By Dev M, Freelance UX Designer
Three months ago, the decision was made to stay in one place for six months instead of continuing the constant movement that defined three years of digital nomad life.
This shift didn’t happen because of exhaustion from travel itself, but from finally understanding the difference between freedom and rootlessness a realization that came from an unexpected two-week stay at a small wellness retreat in Tabanan.
The search for bali resorts all inclusive initially came from the same place many burned-out professionals find themselves: desperately needing someone else to handle the logistics while the nervous system recovered.
But what was discovered went far beyond unlimited meals and spa treatments. It revealed how authentic all inclusive experiences differ fundamentally from the conventional resort model that dominates most of Bali’s coastline.
What You’ll Discover:
- Why most all inclusive resort packages fail digital nomads and remote workers seeking genuine rest and connection, and what to look for instead
- The hidden cost of “convenience” at large resorts versus the transformative value of community-integrated wellness experiences
- How to evaluate whether an all inclusive package supports deep recovery or just provides another form of consumption and distraction
- Practical criteria for choosing accommodations that balance structure with authentic cultural immersion in Bali’s less-traveled regions
Why Standard Bali Resorts All Inclusive Packages Often Miss the Mark
The Digital Nomad Trap: When “Freedom” Becomes Isolation
For three years, life looked perfect on Instagram. Lisbon in spring, Chiang Mai in winter, Mexico City for creative energy. The professional profile was polished “Location-independent UX designer helping startups build human-centered products from anywhere in the world.”
What wasn’t visible: crushing loneliness working from the sixth co-working space that year. The 3 AM panic in another beige Airbnb. The exhausting performance of moving every 4-6 weeks because that’s what digital nomads do.
As someone trained in user experience and systems thinking, the inability to design away from personal disconnection was particularly frustrating. By the third landing in Bali, several attempted solutions had already failed:
Canggu’s party scene – Beach clubs, networking events, sunset sessions at The Lawn. Fun for two weeks, then realizing everyone was equally transient and surface-level. Instagram handles exchanged, never speaking again.
Rigid detox retreat in Thailand – Seven days without devices, mandatory 5 AM meditation. Felt punitive rather than restorative. The moment phones returned, old patterns resumed immediately.
“Community-focused” hostels – Dozen attempts, same result. Surface conversations about where you’ve been and where you’re going, maybe a group dinner, then everyone scatters before anything real develops.
What Makes an All Inclusive Resort Actually Inclusive
According to the Global Wellness Institute (2023), mental wellness and stress reduction now drive tourism more than ever, yet many conventional all inclusive models fail these needs by focusing on consumption rather than restoration.
This disconnect was experienced firsthand guests spending weeks at massive Nusa Dua hotels with unlimited cocktails and food, arriving at smaller retreats feeling heavier than when they left home. Indulgence happened, but nourishment didn’t.
For high-functioning professionals lawyers, tech executives, healthcare providers standard all inclusive packages often exacerbate burnout. These environments pack in sensory overload: loud music at the pool, crowded restaurants, frantic schedules of “fun” activities.
The convenience of having everything on site becomes a trap where decision fatigue isn’t removed, just shifted to choosing between five different buffets and dozens of amenities.
True recovery requires a container of safety, not a menu of distractions. When resorts focus on volume, staff are stretched too thin to provide the personal attunement necessary for nervous system reset. The “luxury” becomes impersonal, leaving guests feeling like transactions rather than humans needing rest.
Finding Bali Palms: When Skepticism Met Desperation
The Resistant Beginning
Discovery of Bali Palms happened almost accidentally during an Ubud stay, feeling done with the digital nomad lifestyle but too proud to admit it wasn’t working.
A designer friend mentioned staying at this small place in Tabanan for two weeks and how “it changed something fundamental.” The phrase was annoying sounded like every wellness Instagram caption worth eye-rolling.
Desperate enough to investigate. Seeing it described as an “all inclusive resort” in Tabanan triggered immediate thoughts: “Oh great, another overpriced location with unlimited smoothie bowls and performative yoga.”
Resistance ran particularly deep because “all-inclusive” felt opposite to freedom, and freedom was the entire identity. Three years proving structure and commitment weren’t necessary. The idea of staying in one place, with a set program, felt like admitting defeat.
But exhaustion had set in. Exhausted from choosing where to live monthly, what to eat thrice daily, which co-working space to try, which community event might finally provide real connection. Drowning in choice, calling it freedom.
