That’s right, my big secret is out.
I am moving to Vietnam!!!
Did I mention I’ve never been to Asia before?? You’re probably wondering why, so I’ll cut to the chase:
Here’s why.
Plain and simple, I wanted a new adventure. I wanted to learn a completely new culture, and wanted a new source of inspiration for my writing. After living in Spain for three years, I knew it was time to go, but I wasn’t quite ready to settle back into life in the USA. Casey Man felt the same way, so we thought… what’s a land that’s completely new to both of us, foreign and exciting? As two Spanish speakers and lovers of all things Latino, we naturally turned to South America or the Carribean.
We wanted beaches, warm weather, amazing food and notoriously kind people. And we needed jobs and visas. However, after meeting a few people who had taught English in Vietnam and doing further investigation, we realized that this completely foreign (and a bit daunting) country checked off all the boxes. A country with alluring landscape, a high demand for English teachers, well-paying jobs at schools, and an easily obtained visa, all paths were pointing to Vietnam.
How will I be making money there?
Many of you have recently asked me how I financially manage to travel so much. A great question! I’ve built a location independent career…meaning I can do it anywhere! All I need is my handy dandy laptop. Like my work in Spain, I will continue to do freelance work as a travel writer, which includes writing for travel publications, the Spain Tourism Board AND blogging right here at A Wandering Casiedilla! I also plan on teaching English part time (about 12 hours a week), which has proven to be a fabulous way to live anywhere in the world and make a living!
Where in Vietnam?
If you know anything about Vietnam, you’ve probably heard of its two major cities: Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) and Hanoi. Ho Chi Minh City is a crazy bustling metropolis in the south of the country, known for its nonstop electric energy, barbaric scooter traffic, westernized stores and monstrous size. On the flip side, the northern capital of Hanoi is said to be the more authentic and less westernized city, with that Vietnamese charm… and a still-lingering communist mindset with a midnight curfew. HMM…
Well, neither of those sounded like a good fit. Despite the fact that nearly the entire expat community in Vietnam lives in those two cities, our search continued.
That’s when we found Da Nang. A centrally located city on the beach surrounded by lush green mountains, it’s known for having some of the best seafood in Vietnam, the kindest people and it has an international airport!
There’s only one problem. Since it’s off-the-beaten-path, getting jobs as English speakers might not be so easy…
Here’s the plan.
With no jobs or apartment lined up, I guess you can say the plan is to not plan. I know, it sounds crazy, but that’s the way AWC does it. While going without a job is risky, there are more opportunities than what’s listed online and you can negotiate pay once there. As for the apartment, I would never, ever live in a place I haven’t seen in person! So with a (very) loose itinerary, we’re wingin’ it. After all, it’s all part of the adventure!
The itinerary goes like this:
September 12th (this Tuesday!): I leave NYC for San Fransisco, where Casey Man is from. I’ll be spending a week there. Expect lots of great insta photos!
September 19th: Los Casieys are off to Asia!! 
Ahhhhh! 30 hours later….
September 21st: We arrive in Ho Chi Minh City! We’ll be hanging out there for a few days before our final destination.
September 24th: Hello Da Nang! We settle into our new life in Asia. And hopefully, find jobs.
Good luck in your new Vietnamese adventure!
Thank you!!!!!!
This is fabulous, Casie! I am looking forward to learning as much as possible about Vietnam directly from my on site “scout”. I love the life you lead.
Thank you so much!! Needless it to say, I’m SO excited! I look forward to having you on board the AWC train 🙂 Cheers! -Casie
I think you’re amazing!!! I have no tips on Vietnam except – You take YOU wherever you go!!!! And that’s the most important element. Your eagerness tp learn, HONESTY. kindness, compassion, intelligence, humor – I could go on forever – – are you!!! Stay focused, have tons of fun and HUG CaseyMan a LOT!!!!!! Oh – take care of your health!!!!!! I’m highly prejudiced and I love you deeply. xoxoxox
Great advice AL!!! You always say it best. Love you!!!! xoxoxo, Your very own world wanderer
Hi there, I’m Pablo from Spain. I just find out your blog and I like your passion about traveling and visiting new cultures.
