JANINE Freuling closes her eyes as she enjoys a £7 massage by the beach, before freediving with turtles and eating delicious seafood while watching the sunset.
It’s how she typically spends weekends since moving to this sun-soaked island in 2020, funding her luxury lifestyle as a full-time content creator. And she’s not alone – with this destination fast becoming the influencer capital of the world as Brit expats ditch Dubai.
Janine Freuling, 27, moved to the island in 2020 Credit: Instagram
Emmi Fink, 29, is a lifestyle influencer who moved from Germany in 2023 Credit: Emmi Fink
The famous Berawa beach in the trendy Canggu area of north Kuta in Bali Credit: Getty
With fancy , clubs and paradise beaches, Bali is a hotspot for , reality TV stars and travel creators – particularly because aesthetic content is easy to create and monetise.
Janine lives in an apartment in the coastal village of Canggu, where surfers catch waves as couples sip cocktails under palm trees. It costs just £435 per month to rent – fit with a sparkling shared pool.
With 32,000 followers on and 178,000 on , she has no plans to return home, where she estimates living costs would tower above what she pays now.
Janine, 27, told The Sun: “There are so many content creators here in the community, so you can learn a lot from each other.
“It’s super beautiful, that’s a good start for content creation and you can go to so many new places.
“The cost of living is so much cheaper too. In , I would spend two to three times as much as I spend here now in Bali.”
Janine, who shares footage of herself smiling on jet skis and quad bikes, struck gold after sharing a viral video of herself eating local food.
This led her to pivot away from jewellery and become a travel creator instead – specialising in cuisine, tips and things to do in Bali, where she also enjoys paddleboarding, snorkeling and cruising on her scooter.
She said: “I first went viral with locals because they love to see a foreigner eating the Indonesian food they grew up with.
“I started travelling around the island more, I got a drone, new cameras and I have editors now – so it all became pretty big, pretty fast.
“I just feel so at home here, I feel so creative. I have a really nice house and I don’t see myself living anywhere else, unless I meet someone.
“But he would have to be really nice because it’s hard for me to leave Bali.”
Ukrainian influencer Vlada Chaste is among those who left Dubai Credit: Instagram
Chaste lives in Canggu, sharing a villa with her fiance for just £515 per month Credit: Vlada Chaste
The wellness influencer shares content of herself doing yoga stretches next to pools and waterfalls Credit: Instagram
‘Four times cheaper than Dubai’
Ukrainian influencer Vlada Chaste is among those who left the UAE for Bali.
She made the move in 2024, before war broke out this year in the Middle East, with scenes of drone and missile strikes hitting buildings in Dubai, leaving .
The wellness influencer, who shares content of herself doing yoga stretches next to pools and waterfalls, claims she lives a better lifestyle in Bali than she did in the Middle East – and for a staggering four times less.
Chaste, 27, also lives in Canggu, sharing a villa with her fiance for just £515 per month.
Vlada told The Sun: “I left Dubai because it was too hot. In the summer it’s just impossible there.
“I wasn’t planning to leave, it was a safe and calm city.
“But I was planning to do some travelling, went to Bali for a couple of months and then stayed there because living in Dubai, I was really missing the fresh air, the nature, the beaches and here I feel I have oxygen.
“It’s a great place to be a content creator, because every location has its own spirit, atmosphere and you’re inspired.
I went to Bali for a couple of months and then stayed there because living in Dubai, I was really missing the fresh air, the nature, the beaches and here I feel I have oxygen
Vlada Chaste
She added: “It’s a nice place to be an influencer, and there are a lot of them here.
“Compared to Dubai: first it’s the , second is the economic situation and third it’s the open-minded people.
“You go into a cafe in Bali and you can talk with someone, it feels a bit different. You sit next to someone and it’s so easy to start a conversation, to meet new people.
“For me Bali was always more about work, the mindset, but everyone is more relaxed.”
Former Made in Chelsea star Inga Valentiner has spent lots of time in Bali since 2018.
She told The Times : “The expat community here gets bigger each year. A huge portion of that are influencers. There’s also a lot of crypto bros.”
And it’s much easier to produce content than in rainy London.
“There’s so many pool clubs, fitness places, and villas – everywhere is a backdrop for good content,” she said.
“The lighting, the sun – everything’s just so aesthetic here.”
Tourists enjoy drinks and watch the sunset at the Potato Head Beach Club in Seminyak, Bali Credit: Alamy
Emmi Fink says the island is a draw for OnlyFans creators Credit: Emmi Fink
Emmi, who has 32,500 followers on Instagram, has no plans to return home Credit: Emmi Fink
Seedy underbelly of OnlyFans
But behind the Instagram shots of a greenery-clad paradise, Bali has a seedy underbelly that expats claim is getting worse.
