Order matters here, because several things block several other things.
Day −7 to 0 (before you board). Insurance active before you fly, not after — SafetyWing is the standard nomad option, Insubuy is the better comparison tool if you want to shop plans against each other, and Medjet is the one people ignore until they need evacuation from an island with limited facilities. Lombok and rural areas are precisely the case Medjet exists for. Confirm your onward-travel booking if you are on the Visa on Arrival; airlines check it. Put every visa document in your carry-on. If you are on the Student route, this is critical: the e-ITAS is issued at the immigration checkpoint on arrival, so the paperwork must be in your hand, not in a suitcase on a belt.
Day 0 — arrival. Clear immigration and get your permission stamped or issued. Do not walk away from the counter until you understand exactly what you have been given and when it expires — write the expiry date in your phone before you leave the airport. Pre-booking a Welcome Pickups transfer is worth it on a first arrival, especially landing in Bali at night with a year's luggage. If you land between accommodation, Bounce or LuggageHero will hold bags for the day.
Days 1–3 — SIM, cash, orientation. Local SIM with a generous data package first; it unblocks ride-hailing, maps and every booking you are about to make. Then get rupiah moving — Wise for the transfers, and keep a small cash buffer because plenty of warungs and landlords are cash-only. Do not sign anything yet.
Days 3–14 — housing. Book two weeks somewhere flexible and view places in person. This is the single largest line in your budget ($350 in Yogyakarta to $720 in Canggu) and the one that is hardest to undo, so earning the right to sign by actually walking the neighbourhood at 8am and 10pm is worth two weeks of slightly higher short-let rent. Test the internet yourself, on your own device, at the hour you actually work — in Ubud at ~30 Mbps this is not optional. Many long lets ask for six or twelve months up front; that is normal, and it is exactly why you do not sign in week one.
Days 7–21 — work base and routine. Pick a coworking space and pay for a month, not a day pass ($80 Yogyakarta, $90 Lombok, $110 Ubud, $120 Canggu). It is the fastest way to meet people who have done your paperwork before you. Sort a scooter or settle your transport pattern. Run NordVPN by default on every shared network.
Days 14–30 — the immigration clock. Whatever route you are on, this is when you handle the next step, not when you start thinking about it. On the Visa on Arrival, your single 30-to-60-day extension is a task with a deadline, and leaving it to the last few days is how people end up paying to fix something that was free to do calmly. On a longer route, confirm at https://evisa.imigrasi.go.id/ whether your permit carries any post-arrival steps or reporting obligations — our file does not list them, so ask the portal rather than a Facebook group. Book your onward or exit flight if your route requires one, and if a flight you have already booked is delayed or cancelled, AirHelp is worth a claim; Travelex covers the trip-level risks on the way in.