Four days booked. Just four. Anything manageable for four days. The cost seemed high compared to typical Airbnb rates, but calculating what was being spent on “freedom” co-working memberships, eating out every meal at various restaurants, random activities to fill loneliness, therapy sessions to process isolation the all inclusive package was actually comparable. Plus, no constant paying for add ons or signing bills throughout the day.
First Impressions: Permission to Just Be
Arrival happened with full armor intellectual skepticism protecting through a hundred “transformative” travel experiences that changed nothing. Already critiquing: Too polished? Too hippie? Where’s the catch?
First surprise: nobody tried selling anything or convincing anything. No wellness jargon, no pressure to join every session at the yoga space, no forced community bonding at the lounge. Sarah, who greeted new guests later sharing her own three-year nomad journey before landing here simply said, “You look tired. Your room is ready. Lunch is at one if you want it, or we can bring something to your villa. Do whatever your body needs.”
That permission to just… be? The need for it hadn’t been realized until that moment. Most hotels and resorts operate transactionally check in, here are your amenities, enjoy your stay. This felt different immediately.
What Authentic All Inclusive Actually Means in Tabanan
Beyond Unlimited Food and Drinks: The Container of Safety
The “all-inclusive” concept was initially misunderstood. The assumption: trapped in a resort bubble, making no decisions, having everything done in ways that turn guests into passive consumers focused solely on relaxation and indulgence.
Reality: the container was held so letting go could finally happen.
Each day had rhythm morning yoga overlooking the waterfall, breakfast with whoever showed up (sometimes three guests, sometimes eight), free time, optional afternoon activities (sometimes village walks, sometimes healing sessions with Selena the village healer, sometimes just space to unwind), dinner together.
The key: structure without rigidity. Anything could be skipped. Work could happen when needed. But options were curated, not overwhelming.
For a nervous system in fight-or-flight mode from constant decision-making and uncertainty, this was revolutionary. No reaching for wallet or negotiating prices or figuring out next meals or tomorrow’s workspace. Just… being.
The Food Philosophy: Nourishment Over Consumption
The food alone proved worthwhile not from fanciness or Michelin-star presentation, but from realness. Papaya from the garden. Fish from local markets. Coconuts from the property.
Occasionally traditional Balinese cooking class opportunities where guests could learn to prepare dishes alongside the kitchen team. No menu paralysis at crowded restaurants, no performance. Just nourishment.
This differed dramatically from typical resort buffets packed with imported ingredients and generic international cuisine. The focus here was quality over quantity. Breakfast might be simple fresh fruit, homemade granola, eggs prepared how you wanted but everything tasted alive in a way hotel food rarely does. Even the coffee came from local farms rather than corporate suppliers.
The “inclusive” part extended beyond meals. It included access to village healer Selena, who taught more about holding space and energy work in two sessions than a dozen wellness podcasts.
It included relationships with staff who weren’t “staff” in the transactional sense neighbors, friends, people who genuinely cared about guest wellbeing rather than just service metrics.
When food poisoning hit on day five (not from the resort a warung experiment gone wrong), the cook, Ibu Komang, made her family’s traditional remedy and sat for an hour telling stories about raising her kids. That wasn’t in any package description, but it was the most valuable thing received during the entire stay.
The Location Advantage: Real Bali Beyond the Beach
One evening, sitting on the private deck, working on a design project for a San Francisco client (because of course when do digital nomads not work?), a sound emerged. Gamelan music, but not the canned recording from resort lobbies. This was live, slightly imperfect, coming from somewhere in the village below.
Asked Sarah about it at dinner. She explained it was practice night at the local banjar the community pavilion and offered to walk down and watch. Immediate instinct: say no (defense mechanism: stay separate, stay safe). But something made the answer yes.
Walking through the village in evening light. Kids playing, families making offerings, the smell of incense and cooking fires. At the banjar, no one treated anyone like a tourist. Sarah had clearly built real relationships here. She introduced Pak Wayan, who plays the kendang, and he smiled and went right back to practicing.
Sitting on the edge of that pavilion, watching this community do something they’ve done every week for generations something in the chest cracked open. This wasn’t a performance for tourists like the “Balinese Nights” offered at larger hotels. Just witnessing was allowed. The difference felt enormous.
Tabanan isn’t on tourist circuits like the beach areas of Seminyak or the packed streets of Ubud center. There’s no ocean view or beachfront lounge serving cocktails at sunset. What exists instead: rice paddies, actual village life, the natural beauty of interior Bali that most visitors rush past on their way to the next Instagram spot. This location choice is intentional it’s what makes cultural immersion possible rather than performative.
The Turning Point: Rice Planting Ceremony
Third day already extended to a week by then Sarah mentioned the village was having a rice planting ceremony and asked about participation. Not watching like a tourist attraction. Participating.
