"You have 'soopa' good time, low price!" This is the phrase I heard from the locals repeatedly as I explored the cities of Saigon and Hanoi, the nation's capital, but it was the beach, jungle, and breathtaking tree-covered mountains that stole my heart!

Back in 2017 as I was on the verge of relocating to Costa Rica, a dear friend of mine had made it to Vietnam and told me, "I've fallen in love with Southeast Asia". As someone who grew up in Texas and traveled mostly throughout Europe and Central America, both closely related to the states in many ways considering clothing, food, and even language, I had no concept of what traveling Asia would be like. I had planned to visit this friend in 2020, but Covid happened and it's been years of hearing the Jeopardy song ringing in my ears as I anxiously awaited the perfect moment to take the leap. This past July I had 10 days kid-free and no other obligations on my radar so I booked a ticket on JustFly.com with a payment plan through Affirm (this flight is NOT cheap at the last minute) and then squealed loudly as I realized "I'm going to Vietnam!"

First and foremost, for all the mamas who think, "I could never be that far away from my kids," I had this thought too (for days!), but then I realized I have a mother/grandmother nearby, a fantastic partner, and a strong tribe of people who would undoubtedly step in in the event my kids needed anything at all while I was away. And, my kids had a "Hell yeah, mom!" attitude of support for me to do something for ME and we should be, ladies!

I saved $800 flying into Saigon instead of Hanoi. I stayed one night in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) to catch up on sleep and get my bearings before taking a $40 nonstop flight to Hanoi. Saigon is HELLA crowded, noisy and busy. This is not where I'd recommend staying for any length of time. I woke up around 3:30 AM VN time and wondered how long I'd have to hang out in my room before venturing out into the streets, but ironically Vietnam is bumping' by 4am. I was late to the show! Motorbikes, buses, taxis, joggers filled the streets already as I walked out my door into "District 1" hoping to find Cafe Trang (egg coffee) and Pho, a common Vietnamese breakfast. I found both within minutes! The best Cafe Trang is rumored to be at Little Hanoi, but it didn't open until 8am so I sat outside a little jungle covered cafe and giggled at the hoards of tiny old ladies doing yoga, Zumba, or Tai Chi in the park. 

I visited a custom tailor at Tailor Raglan and requested she make me a classic white dress and black blazer before I leave. I had saved photos from Pinterest ahead of time so I showed them to her, stood for measurements and paid in dongs what equated to about $60 US dollars for both pieces. Score! Then, I walked to the Ben Thanh market and ogled the faux designer bags where it appears Marc Jacobs is struggling with alignment and Christian Dior has begun slacking on color tone, LOL. I bought an avocado smoothie, chopsticks for the boys and the elephant print pants I was told were "musts" in Vietnam. 

A quick 20 minute cab ride that afternoon and a 1hr flight took me to Hanoi! Hanoi is also bustling, hot and crowded like Saigon, but it's the best place to book tours to explore other regions in the north country. I had a tour booked to Halong Bay and Cat Ba island, but July is rainy season so my tour was canceled. I spent the day walking the lake, touring pagodas and temples, enjoying looking at the street food and treating myself to a heap of spa treatments! Pedicure, manicure, foot detox, and full body massage- $40 TOTAL that day and the service was divine.

Usually I stay in hostels so I can meet other travelers, but the hotels in Vietnam are so cheap I booked a hotel in the Old Quarter (Victor Gallery Hotel) that had a rooftop bar and spa on booking.com for $30 a night. But, I walked to One Hostel down the street for a rooftop pool party I was too jet lagged (and old) to enjoy anyway and decided to book a different tour for the following day. I booked a trip to Ninh Binh and it was the HIGHLIGHT of my trip. I met amazing people from Spain, Italy, Australia, Poland, Vietnam, India and enjoyed hours of conversation and storytelling! We hiked 1000 steps roundtrip at Ninh Binh, paddled in coconut boats through ancient ruins, ate Vietnamese buffet, and rode bikes to an ancient Buddhist temple where I got to ride a water buffalo while my tour group pointed and laughed at me LOL. 
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If you have the time to get to Incense Village, it's a great opportunity for gorgeous photos, but there's nothing else out there so don't expect to stick around long. One benefit of solo traveling is being on your own schedule and not affecting anyone else's agenda so after a buffet breakfast at my hotel including friend rice, pho, eggs, and fresh fruit, I booked a car through Grab, the Vietnamese "Uber" and took the 45min ride to Incense Village. I also have a "just say yes" attitude when I travel so when the sweet (and miniature) Vietnamese girl at the village offered to let me wear an Ao Dai, the traditional Vietnamese dress and conicular hat, I jumped at the opportunity. "You are so pretty, United States". I adored her!

