Welcome! Trading the 9-to-5 for a New Life in Lombok
Hi! I’m Thijs de Jong (38), and I’m so glad you found my blog.
Up until recently, I was caught in the classic 9-to-5 rat race back in the Netherlands. For years, I was a middle-management team lead at Funda (think of it as the Dutch equivalent of Zillow). It was a great company that put me right at the heart of the real estate world, but the constant hustle, back-to-back meetings, and the endless pressure to do “more, faster” really started wearing me down. I realized I just couldn’t keep doing this until retirement. Plus, I was itching to finally take all that real estate knowledge I’d gathered and put it to work for myself.
So, my girlfriend Marlou (who works fully remotely in marketing) and I decided to take a massive leap. With our first baby boy arriving in a few months, we had built up some savings and were looking for the perfect sweet spot: a laid-back lifestyle that also offered solid real estate investment opportunities.
We originally looked at Bali, but honestly, it’s just gotten way too crowded for our taste. Just one island over, however, we found exactly what we were looking for: Lombok. It’s more authentic, peaceful, and absolutely packed with potential.
These days, I work remotely from the island for a few steady freelance clients, soak up the slower pace of life, and am focused on building a passive income stream through real estate. The ultimate goal? To have total freedom and plenty of time for our growing family.
Why start a blog? When we were getting ready to make the move, I had to figure everything out the hard way. I had to learn it all from scratch, from navigating visas and taxes to the nitty-gritty of building and investing in Indonesia. Since I couldn’t find a comprehensive, all-in-one guide anywhere, I just started documenting the process myself.
I treat this site as my own personal online notebook, but my biggest hope is that it can save others a whole lot of headaches. Plus, if I’m being honest, I just really enjoy writing.
Feel free to look around! Read up on our wins and our blunders, and use what we’ve learned to your advantage if you’re also dreaming of making an investment and building a life in the sun.
Cheers,
Thijs