what i’ve been up to
April 2, 2026
So I just got back from Vietnam and had another immediate trip to Arizona for one of my best friend’s birthdays. It was a beautiful and fun 6-day trip. But now that I’m back and restful (actually only for the next 3 days because I have another trip), I want to finally write and reflect about Vietnam. It’s still a bit shocking to me regarding how everything flew by so fast. I stayed in Vietnam for exactly 2 months. I remember there was so much anticipation building up to this between my family and me. For me, I knew it would be a trip of a lifetime. I saved up money from my internship, as well as working 3 jobs (literally had no sleep for 3 straight months), so I could make sure I could stay as long as I wanted comfortably (those who knew me during this time knew that I hadn’t bought my ticket home until I was ready). It was somewhat a grad-trip with a very close friend of mine, and also I was planning to meet a study abroad friend of mine whom I dearly love so much (we hadn’t seen each other in a year… and who knows when now, since she lives in Australia). As for my side of the family, I would be the very first one to come home–basically representing my family since they haven’t been back since they left Vietnam, which was over 30 years ago. There were a lot of expectations and emotions tied into this trip that I have yet to understand. But this trip. This trip man. I can’t even put it into words. It was just so grand, so full of emotions. It was a trip of a lifetime indeed. Every part of it meant something. The people I met, the family that welcomed me in, the places I got to see were all unbelievable. There were people on the opposite side of the world, who had so much history with my family, and have extended that love to me?? It was just unconditional. I remember walking into rooms where they would point around and tell me, “your mom used to stay here,” or sitting in kitchens where they’d laugh and remind me how my aunties used to help cook in that same exact space. It felt like I was stepping into pieces of my mom’s life that I had only ever heard about, but now I was finally seeing and living them for myself. And then these places that were unfamiliar to me immediately felt like home. It’s just the way they took care of me, spoke to me, checked on me, and made sure I was always okay never made me feel like a guest, but like I had always belonged there. Like I was just returning to something that had always been mine. And as for my travels, it was beautiful. I visited Vietnam: Saigon (of course), Hoi An, Da Nang, Ha Noi, Ninh Binh, Siem Reap, Cambodia (for its breathtaking Angkor Wat), and Bangkok, Thailand. Ninh Binh has to be my favorite location. It was such a parallel to the countryside of Switzerland trip I did with TD. Siem Reap felt the safest. Bangkok was just so wild and so fun. I can’t believe I went to sleep nearly 5 AM every night and woke up around 8-9 AM to go to temples or tours. I do want to say, it was all worth it. Seeing my friend from studying abroad made me tear up a little. As always, it was filled with so much laughter and reminiscing on all the memories from our time abroad together. However, I think amongst all, my favorite memories had to be just meeting each of my family members for the first time (I’m being so serious, there were probably over 7+ families I have to meet). Every meets felt like a reunion of some sort. There was no awkwardness. Just hellos, jokes about my limited Vietnamese, and then suddenly I was being fed fruits and food while they talk about my family’s history. But yeah. I’m back now. I want to say I miss it, which I really do but I think it’s also time I get some rest in. This was an incredible trip that brought so much clarity and meaning to a part of my life I had always wondered about. It gave me connection, understanding, and a deeper sense of where I come from. Also a little bit of fun. But wow. I genuinely don’t think I’ll ever fully be able to put this experience into words, but I know it’s something I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.
