Laura E. about her stay abroad

I was supposed to do my internship in New York City in July 2022. I already had a visa and accommodation booked. However, due to Covid, the internship agency withdrew its commitment at short notice and so I had to find a new solution. Why not Bali?

I have always dreamed of working on the beach and under palm trees. Going surfing in between and immersing myself in a completely new culture. I immediately convinced myself that it was an incredibly brilliant idea and booked the flight as well as my first accommodation.

Since Covid gave me the opportunity to attend all lectures online, I flew to Bali in mid-March 2022, 3 months before the start of my internship. At that time, it was still unclear whether I would even be able to find an internship in Bali and whether the job market and the Covid situation would allow it on an island.

I had also honestly never dealt with Indonesian culture before. I had also never travelled alone to the other side of the globe for 6 months. Therefore, everything that was to happen as soon as I set foot on the island was pure adventure for me.

For my stay in Bali, I had chosen the city of Canggu, because this place was supposed to be Bali's business hub where countless expats, digital nomads and entrepreneurs stay. And yes, it was! I was totally amazed at how many modern cafés and restaurants there are and how many people from all over the world live in Canggu.

The majority of the expats I met either work remotely for foreign companies, are self-employed with their own business or work as freelancers on a project basis. Mostly in the areas of (online) marketing, sales and IT. Since I study corporate communications, it was a huge inspiration for me to see that there is also the possibility to combine my dream, travelling, and work.

For the 6 months in Canggu, I rented a room in a guest house, which is also common here. To my delight, I also met quite a few international interns / young professionals in this accommodation who, like me, were somewhere between studies, internships and work.

We mostly worked in cafes or co-working spaces (of which there are countless in Canggu - and yes, even with very good wifi!). Since there are so many digital nomads, especially in Canggu, the cafes are populated by people working on their laptops. There are also regular networking events here, so it was totally easy for me to get into conversation with people. On the contrary, it's more of a challenge not to chat with anyone.

I did my internship at The Selective Studio, a digital content agency. The areas I worked in were content production, video production, social media strategy and management, branding, content creation and graphic design. As I already had experience in these areas from previous internships, it was a lot of fun to be so broad and creative. My tasks were super varied and allowed me to find out my personal preferences.

I actually had so much fun working with the team that I am still working with the agency now (4 months on). Not as an intern anymore, but as a freelancer.

I found the internship through a Facebook post in the "Bali Jobs" group and completed it fromm 1 July to 31 August 2022. I would therefore advise anyone looking for internships abroad to also take a look at country- and city-specific Facebook groups.

In summary, I can say that the stay abroad and the internship were among my best and most formative experiences ever. The people and encounters, as well as the culture, have greatly broadened my horizons, not only professionally but above all personally. Above all, the wonderful island of Bali has become a second home to me during these 6 months and I can't wait to come back!

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