This Expat Life (December 2019 & January 2020): Vietnam, the US & Indonesia
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 June, July and August.
Whoa, it’s been a minute since I’ve written a monthly roundup post. Shame on me! As I write this, I’m sitting in my hotel room on the Indonesian island of Gili Trawangan looking at the bungalow where this blog was born five years ago (click here to read my very first blog post all about Gili T!).
I don’t blog as much as a did the first few years of Travel Lush, but I still enjoy posting every now and again. I’d feel awful if this blog died completely so I guess being back in the place that inspired it in the first place inspired me to actually sit down and write something. Plus, I love these posts because they allow me to look back on this crazy expat experience of mine.
The past two months have taken me around the world, — from Vietnam to California to Indonesia. Without further ado, here’s what I got up to in December and January!
Visa run to Cambodia
In December, I had the chance to visit my former home of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It’s been years since I lived there and it was amazing to revisit all of my favorite spots. As a street art lover, I made a point to go back to Street 93, which is full of amazing pieces. The art has changed since I last visited but I was happy to see some new pieces by different artists. More than anything it was great to see that the street art scene is still alive and well in Phnom Penh.
Cruising the Saigon River
A group of Aaron’s coworkers decided to book a boat for a few hours in December as a sort of going away party for two of his very beloved coworkers who are leaving Vietnam. I’m always down for any sort of boat ride so I was excited to tag along. There was a group of about 20 of us and we had the chance to cruise along the Saigon River, sip on local craft beer and watch the sun sink behind the Saigon skyline. It was a pretty great experience. The boat ultimately dropped at one of Saigon’s most popular restaurants, The Deck. We drank and dined and had a blast. The night was bittersweet though since we all had to say goodbye to two of the nicest human beings.
Christmas in California
I’m so bummed that this trip home is over. I say this a lot, but being away from friends and family is by far the hardest thing about living abroad. I make a point of going home for two weeks every year, but this is the first time in five years I went home for the holidays. I was very excited about this trip and it ended up being so incredibly fun.
Because my mom, oldest sister and niece moved away from southern California, Aaron and I decided to skip San Diego and spend the entire two weeks in his hometown of Ojai. It ended up being amazing because we were able to spend tons of quality time with his parents, brothers and their significant others and his brother’s new baby. Not only that but the east coast contingent of his family also flew out so we spent the whole trip reminiscing, laughing and eating way too much with his aunt, uncle and cousins who we hadn’t seen in three years. I had the best time and it made me really, really miss each and every one of them. We also got a chance to hang out with some of our very best college friends and their daughter. My heart was full!
I want to say that it was the perfect trip home but in reality, it was really odd not going home to San Diego and not seeing my mom or any of my four siblings.
The worst part is I have no idea when I’ll see them again, especially now that everyone is scattered all over the country. I miss my family immensely. Fortunately, my dad drove up to Ojai for a few days so we got to spend some much-need quality time together. Aaron and I also got to spend a family-filled day at my aunt’s house where we hung out with my dad, aunts, uncle, cousins, stepmom, niece…you get the idea! It meant the world to me that everyone gathered to see us. We do this every year. Bless my aunt for being such a sweet person, a great cook and always preparing a homemade Mexican meal for the occasion. The best!
Back to Bali & Lombok
I love living in Ho Chi Minh City but ever since we moved to the suburbs a year ago, I’ve become less enthused about it. Living in Phu My Hung is nothing like living in the chaotic downtown area. My neighborhood is incredibly boring. At least I think it is.
So, whenever Aaron gets a break from his job we beeline it for another country. That’s right, I’m back in Indonesia for the winter. Both of us are working over this trip so we’ve kept it mellow and revisited our usual spots: Amed, Gili Trawangan, Kuta (Lombok) and Canggu.
These places are super relaxing and beautiful. We’re familiar with them and know that they have reliable internet and are easy to work from. If I didn’t work remotely I’d love to go somewhere new but with waters like this I can’t really complain.
I’m very lucky to be able to up and leave Saigon and visit (or revisit) different countries as often as I do.
Getting food poisoning in Bali
Our trip started off a bit rocky. It all began when we split a tofu curry our second night in Amed. That night Aaron got violently ill. I didn’t eat as much of the tofu in the curry as he did, but I felt crazily nauseous for a couple of days. I felt really bad for Aaron because he was so sick for two days, but it wasn’t fun for me either. At least we could lay in bed and enjoy this beautiful view while we were sick!
Learning to use a manual film camera
I’m old enough to remember the good old days of film. In fact, when I first started traveling in the early 2000s, digital cameras weren’t really a thing. I traveled with a film camera until my mom bought me my first ever digital camera for my big Cuba trip in 2005. I haven’t touched a film camera since, which is pretty sad. I used to love taking black and white film photos and developing my own photos in the darkroom in college. I wasn’t all that great at it but it was one of my favorite hobbies!
Because Aaron’s university in Saigon is getting its very own darkroom, Aaron bought I really cool vintage Pentax camera and has been shooting black and white film. Of course, I’ve basically stolen the camera. I’ve never shot manual film before so there’s a big learning curve but I think I’m getting the hang of it. I shot images in Cambodia, Saigon and Indonesia but have yet to get any rolls developed. So, I have to wait to see how the images come out once I get back to Saigon. Hopefully, they turn out alright. I’m pretty excited about my new hobby!
The Coronavirus
I’m assuming everyone has heard of the Coronavirus. Because I used to live in China and now live in a country that borders China, I’ve been watching this story very closely.
It’s strange because I’ve spent the past couple weeks fairly isolated in Lombok. I flew back to Bali on February 2 and being at the airport was a bit intense. There were so many people with facemasks, including foreigners. That’s not something you see every day. It’s scary stuff, for sure, but at this point, I’m not quite sure what to make of it and how serious things will get in Vietnam. I think we’ll all have to wait and see and take precautions in the meantime.
Of course, Aaron and I spent the past few days of January binge-watching the new Netflix docuseries, Pandemic. Sure, it probably made us a bit more paranoid, but it’s ultra-informative and gave us such a better understanding of what’s going on with the coronavirus and pandemics in general. I highly recommend it.
Heading back to Saigon
We plan on spending the last week of our big Indonesia trip back in our beloved Canggu. But sadly, we have to leave Bali on February 6, since Aaron starts classes a few days after that (at least we hope the coronavirus doesn’t impact that…). The weather has been unseasonably hot there lately, so I’m not looking forward to enduring another “hot season” in the city. And then there’s the whole coronavirus thing. Basically, I’m not 100% thrilled to be going back.
Seriously, I’m already dreaming up plans as to where we should spend the summer! Since I work for a company in Asia and have to work in a similar timezone, I’m thinking Malaysia!! But in my heart, I’d LOVE to go back to South America or Europe. Decisions, decisions.
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