Nomadic Notes Newsletter: February 2015

I’m constantly tinkering with my publishing format, so I will endeavor to publish a monthly update of Where I’m At, featuring future travel plans, and and and what I’ve been up to for the past month.

Where I’m At: Saigon

[Leaving Saigon in a mess of reconstruction.]

Where I’ve Been

I’ve been in Vietnam on a three month visa, as I have been doing for much of the last two years. My usual pattern is to travel for 1-2 months and come back here to rent a short-term room for three months.

This time around I’ve made a point to do some domestic travel as side trips, so in January I went to the Mekong Delta and Phu Quoc (an island in the south of Vietnam). For some reason I always think of the Delta as being too far to get to for a short break. It’s only a couple of hours out of Saigon, yet a whole other world away.

I stayed in a homestay which was a great taste of Mekong life, and Phu Quoc exceeded my expectations as a beach destination. I will be writing about both destinations soon.

[Long Beach, Phu Quoc]

Travel Plans

With my visa soon to expire I will be on the road again. This week I fly to Kuala Lumpur and will spend a week in Malaysia. With KL being such a big air hub I find myself there a few times a year. I will go to Penang for a few days (and update my cafe list while I’m at it) and then back to KL.

From there I will be going to Sri Lanka which will be my first time there. I haven’t made any plans apart from booking my first two nights. I could end up on a beach for two weeks or travel around to as many places as possible. I’m leaving my plans open and am looking forward to it.

From Sri Lanka I go to another regular Southeast Asia air hub of Singapore. This time I won’t be sleeping at the airport and I will spend a few days there instead. From Singapore it is back to my homeland – Australia! I usually go back once a year but I didn’t go last year, which was the first calendar year since 2000 that I didn’t go back.

ICYMI

One blog post last month on the changing face of Saigon.