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Tell us a little about yourselves and how did you come to live in Jakarta? Liz: I grew up on the mid-north coast of NSW in a farming community, but have lived most of my life in Sydney. I had been working in Secondary education for just over 20 years when my husband was offered a job in Jakarta in 2012. His employer in Jakarta said, “You’ve got 24 hours to let me know whether it’s a yes or no,” and I said “You don’t need to give me 24 hours I can tell you now, I want to go... I think it’s a great thing for us to do.” I had an itch for an adventure and our children were at a good stage in their lives for an adventure too. Our two daughters were 12 and 9 at the time. After we made the decision to leave, my husband commuted from Sydney for about 6 months. Then on Saturday 23 December 2012, after a whirlwind of farewells, the children and I said goodbye to our family, our friends, the children's schools and school mates, our neighbours, our house, our cat and my job, and boarded the 11:30 am Garuda flight to Jakarta. Jo: I’m originally from Hobart, Tasmania but lived in Melbourne, Victoria for a long time. I have three children, two daughters and a son. At the end of 2013, my husband was appointed to the position of Commissioner to Indonesia for the Victorian Government. At that time I was teaching at a secondary school in Melbourne’s east, so as soon as I had finished writing my students’ reports, I said a heart-wrenching goodbye to them all and promptly packed our belongings. Saying goodbye to our family and friends, as well as the realisation that we were leaving behind everything that we love was difficult for us all. At the same time, we were excited at the prospect of a new adventure as a family - that was over two years ago. What were your first impressions about Jakarta? Liz: We had never travelled in Asia before, so we were thrilled to have the opportunity to travel particularly to Indonesia; a country so close to our own, yet I’m sad to say, we knew so little about. Our first impressions of Jakarta were extremely positive. We loved the ‘feeling of Jakarta’ from the outset. Obviously there were new things to make sense of, and Jakarta is without doubt chaotic, but we were all excited and energised by the opportunities. Coming to Jakarta is one of the best things our family has done together. Jo: Arriving in Jakarta, I didn’t really find anything unexpected or surprising. This
is because both my husband and I had travelled throughout South East Asia before this posting; he in particular has worked in some very remote locations. We had always spoken about living overseas, and because of the nature of my husband’s work and his familiarity with South East Asia, it was likely to be this region to which we would move. I recall coming with my husband for our ‘look-see’ visit and feeling that Jakarta was as I expected; in fact possibly better than I was anticipating. This is because I had received a lot of ‘less-thanenthusiastic’ feedback about the city and most of the information that I could find online about ‘Living in Jakarta’ wasn’t very positive! I was pleasantly surprised with what I found on this inaugural visit and first impressions absolutely count, for life in Jakarta has remained an overwhelmingly positive experience for our family.
OVER MANY A COFFEE, WE REALISED THAT WE WERE BOTH VERY CURIOUS PEOPLE, AND SHARED A COMMON INTEREST IN WISHING TO EXPLORE AND UNDERSTAND THE ‘REAL JAKARTA’. Describe how you first got into blogging and the beginning of ‘a journey bespoke’? Liz: When I first arrived, the first 12 months were very much about ensuring that my family were settled. By the end of that year my family’s routines were firmly in place; we all had a greater grasp of Bahasa Indonesia, and we were more and more comfortable in our new surroundings. It was at this time that I had a ‘hankering’ to understand my new environment more, and that perhaps if I wrote about my experience, that it might be an encouragement to other women and families in the same situation as mine. I remember spending a lot of time on Instagram following different local groups and individuals to gain a better sense of Jakarta. I also followed some local Expat Blogs, which were all very much about logistics, how-to’s, lists and directories.
All information I needed, but what I was really looking for was how to connect with local people and understand Indonesian life and culture better. Then I met Jo. Over many a coffee, we realised that we were both very curious people, and shared a common interest in wishing to explore and understand the ‘real Jakarta’. So one day I said to Jo, “How do you feel about us getting together and writing a blog?” Jo: When we started our blog, ‘a journey bespoke’ I had only been in Jakarta for a year. I was enjoying the luxury of time. The memory of being a busy working mum was still very fresh and having the time to entertain interests which I had put to the side was very exciting. I threw myself into everything. I enrolled in Bahasa Indonesia lessons as well as French lessons (my brain was seriously challenged!); I increased my running and pilates; was on hand to help my kids with their school work and was available to attend work functions with my husband. I invested in new friendships and I also rediscovered my love of cooking - it was no longer the chore it had been as a working mum. Essentially by throwing myself into this new life, it created plenty of fodder for a blog about ‘Life in Jakarta’. So when Liz suggested writing a blog together, I agreed wholeheartedly (although I was a ‘techno’ moron and needed quite a bit of up-skilling in the area of social media). Liz continued: Jo shares the same sense of excitement about Jakarta as I do. We’re a great blog team, as well as being great buddies. It took four months of really focused effort to give life to ‘a journey bespoke.’ We established our areas of interest which included; people, lifestyle, food, home and design. Then we spent time articulating our values which we hoped to underpin all of our posts. At the heart of ‘a journey bespoke' is a half-glass-full philosophy of life. What inspired you to start the blog about Jakarta? Liz: A desire to share our journey with others who have found themselves in Jakarta at the same time. ‘A journey bespoke’ continues to provide opportunities for me to meet local people and explore, particularly outside the mall scene, as well as challenge preconceived ideas and perceptions. It has been good for my children to see the possibilities for making a contribution beyond a more traditional profession like teaching. They have watched me adapt. Interview continued next page >