I just comeback from Vietnam! I was there for two weeks with some friends and we visited almost everything there.
I think moving to Da Nang is a good option, because is a coast city and is quiet than Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh. But also Da Nang is growing a lot and they’re building a lot of resorts and hotels through the coast. It’s going to be the Vietnamese Benidorm. You will see.
Because of that I will recommend you to go to Hoi An, which is only 30 minutes away from Da Nang and is more like a small village but you still have a good beach and everything you need.
While we were there, we slept in hostels. And most of them had English people working for them. And they told us that they decided to stay there because the hostels paid well and also because it was easy to find a job as an English teacher. Maybe you can contact some of these people once you are there. These hostels are called Backpackers hostel. And they have a red buffalo as a symbol. These brand of hostels are in all the main cities. So I think you can contact them if you want.
I hope this long comment would help you 🙂
Anyway, enjoy Vietnam, I think you would like it.
If you have any questions or you need some recommendations I would be really happy to help you.
Tam biet!! (Good bye in Vietnamese)
Pablo
Hi Pablo from Spain! Wow, these are incredible tips. Thank you so much for sharing! I will definitely check out these hostels for work once I get there. Thanks for the great idea! So glad to hear you had a great time over there, and hope you’re adjusting back to la vida española 😉 Hope you keep following along my adventure! Tam biet! -Casie
You are welcome 🙂
Enjoy your new adventure!!!!
Seguro que recorreras todo el pais y los que tengas en los alrededores, asi que no te perderas la noche en tren para llegar a las montañas de Sapa en el norte y visitar su mercado y las diferentes poblaciones mong. Ni la impresinantemente tranquila ciudad de Hoian, donde al llegar desde cualquiera de las dos bulliciosas ciudades más importantes, alucinarás escuchando música relajante por las calles, y en donde no deberías dejar de hacer algún curso de cocina ¡¡¡¡qué rico está todo!!!!
Y muchos más lugares preciosos e interesantes.
Tampoco te perderas la oportunidad de ir a Laos o Cambodia, para los templos de Angkor te puedo recomendar uno de los más simpáticos e interesantes conductores de tuck-tuck de Siam Reap, que te podra dar las explicaciones en inglès, español, frances… trabajó en la última produccion de Angelina Jolie en Cambodia… un tipo encantador, currante y muy interesante.
Y todo eso no será más que un aperitivo, buen viaje y a comerte Asia, iré siguiendo tus aventuras
Hi there!
I’m coming to live in Vietnam on June 20th this year, 2018.
I lived in China for 4 years, teaching English and also singing (I sing jazz standards, like Fly Me To The Moon) with different bands. You can hear me singing at http://www.imagicsongs.com/richard if you want to torture your eardrums lol….
I’ve sung in Ho Chi Minh City, and Bangkok, but the downside are the total masses of people there, and particularly the constant flood of motorbikes and scooters. I really want somewhere a bit quieter.
So, I’m gonna try Nha Trang and then maybe Da Nang.
Any tips on the live music scene and finding a small apartment would be helpful.
Do get in touch with me, if you wanna be friends. richard@imagicplanet.com
Hope to make a lot of friends in Nha Trang.
Best wishes,
Richard Marly
Hi Richard! How exciting that you’re planning on moving to Vietnam. I definitely recommend living in Da Nang! It’s an amazing city with such a vibrant expat scene, and lots of venues to play live music. The live music scene her is actually quite impressive for a small-ish city! There’s even a venue that’s dedicated to Jazz Music and has performances every night, called “Jazz Hotel.” You should definitely check that you when you’re here. Anyway, good luck on the move and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions!
Cheers,
Casie (AWC)