The island that overwhelms you on arrival — and is nearly impossible to leave.

There's a place where restaurant staff hold your baby so you can finish your meal, where kids aren't just tolerated but celebrated, and where six months planned turned into three years lived. That's Bali, according to today's guest.

Alison Emerick's family spent three years living in Bali — sandwiched between two years in Singapore and their current home in Lisbon — moving there when her kids were just three and five years old. She's walking through everything a first-time family needs to know: how to survive the flight, where to actually stay, which beaches are worth it (spoiler — not many), and what happens when your kid splits her chin open!

Meet Alison Alison is a writer, photographer, and American mom of two now living in Lisbon after nearly seven years abroad — first in Singapore, then three years in Bali. She's the founder of Semicurated Life and the author of a comprehensive Bali Family Guide covering neighborhoods, sample itineraries, and safety information for families. Before any of it, she studied French and International Studies and teaching English in Japan through the JET Program.

In This Episode:

• Where Bali is in this great big world, and how to get there
• Surviving the long-haul flight: overnight legs, screens without guilt, and why Singapore Airlines tops her list
• The airport "taxi mafia" and why a prearranged private driver is worth arranging in advance
• Health and safety on the ground: dengue, rabies, motorbike accidents, and the reality of pay-before-they-treat-you healthcare — including the day her daughter split her chin open and needed stitches under anesthesia
• Area-by-area breakdown: Sanur vs. Nusa Dua vs. the South Bali resort towns vs. Ubud
• Why Ubud disappoints more families than it delights, and where she sends people instead
• Island-hopping options: Nusa Lembongan for the beaches Bali itself doesn't really deliver, and Flores for Komodo dragons and some of the best snorkeling of their time in Indonesia
• What things actually cost: villas, private drivers, food delivery, childcare, massages
• The daily offerings (canang sari) woven into everyday Balinese life, and what they taught her kids
• When to go: the wet-versus-dry season breakdown, and her least-favorite month to visit

Links + Resources

Follow Alison’s adventures on Instagram: @semicuratedlife

Alison’s Bali Family Guide: https://stan.store/semicuratedlife/p/get-my-bali-guide-for-families-now

Semicuratedlife site: https://semicuratedlife.com/

Questions or episode ideas? hello@untetheredchildhoodpod.com Follow the show: Instagram @untethered_childhood