Almost said no. Client calls existed. Work existed. The carefully constructed identity as someone too busy and important to plant rice existed.
Thank god for that yes.
Placed in the muddy rice paddy alongside farmers who’ve been doing this their entire lives. No idea what to do. Terrible at it. Feet kept sinking deeper into the mud, spacing was wrong, sweating and laughing and completely out of element.
Most present moment in three years.
Standing knee-deep in mud, sun on back, mountains in distance, working next to a 60-year-old farmer who kept gently correcting technique. Realization hit: this man has more stability and community in this single village than three years of “freedom” had provided.
His world wasn’t about accumulating countries visited or building an adventure portfolio. It was about depth, connection, belonging.
Commitment had been viewed as limitation. Watching these farmers, embedded in their land and community, revealed that commitment creates a different kind of freedom the freedom that comes from knowing where you belong.
That night, covered in dried mud that couldn’t quite wash off, crying happened for the first time in probably a year. Not from sadness, but from finally touching something real after years of surface-level experiences designed for content creation and social media highlight reels.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an all inclusive resort in Bali worth it for solo travelers who work remotely?
Absolutely. The structure of an all inclusive package actually serves solo remote workers particularly well because it removes the constant burden of logistics that typically fall entirely on individual travelers.
When working while traveling, mental bandwidth gets split between professional responsibilities and travel operations where to eat, how to get there, what costs what, whether that warung is safe, which co-working space to try today.
An authentic all inclusive resort handles the operations, freeing mental space for both work and genuine rest. The key is choosing locations that support remote work needs reliable internet, quiet workspace options, flexibility to skip communal activities when deadlines hit rather than assuming all inclusive means mandatory participation in every scheduled event.
The social aspect matters too. Solo travel often means surface-level interactions with other transient travelers. Small retreat environments create conditions for deeper connection because everyone stays long enough to move past small talk.
For remote workers who spend days in isolation in front of screens, this social nourishment matters enormously for mental health.
How does a wellness-focused all inclusive differ from a typical beach resort package?
Standard beach resorts focus on consumption and entertainment. The goal is keeping guests happy through variety multiple restaurants, bars serving unlimited cocktails and wines, packed schedules of fun activities, kids’ clubs, evening shows. Success is measured by how much guests indulge and enjoy themselves during vacation time.
Wellness-focused all inclusive prioritizes restoration and transformation. The goal is creating conditions for nervous system reset and genuine life shifts. Food emphasizes nourishment over variety.
Drinks mean herbal teas and fresh juices rather than alcohol focus. Activities aim for meaningful engagement rather than entertainment. Spa treatments aren’t luxury add ons but essential components of the healing journey.
The World Bank (2022) research on sustainable tourism found that destinations integrating local community wisdom and preserving intangible cultural heritage provide significantly higher satisfaction than those relying solely on infrastructure and amenities.
This plays out practically: a beach resort might have an infinity pool with ocean views and sunset cocktails, but a wellness retreat offers participation in village rice planting ceremonies. One provides vacation; the other provides perspective shifts that continue affecting life months later.
The cost structure differs too. Beach resorts make money through volume and upselling getting people through the door with attractive rates, then profiting from add ons, premium experiences, and on-site shopping.
Wellness retreats typically include more comprehensively upfront because the goal isn’t maximizing per-guest spending but ensuring guests can fully engage without constant financial calculations pulling them back into transactional mindset.
Can I maintain my work schedule while staying at an all inclusive wellness retreat?
Yes, but it requires choosing the right type of retreat and communicating needs clearly. Not all wellness experiences support working guests some specifically require complete digital disconnection as part of their philosophy. However, increasingly, retreats recognize that many potential guests need work-life integration rather than work-life separation.
Essential questions to ask when booking:
- What’s the wifi quality and reliability? Can it handle video calls?
- Are there quiet workspace options beyond the room or villa?
- Is the daily schedule flexible enough to accommodate work blocks?
- Do other guests typically work, or is everyone fully unplugged?
The Tabanan experience worked specifically because flexibility existed. Morning yoga was optional. Afternoons were often free for deep work. Evenings offered connection, but there was no pressure if deadlines required evening work sessions. The rhythm supported work rather than fighting against it.
Productivity often increases in these environments compared to typical digital nomad life because the nervous system isn’t constantly in survival mode from travel logistics. Having meals handled, location stable, and social needs met through evening connections means work hours can be genuinely focused rather than fragmented by all the micro-decisions and mini-crises that fill nomadic life.