On Saturday I made 1.8 million Dong.
I worked for six hours.
I get paid $15 US/hour.
It sounds more impressive to say 1.8 million Dong, I know.
So why would a somewhat educated (BA) and relatively intelligent (I still do pretty well at Jeopardy!) man opt to leave the first world and move a developing Asian nation?
This is a legitimate question, as I’m certain to many people me being 38 and essentially homeless while meandering about Asia seems about as sensible as trusting an investment banker to actually look out for a client’s financial well being.
Yet, most people who have read this blog know my true passion and addiction is to travel; it’s seeing new places and meeting new people, both like minded foreigners and locals who look at me with undisguised disbelief when I tell them where I’ve been, where I’m going and why I’m teaching the hokey-pokey to five year old Vietnamese children in an air conditioned, yet open windowed, classroom.
Money ceased being a motivator for me years ago, and even when I tried to prioritize it, I ended up quitting my decent paying job because it was destroying my soul while lining my pockets. Plus all my co-workers were already counting down to when they could retire. The epiphany moment happened when I concluded I never wanted a job that could be viewed as a prison sentence.
“Only eleven more years until parole (retirement).”
Well, my sentence promised to be in excess of 20 and that didn’t suit my lifestyle.
I quit, mulled things over and spent 2 years in South Korea and am now adding to my education with a TESOL/TEFL course to improve my employability around the globe. I am learning some new tricks, but it turns out I proved to be a pretty good teacher from the outset. This will just open up more doors and countries.
I picked Vietnam because I love the culture, the people and the history of this land. This could be the most embittered place on earth, instead it strives towards modernity while maintaining its link to its past and a sense of community. Plus, flying over here and taking the course was the cheaper option than doing it Canada.
I love Canada, and BC, and Vancouver…
I just despise the cost of living there.
Here, if I’m feeling flush with cash and go crazy on meals, I’ll spend around 100 000 Dong in a day. Suddenly that 1.8 million goes a LOT further than it would in a major developed city; like Vancouver or Edinburgh or Chicago.
Now that I am in South-East Asia, visiting other countries beckons to me like the sirens’ song to Odysseus. The Tet Celebration (aka Lunar New Year) falls near the end of January and one new friend and I have already made nebulous suggestions about visiting Cambodia or Laos or Thailand. I haven’t been to Thailand, he hasn’t been to Cambodia, and neither of us have been to Laos. (Naturally, Laos currently holds a slight edge in likelihood of visitation.)
The cost of living in Saigon remains low, an hour bus ride into the centre of the city costs 4000 Dong (20 cents), dining remains cheap unless I search out Western comfort food or Vietnamese Tourist Dining.
I love and miss my family back home, and my nieces either guilt me (“I will miss you SOOOOoooOOO much if you go Uncle Byron.”) or crack me up (“Unca Byron is my best friend!”) or is likely too busy playing with Grandma to notice I’ve gone. While Nolan… well… he’ll only notice that it takes FOREVER for Grandpa to open youtube and find “choochoo”s for him. My family understands. Mostly.
So I go.
I go because I love to travel and from all I’ve learned about life. As far as I’m aware, I only get one go around at this big, beautiful crazy world. No one has yet to provide proof that at the end of it all, it’s how much a person made that verifies their worth.
I’ll make it to the end, everyone does in their own time, at their own pace.
And when I do, if I get to meet my grandfathers in the afterlife, I intend to have a slew of stories to tell them. Ones that might even rival some of theirs.
That’s why Vietnam. Why Cambodia. Why Mongolia. Why South Korea. Why West Africa.
Why… because what else would I do?
My answer to that is… nothing. There is nothing I would rather do, than travel the world and see the beauty, the chaos, the sheer unmitigated joy it offers.
Byron and his backpacks 
yes, i too enjoy living in asia and soaking in cultures of different countries. In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be in vietnam and bhutan, and I am just completely stoked
Bhutan hasn’t landed under my feet yet, but I definitely would love to visit there. Laos or Thailand are likely my next stops in the not too distant future. I can’t pretend to know all there is to know about Saigon, but if you find yourself in the City of Motorbikes let me know, we can meet up for some pho at the very least.
Enjoy your travels and I hope to read about them.
Well said good sir! The more I think about it, the more I think I need to bite the bullet and follow in your footsteps sometime. Maybe even literally. I need to catch you so we can have beers and terrorize juicy girls :-p
I watched Into the Wild last night. Neither of us are quite so extreme, but I think we both share that love of travel and that hatred of the idea of ‘counting down’ until we’re old enough to retire and do little else. Power to you man.
I tried to watch Into the Wild and I turned it off after 10 minutes. It just seemed… forced. I know it wasn’t but he appeared to be courting death more than searching for adventure. I agree whole-heartedly about the love of travel. I must give credit to my government job, if it hadn’t been so soul-destroying, if it had of been tolerable, I might not be on this current path that I wouldn’t trade for all the pho in Vietnam.
When I’m done here I’ll (most likely) be on 3 month rolling visas while working here and I love this country so I plan to stay for a while. Get yourself a TESOL/TEFL certificate it opens up your options something fierce. In Vietnam they aren’t juicy girls, but I do have a potential post about Saigon Karaoke Whorehouses!
You’re a millionaire! in dong at least. It’s great that you’re realize first hand that money doesn’t equate to happiness. Live it up. I’m heading out to Vietnam around the July time frame during the upcoming RTW. Catcha around!