I love vietnam

pt 1: novelty and possibility

Day 1: I bleached my clothes because I didn't translate the label on the bottle next to the washing machine. Lol

I like the slanted straw hats people wear here. I want one.

At first my American brain thought that might be cultural appropriation.

But cultural appropriation was made up in America, so it’s chill.
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I've traveled abroad before but nothing as remote as this.

Traveling also feels different when you have a one way ticket.

I love the massage of novelty my brain is getting every day here.

Right away I noticed a difference in the food. Lower price (a lot lower) and higher quality.

Vietnamese people like foreigners. I can definitely live and work out of here.

My airbnb for the next 8 days is in the densest part of the city. Where crossing the street feels perilous, stoplights are suggestions, and my nervous system feels overstimulated.

I’d love to live somewhere more remote and embedded in nature. Where I can have a clear mind 24/7 from morning walks on the beach or through the jungle.

But I also want a solid social life. It’s hard to find the balance I’m looking for.

When W, SB and I were sitting in the park in the shade I forgot we were in Vietnam.

I remembered where I was when an old Vietnamese guy starting hitting golf balls sporadically in the public field.

It’s more chaotic here. It feels like there are less rules.

I have moments of awe when I remember that I’m living across the world from anything I consider home.

I’ve never felt this kind of agency/independence before. All of my past decisions were cookie cutter: Which college will I go to? (I always knew I was going to college). What will I study in college? (I was given a list of 25ish majors). Which ‘high status’ corporate path will I walk? (I always knew I was going to get a high-paying corporate job after college)

These decisions were big, but the frame was already set for me. I always knew I would go to college, study something from the list, and get a high status corporate job.

It’s different now because I’m picking the frame.

My corporate life is behind me (unless I end up owning a corporation).

I could live in any country, start any kind of business online.

There's so much possibility and that's almost as scary as it is awe inspiring.

I see so many paths in front of me and most of them look really good.

Picking one is scary because it means I didn’t pick the others.

I could continue building my twitter audience about stopping overthinking, create alcoholics anonymous but for a video game I was hooked on called DOTA 2, or build an app that’s Uber but for prostitutes instead of rides and call it ProstitUBER (I’m probably not going to do that one because I don’t want to be the world’s biggest pimp).

I feel like I should start a Tiktok or Youtube channel to document this journey.

Q is an advocate of that, he thinks it would be valuable content because lots of people have thoughts about doing this but don’t have the guts to pull the trigger. I can empower people by showing them it’s not just possible, but feasible.

I agree with Q.

But I’m not sure if I actually want to start a Tiktok or youtube channel.

I know the power of content, but I don’t like video editing.

And I don’t think I’m naturally much of an entertainer.

Someone very close to me once told me that I’m really funny when I don’t try to be and I’m not funny when I try to be.

Maybe that does mean I’m naturally an entertainer.

I’ll try the Tiktok and see what happens/how I feel about it.

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My journey is just beginning. I feel blessed to be able to do this and have a challenge I’m excited to surmount.

It feels good to be on offense.