Tales of a Professional Nomad: December 2014

I cannot believe how long it has taken me to come to the end of my Asia saga. Maybe part of me wanted to stall ending my storytelling because that would mean the experience is truly over. Still, I believe the Asia adventure of a lifetime deserved five postings and I hope you enjoyed the journey. Here is how the trip ended....

After a rough early morning flight from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi we hired a taxi to take us to our overnight cruise through Ha Long Bay. Summed up....as a travel consultant I would never recommend an overnight cruise to any of my clients. Ha Long Bay is absolutely stunning and a wonder of the world. However, it is overly touristy-bombarded with the touristy passenger boats, and the beaches are absolutely packed! The actual scenic beauty of Ha Long Bay can easily be seen in one day and the food and accommodations on the ship were definitely something I would avoid in the future. Still, there were two highlights to the overnight boat experience. First, watching the sunset over Ha Long Bay on the top of the boat deck was a view I will never forget. I did my best to capture it in photos, but images simply do not do it justice. Another highlight was waking up to go kayaking around Ha Long Bay. Of course I did not have a camera with me for that adventure, but it was so cool to be off on our own kayaking through the tower rock formations. I highly recommend a kayaking excursion or tour during your trip to Ha Long Bay. Overall, I am glad we went it was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, but next time I might pass on whole non-air conditioned, leaky roof, terrible food, boat experience.

Ha Long Bay

Crowded beaches along the bay

Representing Soul Cycle from Vietnam

Sunset view from the boat

Josh and I before we went kayaking

On the last day of our trip, we made our way from Ha Long Bay to Hanoi. Thankfully, we had utilized perks of working in the travel industry to properly prepare for the end of our journey with a room at the 5 star hotel, Intercontinental Westlake right on Ho Tay (the lake that runs through the city). I have never been so excited to take a shower, put on a giant bathrobe and lay in a massive bed with a down comforter. Our journey had started out with 5 star luxury and done a full circle from dingy hotel rooms, to a mattress on the ground of a tin hut, back to luxury. We decided to take full advantage of the hotel and lay out by the pool while waiters served us fruit smoothies.

After much needed rest and relaxation we ventured out to explore the city. Hanoi is a unique city and its colorful architecture really made it different from anywhere else we had been. We enjoyed an amazing sunset over city and our last Asian meal of the trip- naturally it was noodles.

Hanoi Sunset

Last meal in Asia

Style of the buildings in Hanoi

So there you have it....my trip to Asia summed up in 5 blog posts and a few photos. It is difficult to put into words how much this journey meant to me and how much it opened up my world. I thought I had seen so much after my travels throughout Europe, but now I know, this is just the beginning....there is so much of the world left for me to see. There was this one moment that will stay with me forever and I think it very accurately sums up my journey. We were on the bus from Bangkok to Siem Reap bouncing over the non-existent dirt roads. The wind was blowing in my face and Brand New came on my iPod shuffle, particularly the song I listened to on the bus from the Florence airport to my hotel the day I landed in Florence. Right in that moment everything stopped and I felt this inexplicable rush, the same feeling I had the first time I looked up at Duomo. It was the feeling of being so overcome by the unknown and so passionate about the journey I was about to embark on. For the first time since Florence I felt this exhilarating rush that made me feel so alive and free. That rush is the passion for travel that I talk about every single day to my clients, which is why I know this is what I was meant to do with my life. It is in those moments that I come face to face with myself and feel truly alive.

As we headed out of Can Tho we decided make a stop to experience the Cai Rang floating market which ended up to be one of the highlights of the trip for me. Every day locals gather on the Mekong River Delta to exchange goods and buy food for the week. In order to do this they must hop from boat to boat. They will know who is selling goods and who is looking to buy based on the pole they have raised. Families live on these boats and sell their food that has come directly from their farm. It is quite a fascinating tradition and something that was so cool to witness first hand.

Vietnamese woman selling melons

You can see they live in the back of the boat and sell from the front

We decided to hop off our boat and try some of the local fruits. I had the most delicious, fresh pineapple I had ever tasted and sampled some other exotic fruits- tried so many I forgot the names.

Heading off the boat

Vietnamese woman and her daughter carving out pineapples to sell

So juicy!

Exotic fruit boat

On our way out of the floating market

After the floating market it was time for our last and final long stretch of driving. After several hours we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City also known as Saigon, the largest city in Vietnam. Making our way into the city I noticed the tall skyscrapers and city lights along with the congested traffic and constant honking of horns- reminded me a bit of home. It was our last night out with the group so our CEO, Kinal, wanted to take us somewhere special. We ended up at the Skybar, a classy rooftop bar overlooking the entire city. As I stood there staring out at a beautiful city I thought to myself, wow, if I didn't know better I would think I was in NYC. I was halfway around the world in such a foreign land, yet at the same time, the city lights and smells felt so familiar after coming from such rural towns of Cambodia. I couldn't believe this was the last night, this group of people had become like family and I couldn't believe it was already time to say goodbye. It was an emotional night full of tears, but I felt so lucky to have had such a life changing experience and be walking away with 17 new friends. If any of you are reading this right now, despite how much time has passed, I still think about you and all of our Asia memories every single day. We all went back to the reality of our own lives but it feels like yesterday that we were bonding over fried tarantulas and jugs of sex on the beach. I hope all of you are well and know that one day our paths will cross again on our next adventures!