Good Morning Vietnam

I landed in Hanoi, Vietnam, on 6th December 2017 following an overnight flight from New Zealand and with no contacts or prior experience of South East Asia to draw on. I was a solo traveller with a 1-month visa, a backpack of essentials and a half read Lonely Planet guide for company. Upon landing, I needed to take stock of my surroundings and adapt quickly to the new culture and environment that I found myself in. Furthermore, I needed to plan for my travels south through the country and across the border into Cambodia, before finally departing from Bangkok in Thailand at the end of January.

I began by obtaining a Vietnamese sim card from a local shop and finding some accommodation in a hostel in central Hanoi for a few nights while I acclimatised to my new surroundings. After doing some research and seeking advice from fellow travellers as to who the reputable local agents were, I was able to book several excursions and transport that included the likes of the Sapa paddy fields and the Ha Long Bay UNESCO Heritage site before heading south.

Along the way I made friends with several people travelling in the same direction and adapted my plan to join them for stretches of my travels including Christmas in Hoi Ann and New Year in Ho Chi Minh city. I then independently continued into Cambodia where I spent a week visiting Angkor Wat and other historical sites before departing for Thailand. Here I met up with a friend from the UK and decided that I would use my remaining savings to obtain my PADI Open Water qualification on the island of Koh Tao. I enjoyed diving so much that I remained on Koh Tao to complete my PADI Advanced Open Water diving qualification as well before returning to Bangkok to fly home.

I was out of my depth and in an unfamiliar environment throughout my travels across these incredible countries, which pushed my mental and physical limits considerably. I demonstrated to myself on numerous occasions that I could, not just survive, but thrive in unknown and unfamiliar situations. It tested my resourcefulness, adaptability and resilience on numerous occasions and was possibly the most enjoyable period of my life so far.