Since I’ve essentially neglected this blog since I made it last summer, it’s time to start catching up on a few blog posts! As a quick little recap, I’ve been spending this whole year working remotely and staying in month-long Airbnbs in different countries instead of renting an apartment in the States. My goal for the year was to spend less in each country than what I would’ve spent to continue living in Manhattan, which – spoiler alert – has not been very difficult. Here’s where I’ve stayed so far and and where I currently am for my final month:
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October- Palermo, Sicily
November- Vienna, Austria
~holiday break at home~
February- Seoul, South Korea
March- Kyoto, Japan
April- Hanoi, Vietnam
May- Phuket, Thailand & Seoul (again)
~USA break for weddings & family time~
July- Mediterranean family vacation
August- Avignon, France
September- move back to NYC🕺
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What I loved about Vietnam-
EVERYTHING. I found the people to be extremely kind, helpful, and very English-friendly. Like in other Southeast Asian countries I’ve traveled to, English seems to be much more widely spoken than in the East Asian countries I’ve visited. The food was delicious and affordable, it was easy to find luxurious accommodation for decent prices, and the rich culture and history meant that there were countless things to see and do. My favorite city was Hội An, but I genuinely enjoyed every place I visited within the country. (p.s. COCONUT. COFFEE. It is life-changing.)
What I disliked about Vietnam-
The heat. I’m not going to lie, the heat was a real kicker and was pretty miserable on most days. To be fair, I prefer winter and loathe hot weather, so the humidity and temperature were definitely not ideal for me. I was constantly dripping sweat and since a lot of establishments don’t have air conditioning I felt utterly disgusting every day. But this is really the only complaint I have, and it is obviously a pretty mild and privileged first-world complaint. My suggestion would be to triple check that your accommodation has air conditioning because some older hotels do not. If you take anything from this post, please let it be that I quite literally loved everything about the country except for something they have no control over because I’m dramatic.
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Hanoi was my home base for the month, which ended up being the absolute best choice for me. While I initially spent a long time debating between staying in Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City, I eventually decided on Hanoi since I had already spent a significant portion of my spring in large, modern cities and wanted to be based in a city with a slightly older and less cosmopolitan feel for the month of April. My Airbnb was $325 USD for the whole month and, believe it or not, was a very nice and modern apartment that I “splurged” on. I had previously entertained an apartment that was only $120 USD but it didn’t have heated water so I quickly talked myself out of that one (haha). Because my rent was so cheap, I spent almost half of the month visiting other cities and staying at luxurious hotels and still managed to spend less than I have any other month this year. My numerous quick trips in Vietnam included traveling to Sa Pa, Hạ Long Bay, Da Nang, Hội An, and Ho Chi Minh City. I won’t refer to these as weekend trips because my job is (thankfully) so flexible that I didn’t need to take these exclusively during weekends. It made more sense for me to take these trips on weekdays than from a Friday – Sunday because hotel and transportation costs were slightly cheaper and typically crowded tourist spots were much less busy.
Vietnam was colonized by France (French Indochina) and was under their rule for roughly 6 decades beginning in the late 1800s, so French influence is very apparent in Hanoi’s architecture and in Vietnamese food (have you ever wondered why one of their most popular dishes features a baguette?). To be completely transparent, I was unaware of France’s occupation of Vietnam until I was wandering around Hanoi and found myself thinking that it resembled a more chaotic version of Bourbon Street (a popular street in New Orleans; the city was founded by the French before it was sold to the U.S.) and subsequently Googled if France had ever occupied the country. I know posting this publicly might make me come across as ignorant, but I had simply never been taught about the history of Southeast Asia. I am a firm believer that traveling is an invaluable method of education and believe that I have picked up so much more practical and applicable knowledge abroad than I have in the classroom, whether that be in regard to the global political landscape, humanities, or simply common sense – and this is a prime example of that.
