I’m not anti-package holidays.
Some places are perfect for them.
Zanzibar worked beautifully as a package.
A Caribbean island? I’d happily do it again that way.
Sometimes ease is the point.
Sometimes you want to land, unpack once, and let the sun do the rest.
But Bali?
Bali isn’t one place.
It’s regions.
Energy shifts.
Movement.
Contrast.
Ubud feels nothing like Seminyak.
Seminyak feels nothing like Uluwatu.
And to experience that properly, you need flexibility.
You need pacing.
You need the ability to shape days around how you’re actually feeling. Not someone else’s timetable.
That’s why we went DIY.
I built the flights intentionally.
Chose a route that included a long layover in Singapore to break up the journey and add another layer to the experience.
We stayed at the Premier Inn near Heathrow the night before departure and you know what…that was the official start of the trip.
Close to the airport.
Easy parking.
Restaurants nearby.
And budget-friendly enough that the kids had their own rooms.
At this stage of life, that matters.
Then came accommodation in Bali.
And here’s something people don’t talk about enough:
Compared to Europe, Bali gives you luxury for less.
But only if you research properly.
I booked everything through Booking.com.
Flexible payments.
Minimal prepayment.
Options to adjust dates if needed.
When you’re planning a long-haul, multi-stop trip to the other side of the world, flexibility isn’t optional.
It’s reassurance.
Package holidays lock you into someone else’s version of the trip.
DIY lets you build it around your people.
Your rhythm.
Your needs.
And for Bali that made all the difference.
If you want stillness, packages are brilliant.
If you want movement, contrast and the freedom to build around your family dynamic… DIY might just be the better route.
How I Approach DIY Travel (Without It Becoming Overwhelming)
When I build a trip myself, I don’t start with activities.
I start with structure.
Route first.
How does the journey feel? Does it need breaking up? Is there a stopover that adds value instead of exhaustion?
Accommodation logic.
Is it central? Does it allow breathing space? Can plans change without financial stress?
Flexibility over rigidity.
I avoid locking everything in unless it needs to be. The more complex the destination, the more breathing room it requires.
It’s not about one being better.
It’s about what fits.
And for us, Bali needed to be built not bought.
But deciding to do Bali DIY was actually the easy part.
The harder bit?
Working out how to build one trip for four people who wanted very different things from it.
That’s where the real planning started.
And that’s what I’m getting into next.
Travel That Adds Something
I write about travel that adds something to you, not just takes you away.
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