#034 ⤑ Remote Work Adventures from a Summer In Indonesia (in 35mm)
From Jakarta to Makassar to Bali: Remote Work, Creative Insights, and Celebrating Our Competition Winners
Hey all,
Back in London after an amazing summer in Indonesia. 10 days of solo adventures followed by a solid month in Bali working remotely with the family. Being back in the UK feels a bit like jumping into the deep end, but I got plenty of work done and snapped some great photos, so no complaints.
So here’s 10 things I think are worth sharing from my trip:
Rammang-Rammang (in Sulawesi) might have made it onto my list of happy places. Few tourists. Limestone cliffs. Lush green vegetation. Lots to take pictures of - love it. Will be back.
Reading on the Road is a Struggle
Every summer, reading while travelling gets tough. Normally, I’m a solid two-books-a-month kind of person, but that pace slows over summer. Still, I managed to finish The Dawn of Eurasia by Bruno Maçães. It dives into the blending of Europe and Asia, which hit home for me as someone who identifies as Eurasian and works between Europe and Asia.
Breaking and entering? Not quite... Old habits die hard. From my documentary filmmaking days, I still get a kick out of being places I shouldn’t. This summer, it was the Port of Makassar.
The real struggle of remote working. We often talk about being a remote publishing company, it’s not all fun and games. Choosing a new spot to work from for a month, especially somewhere like Bali, has its perks. But the pull of the poolside beer on a Monday lunch meet is real, and deadlines don’t care about my morning view. Still, it’s a “problem” I can live with.
Ear Candy. Back in London, I definitely listen to music that feels more suited to the UK. Maybe it’s the grey, the beats, or the bass. But out there, I’m diving back into Awesome Tapes From Africa mixed with some Sunda (West Javan) traditional tunes, of course sprinkled with a bit of atmospheric jungle.
Missing the UK? Not Really. Absence doesn’t always make the heart grow fonder. It’s September and we’ve already had to use the hot water bottle. I find myself bracing for the damp, grey skies, and the inevitable “dark at 4pm” season. It’s not even winter yet, but it’s coming.
W3 Bus Route To Our North London Studio So here it is: I tried padel. I liked it. Yep, it seems to be taking over the world, but I can see why. If you haven’t tried it yet, give it a go before you write it off. Big shoutout to the guys at Bam Bam Padel who keep me at it for a solid month.
BRICS+ is growing.
Being back in Southeast Asia was a welcome break from the constant stream of my Western algorithm. I took the chance to dive deeper into learning about the growing BRICS bloc—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—along with a few more countries joining in. It’s a big deal, with these nations holding massive influence in global trade. Here at Soi Books we work across both the Western world and the Global South; it got me thinking: what does this shift mean for book sales? 🤔
Bias Tugal, Bali - nice little beach and few tourists! I haven’t got round to re-reading Margaret Mead but her title with Gregory Bateson called Balinese Character is available to read all online here. “[In Bali] life is a rhythmic, patterned unreality of pleasant, significant movement, centered in one's own body to which all emotions long ago withdrew."
If you check out one site, make it ours www.stickerbombworld.com. We took a summer break, so orders just resumed last week. The joys (and struggles) of running a small business—let’s see how many more summers we can pull this off!
That’s it - big shoutout to Felipe Novoa in Bogota, Colombia who thanks to a great story has won himself a Stickerbomb book - we’ll get that out to you asap!
Next Newsletter: We’re going deep on Zines and collecting, mainly as I have to start clearing out the studio.
