Articles on expat and digital nomad life in Vietnam.
As a digital nomad who’s been living in Southeast Asia for the past 2 and a half years, I’d say that living here is mostly awesome… But honestly, sometimes the heat can get exhausting. So today, let’s take a look at some of the colder cities in Southeast Asia. None of them are cold enough … Read more
Vietnamese is a “Hard Language” according to the U.S. Foreign Services Institute. They say it takes 1,100 class hours to learn. That means if you earned just $15 an hour, you could earn $16,500 instead of learning Vietnamese. So, is it worth it to learn Vietnamese? What are the benefits of speaking Vietnamese? Will it … Read more
Traveling in Asia as someone who only speaks English, you’re bound to face some language barriers. Granted, most tourist areas will have a decent amount of English. But outside of those spots, it depends a lot on the country. Personally, I’ve been living as a digital nomad in Asia for over two years, and I’ve … Read more
Vietnam is a pretty safe country for foreigners, all things considered. The overall “Safety Index” rating for Vietnam is ~56/100. That’s better than Australia, the UK, the US, Canada, Ireland, and France. However, there are still safety issues in Vietnam—and not all cities are equally safe. In this post, I’ll share 3 top safety concerns … Read more
Ho Chi Minh City (a.k.a. Saigon) is one of my favorite places to stay to in Southeast Asia. I’ve returned to Saigon eight times in my digital nomad journey at this point. (And I’ve been to 15 other cities in Asia, so I’ve got a lot to compare it to.) By now, I’ve stayed in … Read more
When you travel the world, you notice that people come in very different sizes. One of the remarkable things about Vietnam is the low obesity rate, for example. It often ranks as the #1 least obese country in the world. But aside from being thinner, Vietnamese people are also shorter than most western populations. So, … Read more
Part of why I love staying in Vietnam is because I feel like I’m rich there. I can afford to stay in awesome Airbnbs and buy basically whatever I want, without caring about the costs. It’s great. But what is actually “rich” in Vietnam, when you look at the stats? Today, let’s address that question. … Read more
Moving to SE Asia was one of the best decisions of my life. Overnight, I basically became “rich” due to the lower cost of living. I’ve also gotten to experience many different cultures—and even dating became more interesting. If any of that sounds good to you, then I encourage you to plan your own “Escape … Read more
I’ve lived for ~4 months in Saigon and 1 month in Manila (BGC) as a digital nomad. I’ve also stayed in 15 other cities in Asia. Today let’s look at how these two big cities compare, and which might be a better choice for you. Keep in mind: I’m a single male American digital nomad in … Read more
Bangkok and Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) are two of my favorite places I’ve stayed as a digital nomad. As two mega-cities in SE Asia, they offer a lot of the same perks, with big city energy and convenience at relatively low prices. But what are the differences between Bangkok and Saigon? And how can … Read more