Life Of Doing has been awfully quiet for the past two months. Where did we go? We would have loved to say that we went on an epic hike in the Patagonia mountains or swam in the ocean with the sea turtles. However, we didn’t go anywhere fun. Instead, high stress and chaos occurred with moving and renting out of our house. We lived in our house for 7 years and didn’t realize how much stuff we had. It took some time trying to “KonMari” our belonging. We highly recommend the “Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” book by Marie Kondo which provides tips on how to de-clutter and showcasing the stuff in your life that sparks joy. What began with good intentions, ended up placing items we didn’t have time to “KonMari” into boxes for storage.
The big announcement is that we’re moving to Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam next week! We’ve traveled to Vietnam before during a family trip five years ago and I also visited in August this year. The plan is to stay for at least two years. We kept the huge news on the down-low from the blog and social media until the confirmation. We’ll miss California and the Bay Area as it is our “home.”
Why Vietnam? Justin brought up the the crazy idea of potentially moving out of the country in the beginning of 2017. It was an enticing opportunity – living in a foreign country, learning the culture, eating delicious food, and enjoying life. Since we love to travel and didn’t have any pets or kids to worry about, it all made sense. My brain and heart automatically said “yes” without knowing the full details.
Due to the Justin’s company’s needs and many opportunities in Vietnam, the idea of moving became a reality in September. As mentioned in previous blog posts, he travels to Asia (China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Cambodia) every 2-3 months for work. With the support of his manager, he earned an amazing once in a lifetime expat assignment based in the Ho Chi Minh City office. It’ll be awesome to see his professional growth with managing a small team and improving the relationship with his Asia suppliers. I’m proud of my husband!
As for me (aka the “traveling wife”), the timing of the move coincided with a transition of my work life. Last November, another company announced the intent to acquire the company that I worked at, and the deal finally closed in mid-November. My role didn’t align with the new company’s programs. No hard feelings as I knew about my fate for a while. After staying at the company for over 7 years (including my days as a summer intern), it is time for change.
It’s nerve wracking, yet exciting to be in a position with unknown plans. As a former program manager, I’m used to having a formal project plan on tasks to accomplish. The goal for the next few months is to settle into our apartment and surroundings, explore hidden gems for food and shopping, figure out how to buy groceries, and much more.
We’ll share how we prepared for our international move in a future post. In the meantime, we’re glad to spend the holidays with family before we leave.
If any of our readers are traveling to Ho Chi Minh City, please let us know! We would love to meet up at anytime to chat and hear your travel adventures.
Upcoming Travels
One of the best parts about moving to Vietnam is that it’s a central hub to travel to other countries. Two months after settling in Ho Chi Minh City, we’re packing our bags to go back to New Zealand and Australia in February 2018. We had great memories from visiting the New Zealand’s North Island and Sydney, Australia for a 12 hour layover. This time, we’ll explore New Zealand’s South Island for hiking adventures and Perth, Australia.
Let us know if you have any recommendations on places we should visit and see during our travels! Share in the comments below.