Another "must" in Hanoi is train street. It can be difficult to find, which I knew already, so when my car ride back from Incense Village bumped over train tracks, I looked both directions and realized it was there. I jumped out of the car at a red light and thanked the driver "Cam on!" and booked it to a cafe moments before the train barreled down the tracks!

I booked another in-country direct flight for about $40 and headed south to Nha Trang the following day after popping a sleeping pill from the pharmacy and sleeping about 14hours. Jetlag is no joke when you go from West to East- plan a few days of feeling like hammered dog poop. I chose Nha Trang so I could spend some time with my friend of 20+ years before heading home. He is connected to multiple businesses in the area and runs a hostel off Pho Quoc island called Phu House Hostel (definitely check it out), but he had warned me it would rain nonstop in that area. He had spent several years prior in Nha Trang so this is where we decided to met up. The moment I arrived in Nha Trang I felt an inner peace I hadn't had in the other cities. This town is coastal so it had a fun loving beach vibe that speaks to my heart so much more than the bustling major cities. 

By this point in my trip all I wanted was to do things I can't normally do when I have my kids with me (as any mom would when she finds herself kid-free LOL). We hung out at a little beach bar called "Blue Sea Beach Bar" for HOURS! It felt so nice to have people to converse with in English. I stayed at the Panorama, which is beachside, but also walking distance to everything. In fact, this is one of the more popular hotels and it was easy to drop luggage off in-between stays and other travel plans. My friend and I took a Grab car out to Champa Island for pool time, meeting up with more friends and enjoying sauna, steamroom, and gym poolside. The drink of choice all week was local beer, which is extremely light, on ice (da) and lime. That night we visited "I Like Buffet", where I had the joy of watching my friend get into his mode entertaining the locals with his antics and making everyone feel like the most special person on the planet- it's a gift he has and I adore watching it unfold. I loved grilling my food at the table and taking in the sights in the open-air buffet. It was truly an experience one can only have in Vietnam. Then we ventured over to a local dive where several expats were meeting up and we did what we always do- grow the party by attracting others with good energy! I wish I could say we did what responsible, mature adults do and parted ways before midnight and got decent sleep, but we did not. We all stayed up laughing, dancing and sparring (him, not me) in the streets until 4am when we realized the sun would be rising at the beach momentarily. We all took motorbikes back to Blue Sea and played on the bounce houses in the ocean until dawn. We all had a blast and it was truly magical!

Fast forward a day of self-loathing and intermittent napping, and we took a bus back to Saigon. The buses in Vietnam are next level compared the the states. We each had our own bed with massager, TV, snacks, water and curtain to close. We slept HARD in preparation for my last night in the country where I wanted to watch the nightlife of downtown Saigon. If you're a partier, you'll want for nothing in downtown Saigon, but the mama is me plays it safe in unfamiliar territory. Also, we were both flying out of the city at midnight so we kept it mellow and stuck to people watching, but I definitely enjoyed immersing myself in the culture and just taking it all in. Saigon, I'll be back. 

If you take your kids to Vietnam, I highly suggest a 2-day cruise through Halong Bay, making lanterns in Hot An, visiting Ba Na Hills in Danang, and visiting one of the many Vinpearl locations across the country. If you have picky eaters, don't worry- you can find KFC, Burger King, Pizza Huts, but definitely try to encourage your kids to enjoy local cuisine as well. Plus, the food is SO cheap, it won't matter if they don't like it so long as they try it. The convenience stores also keep snacks for kids and many of them appeared much healthier than what we offer in the states. 

I'll close by quoting the enthusiastic, and warm, locals, "Vietnam, numba one!"

​Stay gold, Chelsea