earth, hugging trees, and false expectations, I would have given up quickly, and my story would have taken a completely different turn.
Over fifteen years of living and doing business in Bali, I made just about every mistake a foreigner can make in a culturally different country. Whenever I thought I knew everything and was at home, Bali proved it wasn’t the case. I made poor decisions, was naive at times, got swindled, chased after unattainable goals, and opened and closed various businesses. It’s hard to list everything I dabbled in during these years. I worked in tourism, international trade, event organization, film and television production, real estate, and development. I wanted to build an ice cream empire in Bali, a film studio, and pipelines in Flores. I tried selling renewable energy technologies, waste management solutions, exporting natural resources, and even getting involved in intergovernmental projects and negotiations. There were moments when I wondered what I was doing and if all of this was real. I never imagined that I would become friends with the Balinese king, have vodka with the president’s son, or figure out how many suitcases a million Euros in cash converted to Indonesian rupiahs would fit into. Most of these projects came to nothing, and many ideas could be added to the list of failures and dreams. Perhaps, however, the gods truly value the foolish and the brave because I didn’t end up bankrupt in holey socks or a wealthy corpse in concrete shoes at the bottom of the ocean.
Several things, however, have succeeded. The tourist company founded over a decade ago, Far Horizon, is still in operation and has served thousands of clients, including many celebrities and people from the front pages of newspapers. During this time, I have led over thirty expeditions and research trips in New Guinea, spending nearly a year in the jungle among the Korowai tribe, the legendary Tree People. As one of the few people in the world, I had the privilege and opportunity to observe and even befriend people living in total isolation from civilization. In 2019, with a group of friends, we made a documentary film about them, which was awarded gold at festivals in Cannes, Barcelona, and Hamburg. Our production company co-created the largest TV productions filmed in Bali, including “Agent” and “Hotel Paradise.” Another company, New Life Bali, successfully undertakes large-scale development projects, including dozens of villas in Bali and ambitious hotel projects on other islands. As part of government contracts, we are building thousands of kilometers of irrigation infrastructure in Java, and we are even involved in a project to build a new Indonesian capital in Kalimantan.
However, my greatest success in Bali is starting a family, building a home, and creating the happy, adventure-filled life I always dreamed of.
@adamonabali
Adam Piotrowski