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Silky flowers with soft petals.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

Crab imprints on the sand.

When we asked for a shipment of supplies from our MaillinkPlus Mail Service in Nevada to Bali on October 4, we expected it to arrive within 7 days.    The cost to ship the 11.3 kg 25 lb box of essential products was US$185, or IDR 2,416,377.

We had asked Eric, our shipping service representative, to add insurance for no less than $1,000, IDR 13,061,497.  By adding up the cost of all the items we had purchased to be shipped to the postal service, this amount of insuance should have been adequate.

A larger villa 4 or 5 doors from our house.    The taller villa in the background is described in detail in part 1 here and part 2 here).

Eric suggested that we not insure on the basis of his route to Jakarta, Indonesia, then Denpasar, then Negara/Sumerbsari. The likelihood of theft was significantly increased when a label on the exterior of the package indicated it had been insured. 

We decided to take the risk knowing that whatever we did, there was a certain degree of risk. It may end up lost, stolen or with parts of the content taken away.  

Houses overlooking the beach.

Tom’s new phone was in the mailbox along with some letters that might lead to identity theft. In addition, a replacement credit card for an expired card appeared in the original envelope. This might be quite worrisome if stolen.

The tracking information on the parcel is vague and misleading:

Why do we ship items to ourselves while living in foreign lands?  Can’t we wait until we’re somewhere we can purchase the same or similar items? In a perfect world that would be a great idea. 

Cool boxes/coolers for fishing are stored under this hut.

In the reality of this life, we can’t find most of these items in any local shops or online stores. If we could, we definitely would.   The items on our lists aren’t to be found in most countries, not at the shops, not at online resources.

Many assume that online shopping is similar in other countries as it is in the US. It’s not. We haven’t been able to find our favorite iced tea in any country other than the US. Also, there’s the unpredictability in purchasing clothing and/or shoes when sizing is different in other parts of the world. 

The cow is checking us out as we walk by.

It has always made sense to us make most purchases at Amazon in the US and other items from well known reputable online companies we’ve worked with in the past.  For us, returns aren’t possible. 

Whether we’re buying clothes which we’r unable to try on, large amounts of Crystal Light iced tea, electronics and a plethora of miscellaneous items, its always been easier, safer and with peace of mind that we’ve shopped for the familiar items in the US.

This same road was flooded last week.

As Amazon Prime members most items we purchase offer free shipping to our mailing service which then ships everything to us in one box. Avoiding any shipping costs on the purchase end reduces the overall cost.

Thus, it made sense for us to pay the annual fee of US $99, IDR 1,293,435 to be members of Amazon Prime for which we get some free video streams and Kindle books.

We kept an online list of all of the items we’d purchased checking them off as they arrived at the mailing service. Once we were confident all items had been received, we contacted Eric at MaillinkPlus with the appropriate address, asking him to remove and toss all packaging in which the individual items arrived. We utilize this same system a few times each year for all shipments.

Logs cut from local trees.

Eric tosses any accompanying sales slips, advertising and other useless packing materials. As mentioned above, we can’t return anything and won’t need the packing slips. Also, we have online receipts for all items. Why pay shipping for the weight for a pile of superfluous envelopes, catalogs and slips of paper?

After the box is neatly packed and taped, he researches the best means of shipping, based on our current location. We may have to guide him on the availability of receiving packages locally. For example, UPS, DHL and other popular shipping companies, don’t service Malaya Beach, Sumbersari.

The only possibility for this remote location was to have it shipped through the United States Postal Service (USPS) which is less expensive than many other services. In this case, per Gede’s research, having visited the local post office, the seeming best option was to send it directly to the local post/Western Union office located in Malaya, a 10 minute drive.

A beach shack.

In the process, the contents are checked by customs to ensure nothing illegal is being shipped and to access customs fees based on the contents. It’s during this process that a less-than-scrupulous party may slip something out of the box into their own hands. 

A few days ago, we became concerned the package may be lost based on notations on the tracking information. We gave it to Gede which he took to the post/Western Union office while they tracked it on their computer.

A small fishing boat with outriggers.

Based on the information Gede gleaned from the post office, the package is expected to arrive in Negara tomorrow. Gede has offered to drive the 35 minute distance to Negara to collect it, pay the custom fees (we’ll reimburse him), rather than wait a few more days until someone from the postal service decides to drive it to remote Malaya Beach. 

Are we optimistic we’ll actually receive the package? Yes. Are we optimistic the box will still contain everything we ordered to be shipped? Not so much. Then again, we could be out the entire US $1,000, IDR 13,061,497 if the package never arrived.

Sadly, there are trash piles where locals dispose of garbage.

Most likely, if anything is missing it will be Tom’s replacement unlocked smart phone. As for the credit card and snail mail…we’ll see how that goes. If and when the shipment arrives, we’ll take a photo of the contents, share the cost of the custom fees and describe in detail any missing items (if any).

In the realm of things, after we started researching the state of the package, we had to accept and face the reality that we may never receive the package. We’d be out the cost of the items and the shipping. It would be frustrating, but as we always say, “It’s the nature of the beast.” Life continues on.

Be well!

Photo from one year ago today, October 17, 2015:

How frustrating it must have been for sailors and tourists unable to partake in boating activities during a rainy period in Fiji. For more details, please click here.