Hello from Hanoi: an update on my travel plans

Sometimes I just feel the need to write out what I’m thinking. And being a blogger, the opportunity is easily accomplished.

So, I’m in Hanoi, Vietnam. It took me about two weeks to get from Saigon to Hanoi. The running travel joke, originally stemmed from a Top Gear episode, is to say you made it from Saigon to Hanoi in X amount of days, but how long did it take the Americans? Answer: they didn’t make it. That Top Gear episode, though, where they travel up the coast on motorbikes was really good, though.

Life has taken some interesting turns recently. Vietnam has been a lot of fun. I’ve really enjoyed traveling with two friends I met in Kampot, Cambodia. It’s nice to travel as three, even if sometimes I felt like a third wheel. But really, what does it matter?

My travels in Vietnam have given me drunken dancing on the beach, a new tattoo on my wrist, some cust0m-made new clothes from Hoi An and more than a handful of hangovers. I did several cultural things as well, but I really let loose this past month and was pretty much just your typical Southeast Asian backpacker.

Anyways, a few life changes here and there can only make you stronger, right? I’ve now got a pretty solid life plan to last me a few months, so that’s a good thing. If you didn’t get my e-mail newsletter in which I announced my summer travel plans, these are them:

1. Fly to Berlin, Germany on June 19, leaving Southeast Asia after three-and-a-half months
2. Backpack Europe for a few weeks, eventually making my way to London
3. Fall in love with London all over again and desperately find a way to continue traveling/working abroad. Maybe travel a bit of the English countryside….I’d love to get to Brighton or Manchester.
4. Try not to run out of money

I’m excited to go back to Europe. I know it’s not necessarily a budget travel destination, but my tax refund was bigger than expected and I just want to splurge on myself for a while. I’m afraid after this trip I’ll have to start acting my age again (that’s 26) but I still want to have a lot of fun. (Yes, I know you can have fun at older ages, too.)

So that’s it. I’m not circumnavigating the globe on this trip (at least yet). I’m leaving Asia and I”m headed to a city and country I never really planned to visit. So here I go!

Related blogs:

London Soho is More Fun Than You Think A Hidden Neighborhood in London’s City Center The best cultural things I learned from living in Europe