[Atuh Beach]
Never particularly high on my radar of places to visit, the expanse of islands making up Indonesia have recently made it one of my most favorite countries on my backpacking writing retreat. More surprising was how easy it was to find great writing spots in Indonesia.
The cultures, languages and religions differed vastly between each island, each housing some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever come across on this planet.
It’s in Indonesia I encountered some of the most breathtaking sunsets and sunrises, rainforests, waterfalls, volcanoes, mountains, beaches and country sides.
All make great places to visit when taking a writing break on your writing retreat in Indonesia. Or, like in my case- and perhaps more realistically- places where you can take breaks from traveling to write.
In my past Writer’s Travel Guides, I focused on specific cities that would make great writing retreat destinations.
This one is different; since Indonesia is so vast, I decided to compile all my favorite writing spots in the country into this ultimate guide.
Read along to find out what places in my one month in Indonesia I found most inspiring for writing.
[This article contains affiliate links, which means I may receive commission at no extra cost to you. That being said, I would never recommend anything I didn’t or wouldn’t use myself.]
In the homestay I slept, my roommate for the night tentatively asked me, “So…what do you think of this island?”
Of all the Gili Islands, Gili Air was my favorite. When I told her this, she looked surprised, expecting a different answer.
“Yeah sure, it’s nice and all, but there’s like nothing to do here.”
“Exactly,” was my answer.
Because when you’re trying to write while traveling, a beautiful place where there’s nothing to do is a welcome paradise.
I found it so difficult to write on this trip because wherever I went, I felt drawn away from my writing by all the places to visit and things to do.
Gili Air is a tiny island you can walk the entire perimeter of, where no cars are allowed and where I desperately need to go back to.
Because I slightly disagree with my roommate; there’s lots to do there!
The stunning beaches are ideal for tanning, snorkeling, swimming and watching some of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen in my life. There are yoga retreats, open air cinemas, live music at night, spas and dusty rural streets to wander.
So although it’s not a busy place, you still can choose from a lot of activities, which can deliver much deserved writing breaks. But since the island is so small, you can’t wander too far from your writing, making it one of my favorite places in Indonesia.
This city is coined as the cultural capital of Java island. As such, it’s the perfect place for a writing retreat.
As an artist city, there’s a lot of ways you can practice using your creativity when not writing. For example, I made a silver ring with the help of a local silversmith and also took a batik class, a traditional way of painting fabric.
It’s also a student city, which means lots of laptop friendly places. You’ll find cozy little cafes to set up your laptop and type the day away. I personally enjoyed Play On, which had a cozy, artsy treehouse vibe.
It wasn’t far from Otu Hostel, which I highly recommend staying at if you’re on a budget. The pool and cozy common area make it easy to stay in and work on your writing. And it’s hard to find a hostel with staff more welcoming and helpful as in Otu.
When you want to venture out and find writing inspiration in beautiful, cultural places, you don’t have to venture too far.
Yogyakarta is the base for two very impressive and very beautiful temples.
Borobudur Temple is Buddhist and best visited at sunrise. I watched it from a nearby hill viewpoint and it’s probably the most beautiful sunrise I’ve ever seen.
Prambanan Temple is Hindu and best visited at sunset (I didn’t, but it was still impressive in the daytime).
You can also find inspiration wandering the narrow side streets of the villages within Yogyakarta- a welcome oasis from the busy major streets.
The translator for my silver making class showed me around her village after the class, and it was amazing to see the strong sense of community and culture within the village, even after it was swallowed up by city of Yogyakarta.
This goes for every place you ever travel to, but try to get a local to show you around unique parts of the town or city. The more ways of life you encounter, the more interesting your writing can become.
Unfortunately, many of the places on the island of Nusa Penida are being overcome by mass tourism. But you can still find quiet spots on this neighboring island of Bali.
While tour destinations along the coast are very crowded, inland areas are almost solely inhabited by locals and nature. My hostel (they have private bungalows too) was located at Timbool Bungalow, and the beach located just a few minutes away walking was very quiet.
I loved the quiet rural feel of the area despite its proximity to the island’s shore, and I’d highly recommend laying out on the lounge chairs by the pool at night. The stars were really bright out there.
