FBC – 280 – The one Thing You NEED to do when visiting a new country

Today, we are going to talk about the most important thing you need to do when visiting a new country. This will save you a lot of headaches and unnecessary conflicts. If you are travelling or planning on travelling anywhere, then you need to tune in to this episode.

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So here in Bali they have a thing called Nyepi. It’s actually the Balinese New Year and its called Silent Day. So way back, you basically had to stay home. And I think when this tradition started, there was no electricity, no nothing. So basically you stayed at home. And you didn’t make a sound for the whole day.

So now today you basically have to stay home. You can't use electricity. I mean you can talk, but you shouldn’t play like loud music or anything. It needs to be complete silence on the island. So you're not allowed to leave your house, all right? You have to stay home.

So there is nobody in the streets on that specific day. And it's the only place on the planet where the airport is closed. There are no flights coming in and out on that day. So it is fascinating. It's really fascinating. Let me tell you a little bit about it.

So for the last maybe month and a half, they've been building like statues and big structures that look like demons and they're called Ogo Ogo.  The night before Nyepi, they actually walk them in the streets and they look proper, ugly man. They're scary, scary stuff.

And basically the aim of the Ogo Ogo goal is to basically attract the demons and bad spirits. They will parade in the streets and all the bad spirits will go into the figures there. At the end of the night, they take the statues down to the beach and they will burn them so that all the demons will die or flee from the island.

That's the origin of it. The belief. So why do you have to be silent the next day?

It's because once these spirits are gone, like these bad guys are gone. Other bad guys are going to come to Earth. And basically what they want is that when they come to Earth, it looks so silent and so boring that they're basically meant to be like, dude, that sucks here. And they're just going to go back wherever they came from.

So that's the reason why we all have to stay home and not make a sound so that the demons will just assume that there's nobody there and they'll just leave. So that's the pretty much the story about Nyepi.

And a lot of people were complaining. You know Expats and tourists.  Man, it's a mess. And there is a traffic jam and they're so annoying with their celebrations. People just moaning, which I do understand because it was bad. So if you're on the road, especially if you were in the car, the traffic sucks. It sucks big time.

So I do understand, you know, people are moaning and everything. But here's something I need people to understand is, you know, I'm not in my country. This is not my country. And when you go to a different country, you can't go there and expect or even demand the exact same things you have at home. You need to embrace the culture that's there.

So it might not make a lot of sense to you, but what's your problem, dude? You're the one going there. It's not my country and as annoying as it was being stuck in traffic because it's really hot at the moment, I have to embrace the fact that these are traditions that people have had for the last, I don't know, like 500 years or something like that. So it's not because Mr. Martin decided to fly to Bali that day. All of a sudden they have to change everything and that everything they do doesn't make sense.

So doesn't it make sense for you but this society has an established rule and you just adhere to the rule. That's the reason why you have cultural differences, not that people are different and stuff like that. It’s just that there is this common belief that's being passed down from one person to the other.

So I remember I was talking to a driver, you know, one of the drivers that I used very often. And I told them that it really doesn't make sense that an airport will be closed. Everybody, like everybody I've met, like all the foreigners, say Oh this is a scandal. How can they close the airport? Nobody does this on the planet.

I was like, dude, you know, this is the only place on the planet where the airport will be closed. And you know what the dude said? He said, well, we had Nyepi way before we had an airport.

And just this one sentence, I mean, for me was a dude, I never actually saw it this way. This is a tradition that they've had before. So regardless of modern times of airports and planes, it's pretty recent. They don't care about this. They have their own traditions.

The one Thing You NEED to do when visiting a new country

So wherever you are right and wherever you go, if you go on holiday somewhere and all that stuff, please, please, please don't spend your time criticizing what the people do and stuff.

If you can't understand that you're a visitor somewhere and there are different cultures, then you’re at fault. And that's the beauty of this world is the different cultures. And it's amazing. Me, I'm just fascinated.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the single most important thing to do when arriving in a new country as a digital nomad?

Buy a local SIM card or eSIM within the first hour at the airport. Reliable data immediately unlocks maps, ride-hailing, translation, and emergency contact. Most countries sell tourist plans for 10 to 25 dollars covering 30 days and 20 to 50 gigabytes, which is the cheapest insurance against arrival chaos.

How do digital nomads stay connected when traveling between countries?

Use a global eSIM provider like Airalo or Holafly for the first 24 hours, then switch to a local SIM for longer stays since it is usually three to five times cheaper. Always test the connection before leaving the airport. Carry a physical SIM tool and a spare phone unlocked for any network.

What documents and apps should solopreneurs prepare before landing?

Save offline maps for your destination, download your hotel booking, and screenshot the address in the local language. Keep your passport, vaccination card, return ticket, and one printed contact list ready. Install the local ride-hailing app while still on home wifi since some refuse to register from foreign IP addresses.

How can entrepreneurs avoid common arrival mistakes in a new country?

Skip the airport currency exchange since rates are usually 5 to 10 percent worse than ATMs in town. Confirm your hotel address with the driver in writing, not verbally. Wait until day two to book activities. These three steps remove the most expensive arrival errors that drain time and cash.

Related Reading

• FBC – 4 Part 1 – This is the story of my life: Success, Failure and The Hurdles.
• FBC – 3 – Escape your life of sacrifice! Don’t settle for less than your dream lifestyle.
• FBC – 8 – The Weirdest Challenge To Boost Your Confidence
• Other really cool tips that will give you an unfair advantage

About the Author

Martin Ebongue is the founder of martinebongue.com, an online business and lifestyle design blog focused on helping aspiring entrepreneurs build location-independent businesses. Since 2014, he has been creating and scaling online ventures across multiple niches, from digital products and affiliate marketing to SaaS and content platforms, while traveling the world. He shares the real-world strategies, tools, and systems that work, with a particular focus on AI-powered automation for solopreneurs. Follow him on YouTube, X (Twitter), and Instagram.

Further reading on the location independent lifestyle

• Martin's founder story: My founder story documents the country I picked first and why.
• Freedom by Choice Podcast: Many of the Freedom by Choice podcast episodes cover the practical side of country selection and base building.
• Harvard Business Review: Harvard Business Review has a useful body of work on the productivity tradeoffs of remote and distributed work.
• Entrepreneur magazine: Entrepreneur magazine runs ongoing coverage of nomadic founders and their tax and visa setups.