Where I’m At is my monthly travel and site update, and other random ramblings from the editor (me). More regular updates can be found at the weekly travel newsletter, which includes interesting travel reads from around the web.
Where I’ve been
This is an overview of where I’ve been over the last month. Detailed blog posts and trip reports usually follow a month or so later.
Australia
April began in Melbourne, where I had returned to my homeland after being away for nearly 2 and a half years. I had 18 days in Melbourne, which was barely enough time to catch up with family and friends. I paced out my meetups, in addition to attending other admin duties and getting health checkups. I didn’t get around to seeing everyone, so I could have used more time here.
I would have liked to stay longer but I didn’t have anywhere to stay, and staying in Airbnbs and hostels in your own city is weird. I ended up looking at apartments displayed in real estate windows, dreaming of buying a crash pad for more regular visits. When I first started out as a digital nomad in the 2000s I rented a cheap room in a house with friends in Melbourne, and I would spend about half the year travelling. That wouldn’t be a bad option for the future.
While it was great to be back, after about one week back “home”, my mind was already set on my other “home”.
Vietnam
I left Vietnam in August last year, not knowing when I would be back. The country closed its borders for regular travel and didn’t reopen until March this year. It was strange – a good strange – to be back after all that had happened in the intervening months. I of course had a first meal back in mind, so as soon as I dropped my bags off I knew where to go…
When I'm returning to a familiar place I usually have a first meal in mind. When I got back to Vietnam, I knew my first meal back was going to be a bun mam washed down with a coconut. I wrote about the "first meal back" here =>https://t.co/qp6Vspmg6v pic.twitter.com/MsAeHa49a7
— James Clark (@nomadicnotes) April 11, 2022
I booked a hotel for 3 days, not knowing if I was going to be here for 3 months or 3 weeks. I have been using Saigon as a base for a number of years now, but with visa uncertainties, I arrived not knowing how long I could stay. It turns out that Vietnam is currently only issuing a 30-day visa without the option to extend, so that has taken the decision of how long to stay out of my hands. They have probably done me a solid by making this decision for me, because I had intended to do more research travel for Future Southeast Asia once travel restarted. I might have been tempted to stay put for 6 months if the visa was available again.
So I am still in hardcore digital nomad made, and luckily I am still in the mood for it. I have one month in Vietnam this time around, which I have filled with meeting friends and eating at my favourite places. I did one sidetrip to Binh Thuan Province, and I have another trip planned next week.
Blog posts and other site news
At the moment I’m still spending more writing time at Future Southeast Asia, where I am posting weekly. I got one article out this month at Nomadic Notes:
Notes on Ko Samet – The closest beach-break island from Bangkok
I can only imagine the thoughts you had while returning home after so long away. We really give our brains a workout with this location-independent life. 🙂
Yes it is getting to the point now as a long-time expat that my land is becoming more foreign every year!