A world away from the office

Ubud is a far cry from the packed beaches of Bali’s south coast, which have a faint whiff of Miami beach or Australia’s Gold coast. The town is at the island’s cultural heart: think temples, rice paddies and stone carvings rather than surf and sunburn.

Tourists have sought out its charms for generations. First, it was artists drawn by the town’s rich Hindu art traditions. Then came a bohemian crowd with some famous names like Noel Coward and Charlie Chaplin among their ranks. Later came hippies and then mainstream tourists. Hordes of them.

Tourism has brought rapid economic development to Ubud. The town only received electricity in the 1970s, when Bali had about 100,000 foreign visitors a year. This year the island will host nearly five million foreign visitors, and Ubud itself has more than 400 hotels to cater to the masses. But a quick trip to the areas that surround the town reveals a Bali that hasn’t changed quite so much.

When the rice is almost ready to harvest, Ubud is surrounded by tranquil fields of green, gently undulating in the breeze. It’s easy to forget that all this beauty is built on backbreaking labour. But economic progress is bringing a new kind of work to town. A very different kind of workforce has moved in.

Interspersed between the temples and the tourists, there’s a group of professionals – most of them young and from the West – who live and work remotely from here.

These digital nomads are drawn by the warm weather and beautiful surroundings. The cheap rent doesn’t hurt either.