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Returning Expat decides to move back to Vietnam. Why? More freedom!

by Joe Mobley
8 replies
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The simplest explanation I could give is that there is so much freedom here. I realize this is a strange thing to say about a city located in a country run by an authoritarian Communist government, but expats (particularly those from western countries), for better or worse, sit somewhat removed from the bureaucracy of living here.

We can arrive at the airport, apply for a three-month visa with every intention of just getting another without leaving the country, work without a work permit, rent a motorbike without a license, and move into a house immediately without signing any paperwork. (It's not always quite that simple, but that's exactly what I've done since arriving on Thursday.)
Bold is mine.

A short post, well worth a look.

Along the Mekong: Why I Moved Back to Vietnam

Joe Mobley
  • Profile picture of the author BigFrank
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    That's all well and good until that day that you wake up and they're rounding-up all the 'round-eyes.'

    I'll live out my days right, here - even as oppressed as I am by our big, bad federal government. Oh, the humanity. lol

    Cheers. - Frank
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      it's along the same lines as the "move to Thailand" thread a while back.

      You can get a good house on the cheap - not a lot of laws or paperwork to worry about.

      But - when you wake up in the morning, you're in Vietnam. Other than that, sounds great.
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      • Profile picture of the author candoit2
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        it's along the same lines as the "move to Thailand" thread a while back.

        You can get a good house on the cheap - not a lot of laws or paperwork to worry about.

        But - when you wake up in the morning, you're in Vietnam. Other than that, sounds great.
        Have you ever woken up in Vietnam or Thailand Kay? Just wondering since you look down on the idea if this is based on experience?
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        • Profile picture of the author HeySal
          Originally Posted by AaronJones View Post

          Have you ever woken up in Vietnam or Thailand Kay? Just wondering since you look down on the idea if this is based on experience?
          Some people don't "need the experience" to know it's not right for them. I've seen people in this country that have never been more than a county from their own home - and they love it that way. Waking up where everyone speaks another language and has other customs is the stuff of nightmares to some people, no matter what crap is going on around them at home. Some people need "familiar" to feel comfortable. Nothing wrong with that. Experience doesn't change that view for people who are "homebodies".

          I would think that living as an immigrant - especially in circumstances that might wind you up as being an "illegal immigrant" in any country should come with expectations that some day you might find it's no longer working very well for you -- especially in our turbulent global political climate right now.
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          Sal
          When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
          Beyond the Path

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          • Profile picture of the author candoit2
            Originally Posted by HeySal View Post

            . Waking up where everyone speaks another language and has other customs is the stuff of nightmares to some people, no matter what crap is going on around them at home. Some people need "familiar" to feel comfortable. Nothing wrong with that. Experience doesn't change that view for people who are "homebodies".
            .
            It has the opposite effect on me. I feel bored in the same place, routine very long. I crave the unfamiliar and the challenges and adventures it brings.
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            • Profile picture of the author Kay King
              Have you ever woken up in Vietnam or Thailand Kay? Just wondering since you look down on the idea if this is based on experience?
              Don't be so sticky. I didn't say I looked down on it - it's not what I want to wake up to every day. Would be a great vacation but I'd miss the familiar.

              I've spent mornings in some rather unique places in the world and enjoyed every moment - but I like to live "at home".

              Many of my Vietnamese friends here spend 2-4 weeks a year back in Vietnam....because it's "home". One of them, Long, told me Saigon "is a good place to visit but noisy to live in".
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              • Profile picture of the author Kay King
                Sal's post reminds me of a great Aunt I loved as a child. Her father had come to the US from Ireland as a young boy - she had married, raised 6 sons and never been farther than the state line from where she was born.

                She was not the least timid or shy - she thought she'd been born in the perfect place and saw no reason to go elsewhere. I loved her attitude! She was the most content person I've known in my entire life.
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  • Profile picture of the author HeySal
    Staying put isn't in my nature, either - but going to far for too long isn't either. I love to travel - and lived in Germany for a year and a half. I loved it, but was glad to get home again. Now I move fairly often, but also stay in the same area of the world - the NW corner of the US. I don't think I could live overseas again unless SHTF here in a majorly dangerous way.
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    Sal
    When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
    Beyond the Path

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