Bali is still beautiful and still possible, but the rice terraces of Ubud share parking now. These Indonesian and southeast Asian islands offer the same warmth without the scooter traffic.
Bali receives close to six million foreign arrivals a year now, almost all of them landing in the same 30-kilometre strip between Canggu and Ubud. The island didn't change so much as the rest of us discovered it at the same time. If you want what Bali was selling 20 years ago, you have to move a short distance sideways.
Stay in Indonesia, change islands
Lombok
Directly east of Bali, with Mount Rinjani at its centre (3,726 metres, second-highest volcano in the country) and an entire south coast of beaches that are still mostly fishing villages. Kuta Lombok has the surf and the cafes; the Gili islands off the northwest coast give you the snorkelling. The dominant culture is Sasak Muslim, not Balinese Hindu, which means a noticeably different rhythm.
Sumba
Sumba is two flights from anywhere and feels like it. The island is famous for its Marapu animist religion, the megalithic stone tombs that still stand in the villages, and the ikat textiles woven on backstrap looms. Nihi Sumba on the south coast is one of the more genuinely remote luxury hotels in the world.
Flores
Most travellers come for Komodo and leave. They miss the real Flores, which is the long road east from Labuan Bajo through Bajawa (with the traditional Ngada villages around Bena), the three-colour crater lakes of Kelimutu, and the weaving villages near Maumere.
Sulawesi
The orchid-shaped island that sits north of Flores. Tana Toraja in the highlands is famous for its tongkonan houses with prow-shaped roofs and for funeral rites that go on for days. The Togean islands off the eastern arm are some of the cleanest snorkelling in the country.
Raja Ampat
Far eastern Papua, expensive to reach, possibly the highest marine biodiversity on earth. The karst islands rising out of turquoise water around Wayag are the photograph everyone has seen and that almost no one has actually stood in front of.
Stay in southeast Asia, leave Indonesia
Koh Lanta, Thailand
What Koh Phi Phi used to be. Long beaches, sea gypsy villages, a national park at the south end, and almost no nightlife.
Siquijor, Philippines
Off Negros, an island with a healer tradition, waterfalls (Cambugahay especially) and proper white-sand bays without the resort scale of Boracay.
Kep, Cambodia
The crab market town on the Gulf of Thailand, with the abandoned French villas above, the Bokor plateau nearby and ferries out to Koh Tonsay (Rabbit Island).
Hpa-An, Myanmar
When Myanmar reopens to general travel, Hpa-An is the riverside Karen state town worth the long bus from Yangon. Karst limestone, cave temples and not a single mega-resort.
What you give up and what you get
None of these alternatives have Bali's level of yoga studios, vegan cafes or Pilates instructors. You'll find weaker WiFi, fewer flat whites, and longer transfers. In return you get fishing villages that still go out at 4 a.m., guesthouse owners who remember your name on day two, and beaches that look the way Seminyak did before it had a name in English.