Besides a quiet accommodation, there are plenty of beautiful beaches to write at. I sacrificed a couple precious pages of my travel notebook to the inspiration created by the beautiful Atuh Beach. You can rent a lounge chair or go the free route like me and lay out on a large rock to write.
A lot of the other beaches were really crowded by tourists, but you can find out which ones those are in this article.
I compiled a list of places in and near Bali that are overcrowded, so you can know which places to avoid if you’re looking for quiet spots to write. [Nusa Penida is located at the bottom of the article.]
Unless overcrowded tourist hotspots are inspiring for you, skip the south of Bali and find a quiet writing spot in the north.
Up there you’ll find beautiful, lush mountains, impressive waterfalls, a dolphin inhabiting ocean and plenty of creative inspiration.
Although not super luxurious, I’d like to recommend one of the places I stayed at up there. Damarwidi Glamping is a glamping site in Munduk, which remains one of my favorite accommodations on this trip.
Laid out next to rice fields and surrounded by green mountains, I wished I could have stayed for weeks writing in the quiet campsite. Hopefully, one day I will.
For a more in-depth guide to all the places I found in Bali that would be great destinations for writing retreats, check out my article on my favorite non-touristy spots in Bali.
Some say Lombok is what Bali used to be like before it got overcrowded with tourists.
Its beaches are among the most beautiful I’ve seen, it has incredible views from the hike to its massive volcano (Rinjani) and the beautiful landscape of mountains and rice fields remain empty of foreigners snapping pictures.
If you need an adrenaline-filled, rustic adventure to get your writing inspiration, Rinjani is your place to go. After conquering the two-day hike, finishing a book will feel like nothing.
Although I obviously couldn’t take my laptop with me on the hike, I brought my journal with and scribbled in it when we stopped for food breaks and while resting in my tent.
For beaches, I’d recommend Kuta. It’s the complete opposite to the town of the same name in Bali. Instead of dirty, crowded streets and beaches filled with partying tourists, the Kuta in Lombok has beautiful, pristine beaches and remains (for now), a quiet beach town.
This goes on the end of my list because I don’t feel entirely comfortable recommending a visit to this city. And if you’re looking for a beautiful, inspiring place to write, I want to make it clear you won’t find it here.
The reason why I recommend this city is precisely because it was so uninspiring for me. Dirty, overcrowded and with little to see or do, this capital is exactly what an easily distracted writer needs.
While I was often too busy marveling at the beauty of the places on this list to actually write, I had plenty of time to write in Jakarta.
For a budget stay, Wonderloft Hostel was ideal. It was located right near the old colonial part of town, so it had a weird European feel to it. The hostel itself had great spots to lounge and write. I personally enjoyed the bean bags on the second floor most.
And if you want to see Jakarta before it disappears, hurry to see it now! It’s the fastest sinking city in the world, and the government is relocating this entire capital to another island. Now that’s something worth writing about.
As a writer, it’s crucial to read other’s writing to improve your own. And what better way to learn more about Indonesia’s culture and history before going than by reading a book set there?
Who knows, maybe one of these will even inspire you to write your own book set in Indonesia. At the very least, these books will definitely convince you to visit the country if I haven’t already.
This set of four novels was written by a writer who wrote about colonialism in Indonesia. His work was initially banned, and he actually wrote the first two books of the Buru Quartet in his head while living in a prison camp.
These books are great for learning about the impacts of colonialism in the country straight from a writer who lived it.
There are four books in this quartet, which you can also purchase separately here: This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps and House of Glass.
If you’re looking for an Indonesian poet, read Sapardi Djoko Damono. This book is a collection of his poems from 1961 to 2001.
Perhaps one of the most globally famous books set in Indonesia, this book hardly needs any introduction. It’s also arguably one of the most famous travel books out there.
What I found interesting was the portrayal of Bali before this book massively exploded the tourism on the island. Bali was certainly popular before this book, but this book and its movie adaptation further increased it.
And if you need inspiration to visit any other “I” countries, the writer also visits Italy and India before embarking to Indonesia.
No matter where you go in this vast country, you’ll find that there’s no lack of writing spots in Indonesia. Head on over and find out why Indonesia was one of my favorite countries on my backpacking writing retreat.
Did you find any other inspiring places to write in Indonesia? I know there’s way more in this massive country, so share your favorites in the comments below!
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