I absolutely LOVED the food in Vietnam and while I typically make a conscious effort to cook the majority of my meals at my Airbnbs to keep my spending habits in check, I ate out for quite literally every single meal in April because it was so affordable. I would spend, on average, about $1-2 USD on lunch and $3-5 USD on dinner at upscale restaurants. I’ll make a separate blog post dedicated to my favorite restaurants in Hanoi (and the other cities I visited) and update this post with a link it here when I publish it.
Vietnamese food has been a favorite food of mine since I was around seven years old (along with Thai and Tibetan – my whole family dislikes most Western foods), so I was more excited to experience the food scene here than I have been for other country. I also found it extremely easy to eat as a vegan here.
My first trip of the month to Sa Pa was simply incredible and I stayed at the gorgeous Hôtel de la Coupole by MGallery. Here’s the link to a TikTok I posted of the hotel that went viral so you can see for yourself just how beautiful it is (but I am going to provide a disclaimer for myself and tell you that my TikTok account is purely for fun and is not something to follow if you’re looking for legitimate travel updates and tips – you should follow my Instagram @hrbrowngoes if that’s something you’re looking for). It is likely the most extravagant hotel I have ever stayed at and I would make the trip again solely to stay there. While visiting the town, I took the world’s highest ascent gondola to the Roof of Indochina, which was nothing short of terrifying and the worst day of my life (lol). I didn’t realize just how afraid of heights I actually am until I was already on the gondola and could do absolutely nothing about my situation except ride it out. To get to Sa Pa, I took a luxury sleeper bus for $12 USD each way and had my own bunk and curtain for privacy. This is a six hour trip from Hanoi but is absolutely worth it.
I will write dedicated blog posts about my trips to Hạ Long Bay and Hội An in the future but will briefly say here that they were incredible. I stayed on an overnight boat in Hạ Long Bay and splurged (yet again) to stay with one of the most luxurious companies available. The Elite of the Seas staff was amazing, the boat was stunning, and the food was phenomenal as well. I felt like I was having my own little White Lotus moment without all the ~murders~. Hội An is widely known as the tailoring capital of the world, so I visited with the primary intention of purchasing several custom-made outfits for summer as well as a dress for a wedding that I was recently a bridesmaid in. I was pleasantly surprised by how quaint and charming the town itself was – so much so that I extended my stay by two additional nights. Da Nang is a coastal city less than an hour from Hội An, so I spent time there before having my clothes made and thought it was very nice as well. Ho Chi Minh ended up being my least favorite city in Vietnam by comparison, but I still thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
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Accommodation – Here are links to the hotels I stayed at throughout the month (none are sponsored). While most of these would be considered moderately-to-highly priced hotels, you can easily find hotels for less than $20 or hostels for less than $5 USD all over the country.
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Hôtel de la Coupole by MGallery (Sa Pa) – Google currently indicates that prices start from $130 USD per night; However, I spent only $80 per night in the off-season and have seen rooms as low as $68.
Anio Boutique Hotel (Hội An) – from $57 USD per night
Lasenta Boutique Hotel (Hội An) – from $40 USD per night
Adaline Hotel & Suite (Da Nang) – from $16 USD per night
Wink Hotel Saigon Centre (Ho Chi Minh) – from $44 USD per night
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If I was planning a short 1-2 week trip for people traveling to Vietnam for the first time, here’s how much time I would allocate to each city based on my personal city preferences.
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Hanoi | 2-3 days
Sa Pa | 2-3 days*
Hạ Long Bay | Overnight
Da Nang | 1-2 days
Hội An | 3-4 days*
Ho Chi Minh City | 2 days
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Of course, you should spend significantly more time in each of these places if possible. I do want to point out that Sa Pa and Hội An have relatively smaller populations and proportionately less “to do,” but I preferred these over the larger cities. The amount of time you should spend in these largely depends on what types of activities you prefer while on vacation and whether you would rather spend the majority of your time in quaint towns or bustling metropolitan areas.
Overall, I felt very safe as a female solo traveler and had an amazing month. While I might not recommend it as a first solo trip country because it can definitely be a little more on the hectic side, I think it is a phenomenal destination after you dip your toes into the solo travel world elsewhere.
