Bali Family Trip Must Haves - Health Edition
Bali is such a special place on Earth - but it is an island nonetheless and although there are incredible healing options here, if you're coming for a holiday you may want the safety of bringing your own supplies with you knowing where to get them from.
There is nothing worse than getting sick on holiday, but even more so when you have littles ones to look after!
If you follow me on IG, you would have seen our horrific entry into Bali. We thought we were cursed, from the first week we landed within 2 short weeks, as a collective we got hospitalised from food poisining, my 3 month old getting chronic bronchitis, a scooter accident and my little man even ended up in hospital with pneuemonia - this isn't to scare you, but to inform you how to best be prepared!
It can be hard between language barriers and not knowing your bearings in a different country, so let me fill you in on the things I know work.
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PACK A NEBULISER
I cannot tell you how much a nebuliser saved us. You can also get them from any pharmacy in Bali, but having one on you on your travels really saves the hassle. We use colloidial silver in ours whenever the kids get a stuffy nose and its cleared within hours! A nebuliser will help your breathing if you have asthma too, but because of the air being so polluted in Bali - it's great to have just in case!
KNOW WHAT TO DO IN AN EMERGENCY & WHERE YOUR CLOSEST PAEDIATRICIAN IS LOCATED
One night we had to go to 4 different 24 hour emergency clinics to get to a pediatrician - most medical centres are for adults. It was SO exhausting. Everyone uses whatsapp in Bali - so if you can go onto google maps, then look for the surrounding hospitals or medical centres and whatsapp them to see if a pediatrician is present, I highly recommend that before venturing around the country side. For emergencies you just want to know that where you're going has someone there to see you. If its not an emergency then you know me.. I'd be going to see a naturopath in their working hours! SO many incredible healers on the island.
HIRE A POOL FENCE IF YOU'RE STAYING IN A VILLA
99% of pools in Bali don't have pool fences, aesthetically beautiful - not so safe for little ones. Theres a tonne of places that organise this (your villa agent may even do it for you), but just don't forget to organise it beforehand to take that stress of your plate! One trusty place is called Bali kidz Hire, click here to message them.
HAVE A STRONG COMMUNICATION NET
You can use data roaming or be money savvy and buy a $2 simcard from the airport or almost any corner of Bali, so that you have coverage and can:
🗺️ Use google maps to ensure you're going the right way 🚘 Book a GoJek/Grab (which is just like Uber but for Bali) from wherever and know where you're going 💬 Download a translator app and use it on the go
Once again Bali is beautiful and rarely will bad things happen like this, but when you have kids, you just want to know where your going is correct, if you're out at night, or if you're on a long journey, it is much less stresful to walk around to GoJek/Grab pick up points if you need to when you have data and you can easily communicate with the Gojek/Grab driver. It's just safer.
And using your translator app is not only going to help make your life much easier and less stresful with the language barrier BUT its also respectful and fun to learn the language as you explore the Balinese land 😊
Wondering which simcard to get for Bali? We use Telkomsel, it has the best coverage at a great price.
EDUCATE YOURSELF ON NATURAL REMEDIES, PACK THEM OR KNOW WHERE TO BUY THEM
I get it - your on holiday and kids are sick, its easy to just stick some antibiotics in their system. Although for us... its more often than not just a ripple effect into other sicknesses like constipation, gut issues etc, which prolongs the real healing process. I was so glad to have educated myself on healing remedies prior to the trip (and learnt a damn lot more as we were going through our cursed season) to be able to properly heal and come out stronger even through everything that hit us. We live by homeopathy, naturopathy and herbal syrups to fight anything and everything.
🌱 Homeopathy: main ones we have on hand are belladonna which helps with fevers, aconite which helps with colds, nux vomica which helps with vomitting, byriona which helps with dry coughs
🌱 Charcoal tabs: fights viruses in the gut,
🌱 Herbal syrups: Chamomile, echinacea, all fight colds and flus
🌱 Vitamin C & Zinc tablets: we have yummy ones from ethical nutrients
🌱 Colloidal silver: Acts as an antibiotic, antifungal, anti-everything. Do your own research on this - but damn its cured us from everything!
Bali has such an array of tinctures, healing juices (as pictured above) and herbs that will be so helpful, but you just need to be open to using them and doing that little bit of research beforehand so you know where to go and feel safe taking it.
PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN CURE - BE PREPARED
I'm wildy anal about my families health, if I was coming to Bali just for a holiday, I'd be extra mindful about the supplements and diet we are on before even getting to the country. For example taking lots of immune boosting supplements and being on an extra gut loving diet, to give us all the best chance of overcoming any 'Bali belly', 'viruses' and such if we were to catch any. If you prepare your body for the worst in those cases, you're giving yourself and your family the best chance at overcoming them quicker or better yet not catching anything serious at all. Let's be real, its hard to not catch something in Bali with the amount of tourists and expats travelling through, but being preprared for anything is always better than not.
THE OBVIOUS, NOT SO OBVIOUS TRAVEL INSURANCE
I have travelled to 20+ countries, flown more than 50+ times, spent years in third world countries and have never had to personally use travel insurance, but I have also never travelled without it. It sucks to say, but travel insurance is for the times when you least expect it. Especially when you have children. If you're going on a long trip or are a digital nomad, the travel insurance we recommend to use is Safetywing which is specifically for digital nomads - you can sign up as an individual, a family or even as a company if you need to get travel insurance for your staff who travel. You can sign up here!
And lastly, as a mother, from me to you - always listen to your intuition. I want to empower you to never be scared to ask a question twice or more, until you fully understand an answer or have everything checked. If you need a second opinion, get one.
Big love and we hope to see you in Bali!
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