This Expat Life (May-August): Saigon in the Time of Coronavirus

After moving abroad in July 2014, I started compiling monthly roundup posts about life as an expat in Southeast Asia and all the nitty-gritty that goes on behind the scenes here at Travel Lush. Check out my most recent monthly roundup posts: February, March and April.

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Wow, it’s been a minute since I’ve written anything. I wrote my last “This Expat Life” post in April…it’s now September. How is it September already? When everyone said “2020 would be the year that didn’t exist” at the beginning of all this, I didn’t take it literally. But for me, it’s kind of feeling that way. I think it goes without saying that life has pretty much been weird for everyone this year.

So what have I been up to these past few months? Well, let’s find out.

Getting increasingly horrified at what’s going on in the US

I want to rant so badly but I won’t. I just feel awful for people in the US who are taking Covid-19 seriously and have been staying home for five months now. And then there are those people who don’t think it is a big deal at all just running around with no masks. And do not even get me started on QAnon. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?

I’m just so done with this global pandemic being made into a political issue in the US. I am terrified about what’s going to happen leading up to the election. And I’m honestly terrified of what the outcome of the election will be. I look at my country and I’m sad and I’m angry. There’s so much that’s broken and so much that needs to be fixed.

Having super mixed feelings about travel bloggers promoting travel

I haven’t posted much to my blog or Instagram lately. That’s mainly because this account promotes travel. And while it’s safe(ish) to travel in some countries – like Vietnam – it’s not safe at all to travel in many countries around the world. Since most of my readers/followers are American, I really don’t feel comfortable condoning any sort of travel.

That being said I understand why certain people are posting about travel. Take Vietnam for example. Vietnam took strict measures against Covid-19 as early as January. And as I’ve said many times, they’ve done an amazing job in their handling of Covid-19. Borders remain closed to all countries and will for months to come.

In May, it looked like Vietnam had defeated it all together. Things felt pretty normal for a while here. In June, travel within Vietnam was an actual thing again and supporting the beleaguered tourism industry felt like the right thing to do. But that situation is very specific to Vietnam. (Perhaps travel-related content should come with an asterisk. Like, it’s actually safe to travel in this area.)

Despite Vietnam’s best efforts, we are currently experiencing a second wave. So many countries that took way stricter measures than the US are experiencing their second and even third waves. The US is still experiencing its first wave. So no, it’s not really 100% safe or responsible to travel anywhere, especially the US. There’s just no telling where new outbreaks will pop up.

I get that travel bloggers need to make a living but I just have mixed feelings on some of the content that I’m seeing.

I really admire what professional travel bloggers like Hannah Logan of Eat Sleep Breathe Travel are doing. She’s complying with the rules of her home country of Canada. Canada is taking this very seriously and the rules are quite strict, something I respect. She’s basically hanging out at her lakeside cabin and mainly posting about her life at the lake. (It’s a really pretty lake and I’m super jealous.) Her content is responsible yet entertaining. Businesswise she’s mixing things up to create new content and products during this very weird time. I really applaud travel bloggers like her because it’s not easy.

And with that said…

I went on a trip in July

Such a hypocrite, I know. But I really did believe it was safe. After months of being extra cautious, things felt really safe in Vietnam. Starting in June it honestly felt like we were in a bubble. A really safe bubble. So, in July Aaron and I finally decided we would take a short trip to the beach town of Ho Tram. We’d hadn’t left Saigon in over five months and being at the beach sounded so nice. (The trip turned out to be a bit of a disaster for many reasons but that story is for another post.)

Literally one week after we got back from our trip, Vietnam reported its first community spread case in 99 days. Thus began Vietnam’s second wave. Maybe travel in Vietnam (or anywhere for that matter) isn’t such a great idea during a pandemic…

Experiencing Vietnam’s second wave

It all started in the city of Da Nang. The patient hadn’t traveled outside of the country and has no clue how he got it. Things rapidly went on lockdown in Da Nang and are just now opening back up over a month later. The nearby town and tourist hotspot of Hoi An was also on semi-lockdown from what I understand. Every single person who visited Hue and Da Nang (in Central Vietnam) in the month of July was told to quarantine in their homes for 14 days as well as get tested. This included many of our friends here in Saigon. Aaron and I had originally planned to go to Hue in July. I’m so glad we didn’t!

Since July, Vietnam has recorded over 500 new cases and 35 deaths. Here in Saigon it still feels like business as usual. Everyone is out and about, chilling in restaurants and cafes, going to school, etc. The one major change is that masks are required in public again and anyone not complying with the rule is fined.

Getting my job back, then losing my job…again

As I wrote in a previous post, I lost my job back in March. I was working for a Shanghai-based media company. Of course, Covid-19 hit China hard early on and my company went bankrupt. That being said my boss immediately informed me that plans were in the works for someone to purchase the company and start it up again. He assured me that I would be brought back on board once things were up and running. So I patiently waited until he finally reached out, while I was in Ho Tram, and asked if I wanted to get working again. I was so excited!

I started working again in late July. I worked for nearly a month just to find out that there was literally no way for the company to pay me. It turns out that if you get a new passport (which I recently did), Chinese banks will freeze and ultimately close your account. Wish I would have known that sooner. Chinese banking is fucking complicated.

The only way to unfreeze my account is to go to my bank in China and show them my new passport…in person. Clearly, I can’t leave Vietnam or I won’t be let back in. So my old job is officially no longer an option.

It was a blow and not one I’ve dealt with particularly well. I’ve had a rough month. It’s not like I haven’t been job hunting but I honestly thought I would get my old job back at some point. So now I’m officially on the lookout and I’m not having a lot of luck. I’m trying to stay positive but honestly, I’m really stressed out. My mindset is getting better day by day, so that’s positive.

Taking a digital marketing course

As I navigate job hunting during a pandemic, I’ve decided to attempt to be proactive and beef up my skills by taking a digital marketing course. Once I’m done with that I’ll probably delve into more courses. I’m not exactly sure what direction I should go in but it can never hurt to learn new skills. If anyone has any ideas or courses they recommend, please leave them in the comments below.

Missing living downtown

Now that I have all this downtime, I’m really missing the hustle and bustle of District 1 (downtown Saigon). I miss the lifestyle, the street scenes, the food. My neighborhood (Phu My Hung in District 7) in no way resembles Vietnam. It’s all about malls and Korean BBQ restaurants and massive expat-oriented high-rises (see above).

Part of me was happy to be living in the suburbs when we were on lockdown. It’s far less crowded here and we were able to safely go for walks and avoid people. But now that things are more normal and now that Aaron is back teaching I’m alone a lot. Not having my work to keep me busy or having tons of friends to hang out with is tough. I miss being able to walk outside and see life buzzing around me. I miss the action.

While I love that I was able to work from home for the nearly three years I’ve lived in Vietnam, I now realize just how isolating it was. I was always so busy that I didn’t really take the time to form a community or make friends. It’s kind of hard to do when you don’t have co-workers and you’re super introverted. Don’t get me wrong, I love working from home. Office jobs are kind of the bane of my existence. But they do come with perks, like talking to people and making friends.

Being in the suburbs just adds to the isolation. But I realize I’m just going to have to put myself out there. After years of working from home and seven months of a pandemic, I’m kind of worried that I’m going to emerge much more socially awkward than I was before. Like, seriously, when I go for walks or jogs and I see a stray cat I jump, just like the cat does. Cats and I scare each other. I need to gradually resocialize myself!

So on that super positive and rather bizarre note, this has pretty much been my life since May. Hopefully, things will start to improve in September.

PIN ME FOR LATER!

How’s life been for you these past few months?