In November of 2018, I got on a plane and traveled 25+ hours completely around the world to a small island in Indonesia that I had only heard about twice in my life: Bali. But my journey started a few months back when one of my favorite travel Instagrammers posted about teaching a course in Bali – you would get the opportunity to learn how to make a living photographing and traveling the world like she did – pretty much my dream job (or quite possibly everyone’s dream job).

The course was run through a place called the Institute of Code, somewhere I had never heard of before, and honestly I wasn’t quite sure if it was legit. They were running a giveaway to receive a one-day online course, so I applied to get a sense of what the full program might be like. I was quickly accepted into the online course, and not a day later the co-founder herself emailed me and offered me a partial scholarship to attend the full 10-day course in Bali. I was excited and nervous all at the same time. This came at a time in my life where I was considering taking my photography full time, but taking that step was daunting (understatement of the year) and I wasn’t sure I could make it work financially.

I waffled for a few months – the timing wasn’t right, it would still be quite a big expense, would it really be worth it? But about a half a year later, Tina emailed again and talking with her inspired me to take the plunge and just go for it. I bought flight tickets before I could second guess myself, accepted my scholarship, and began to mentally prepare for the journey.

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The Institute of Code is set up in a luxury pool villa, where you share a room with 2-3 other students, and the entire class sized is capped at 16 students so there is always a 1:4 ratio of instructors (influencers!) to students. Transport to and from the villa is all taken care of, so even though I am a confident traveler, it was nice to know that everything would be taken care of the moment you landed in Bali.

Our home base was was absolutely STUNNING. I couldn’t believe this was my home for the next 10 days. There was a pool, complete with a flamingo pool floatie, a communal dining area, rooms for students and instructors, and a large classroom. An in-house chef prepared every meal, and I am salivating just remembering some of the amazing fare. The meals were veggie-heavy, healthy, and catered to your dietary requirements. I still dream about the morning acai bowls! There was also beer, juice, and kombucha always available for a small extra fee.

About half of the days were full class days from around 8am to 5pm, some days ending later than others, with the other days as a mixture of classes and photo excursions. We got up for sunrise at 3am on one day and 2am on another day, and after our photo trips we went right back into the classroom and continued learning. I quickly became fast friends with my other classmates – though we came from multiple countries and had different backgrounds, we all had a common ground of wanting to learn and grow our respective businesses. The community fostered by the intensity of classes and the positive, inspirational atmosphere the mentors and IOC team members cultivated made for one of the most supportive environments I have ever experienced.

During class days we began our day with yoga and breakfast, then classes began. Mid-morning there would be a quick and delicious snack break, and mid-day we took an hour off for lunch to eat and rest up, even sunbathe or take a swim if you wanted, then it was straight back into learning. Each day a few different topics were taught, and class structure alternated between lectures, mentor panels, discussions, and time to work independently or in small groups. Every day the mentors were available for questions, even if they were not presenting, and I loved how open each mentor was to sharing their knowledge and experience.

In the evenings, we were free to stay for dinner at the villa or head into town to experience Canggu dining or go shopping at the markets and various stores. Many days a group of us would do a spontaneous photo shoot around the villa or in town, playing off each other’s creativity and ideas. As someone who often shoots alone, I so enjoyed being around other creatives and spending time with people who are just as passionate about photography as me. I finished each day mentally and sometimes physically exhausted and always impressed just how much we packed into each day.

On the days we incorporated in photo shoots, we took advantage of the gorgeous sunrise light or headed out in the evenings for golden hour before sunset. There was always someone around to take your photograph or for you to take photographs of, and the mentors led small groups for more individualized help and advice. Despite having just barely over a week to teach and take photographs, we still got to experience such a variety of shooting locations around Bali, and I fell in love with how absolutely gorgeous the island was.

Is this course right for you? If you have ever dreamed of becoming an influencer, working as a social media manager, or simply want to take your own business to the next level in the digital world we live in, this course is for you. Even if you only have 500 followers or you already have 10k followers, or if your following is anywhere in between, this course could be for you, and it’s not just limited to the photography and travel business – in my course, there was an aspiring social media manager, a successful graphic designer, a lash esthetician business owner, a beauty YouTuber, a sports trainer, a budding beach towel business owner, and more. I couldn’t believe the diversity of business backgrounds each of my classmates had.

So if this course sounds like it’s the right fit for you and your business, you can find out more information and apply for the social media or a coding bootcamp here –make sure you mention Rebecca @roamfreerebecca (formerly @rebeccahelenphoto while I did this course!) when you apply. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me or shoot me a DM on Instagram.

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