I am from London, England and have spent the last 20 years
living all over the world doing a variety of silly jobs. Independent
travel, or backpacking is my passion and I used to read maps
for hours when I was a kid planning my overseas adventures.
What is your professional background?
I was studying computer science and multi-media in Oregon
USA in 1998 when I helped to start BootsnAll.com, an online
guide to worldwide independent travel. Since that point my
studies faded out as the website became more and more successful.
BootsnAll.com has been mentioned in Forbes Magazine, National
Geographic Traveler, The Wall Street Journal and many other
publications.
How did you come to live and work on Bali?
After spending 7 years in Oregon I said to my friend and colleague,
“I need to get out of here”. He said “Go
for it”, so I chose India. After doing some research
I discovered that the summer monsoon wipes out tourism in
southern India so that plan was scrapped. I looked around
for other possible places with the criteria of having year-round
tourism, internet access, an international airport and being
affordable, since I’m not rich. Out of the blue Bali
came up, not by design, but by fitting all the criteria.
What is the history behind Bali Blog?
I came to Bali on Jan 1st 2003 and have been working on the
site everyday since.
What’s the mission behind Bali Blog?
The mission statement of BootsnAll.com is to cultivate an
organic community that encourages independent travel. Baliblog.com
falls under that umbrella, but I will also say that Bali Blog
is building the ultimate guide to the island paradise of Bali.
What makes your blog different from the others operating on
Bali?
The word blog‚ means web-log‚ a kind of online
diary where articles are published in chronological order.
I get some funny looks from Balinese people because in Bahasa
Bali belog‚ means stupid. People will ask “Why
Bali stupid?”
My website is different from most of the other sites because
I am not just trying to sell hotels and villas. There are
other good Bali based sites though. I answer people’s
questions online and frequently meet up with them for a drink
(that’s the best part!).
What are some the unique features of Balibblog that you are
proud of?
Baliblog has new articles everyday which is good, but the
real thing I’m proud of is it allows conversation and
encourages the flow of information. Can you tell who is behind
half of the Bali sites? Probably not because those people
do not want your opinion or communication, they want your
money.
How do you financially support the site?
My site is commercial. My site offers hotels, airline tickets,
bungy jumping and surf lessons. The .com‚ means commercial‚
and anyone who goes on about their non-commercial dotcom‚
which then goes on to offer villa rentals, is full of dung.
How do you attract or solicit contributors/writers for the
site?
We love contributions from people and there isn’t really
a process. I just meet people and it comes up. Anyone may
feel free to contact me. I’m open to all opinions and
encourage community participation.
What is the “profile” of the typical visitor to
your site?
Baliblog gets a lot of people who are planning their first
trip to Bali, or people who have been captivated by Bali’s
aura and are planning their return trip. Baliblog allows readers
to post comments that can be read and answered by others.
I never delete a comment, even one that attacks me personally.
I reckon it all comes out in the wash and the community will
figure out what’s worth reading. Probably our biggest
demographic group is Aussies and Americans aged between 30
and 60.
Can you give a concrete example of how Baliblog has directly
or indirectly helped someone?
One lady told me Baliblog had changed her life. She was unhappy
in LA and after reading the site everyday came out to Bali.
She hasn’t yet made a permanent move but plans to.
What’s the most harrowing, scariest posting you’ve
ever made?
Two stories posts come to mind. The first was the birth of
my son Jevon, on June 30th this year, which contained some
scary photos! The other was about my buddy from California
who volunteered at Sanglah hospital after the bombing. His
description of walking around the back of the hospital and
seeing bodies piled up and burned together was haunting. I
have interviewed many Kuta locals about the bombing and it
was definitely emotional for everyone.
What’s the most interesting aspect of running a blog?
I think it’s great to be able to correspond and meet
cool people from all over the world who have been reading
the site. They even know what the inside of my house looks
like!
What do you like best and least about your job?
The best part is being able to live in Bali and experience
a totally different culture. The worst part is not being able
to mentally pull myself away from always checking the site!
For anyone interested in being considered for Siapa, please
contact : pakbill2003@yahoo.com
Copyright@2005 Al Hickey
You can read all past articles of Siapa at www.BaliAdvertiser.biz