Emmi Fink, 29, a lifestyle influencer who moved to Bali from Germany in 2023, says the island is a draw for creators.
She told The Sun: “You see a lot of OnlyFans in Bali. I was staying at a villa and next door some people were it for OnlyFans content.
“There was also a guest house we stayed at before and we had a neighbour who was obviously a cam girl.
“You don’t see them much on the streets, they do it behind closed doors.
“I think OnlyFans creators like it here because of the aesthetics, because you have a nice island vibe and nice villas, ideal for high-end luxury content.”
Last year adult content creator , known for her extreme pornographic stunts, was .
And last month, French model with a male co-star.
While Indonesia is Muslim majority, Bali itself is predominantly Hindu and forbids the production of pornographic content.
Emmi, who lives with her boyfriend and shares clips next to sparkling blue pools, said are also a problem.
She said: “In the last year especially, there were so many people taking drugs, working with drugs and dealing with drugs.
“It was a zero tolerance policy when I was here in 2017 already. They are not joking about that.
“When you see people taking drugs or dealing drugs, they should know what can happen. I would say there are also a lot of criminal groups at the moment.”
There is so much to do and it never gets boring and nature itself is amazing. You have a high amount of villas here, luxury hotels, cafes and restaurants
Emmi Fink
Despite the downsides Emmi, who has 32,500 followers on Instagram, has no plans to return home.
She says: “I fell in love with the island, so I moved there. My boss allowed me to work from anywhere.
“There is so much to do and it never gets boring. You have a high amount of villas here, luxury , cafes and restaurants.
“It’s crazy to have so many opportunities everywhere. It never gets boring. With beauty and travel influencers, they like to show the aesthetic content on their profile. I think that is why it is so popular with influencers.”
Despite Janine’s idyllic lifestyle, she says it has changed since her move to the island six years ago.
She said: “There are so many people who are moving here from Dubai now and they see how affordable everything is compared to Dubai, staying in nice villas and going to luxury beach clubs.
“I do think Bali is slowly getting a little bit too crowded. I’ve been here seven years now and I can see a big difference.
“Every week there is a new cafe or restaurant opening, which is nice and I understand it from a business perspective, but sometimes I feel like the real Bali is not visible anymore.”
Janine also says dating is a fickle endeavour due to the island’s transient nature – and well-known “players”.
“Bali is a place where so many beautiful people live, there are so many gym bros, everyone seems perfect and beautiful,” she said.
“But there are a lot of players.”
Janine funds her luxury lifestyle in Bali as a content creator Credit: Instagram
Influencers say it’s easier to create aesthetic content in Bali rather than rainy London Credit: Janine Freuling
Tourists enjoy their holiday at Kuta beach near Denpasar on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali Credit: AFP
Escaping Britain’s ‘rat race’
Leon, 49, quit his job as an executive in last year to move to Bali, where he stays at a £15-a-night hotel with a pool.
Living on the island with a nomad visa, he has built up a following of 20,000 on Instagram, where he offers tips on dating, avoiding scams, road rules and where to find a good Sunday roast.
He moved to Bali because of the cost-of-living in the UK and burnout that left him bedbound.
Leon tells The Sun: “Some people thrive off that, but for me it was getting too much. I was also just fed up with how things were being run, my tax bills were through the roof.
“You work every hour under the sun and you don’t really feel like you’re getting any benefit from that.
“They have a really positive energy here. I was working in an environment where most people in the corporate backstabbing world don’t want to help you because they are worried about their career prospects.
“But in Bali the culture is amazing and your money goes a lot further.”
Mark Graham, Professor of Internet Geography at University, says low costs continue to draw content creators to Bali – but it can be easy for expats to find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
He said: “It offers a relatively low cost of living compared with many global cities.
“It offers a different symbolic package from Dubai. Dubai is often associated with luxury, spectacle, and hyper-consumption.
“Bali, by contrast, is marketed through ideas of authenticity, spirituality, nature, and personal reinvention.
“The two places occupy quite different niches. Dubai functions as a highly connected global city with major transport links, high-end real estate, a business-friendly environment for wealth, and a state-backed model of visibility and consumption.
“On the dangers and downsides, there are several that people should be aware of.
“Indonesia is not a liberal utopia, and foreign residents can quickly run into problems if they misunderstand visa restrictions, business rules, speech norms, or drug laws.”
Janine lives in an apartment fit with a sparkling shared pool Credit: Janine Freuling
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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