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JayHH86
Advanced Member
Vietnam
1,400 posts
Joined: Dec, 2008
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 Posted - 2010/11/22 : 15:24:57
...I've spent almost three months (the entire duration of my Visa) in Vietnam and seen absolutely nothing but a small part of Saigon?
I've just sat around reading, drinking, eating and listening to tunes?
I've got two weeks left and then I'm flying to Thailand. Should I have made an effort to see more?
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Ionosphere
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,750 posts
Joined: Dec, 2004
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 15:33:30
quote:
Originally posted by JayHH86:
Should I have made an effort to see more?
I has been said "....the farther one travels, the less one knows".
It's comforting to find someone who proves the theory.... 
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JayHH86
Advanced Member
Vietnam
1,400 posts
Joined: Dec, 2008
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 16:49:45
quote:
Originally posted by Ionosphere:
quote:
Originally posted by JayHH86:
Should I have made an effort to see more?
I has been said "....the farther one travels, the less one knows".
It's comforting to find someone who proves the theory....
That's a fine quote, and I think it rings true.
I've met a lot of people over the past few months - a lot of travelling types. They rush through the whole country saying "Ahh this was amazing, you should definitely go here, and when we were here, and blah ****ing blah blah". I think, in many years time, I'll be able to look back and think "Yeah, that was sick to live in Vietnam for a quarter of a year", as opposed to "It was really great to see 43 places really fleetingly, I don't remember any of them".
Maybe I'm looking for excuses lol. But I came out here not to travel as such, but to just take a year to chill the fcuk out and do what I want. I spent the last five years working hard, and well, for a company that drastically underpaid me. I'm even the editor of a volume called The Directory of Directors that runs to over 3,000 pages. I was completely and singularly responsible for producing this book (I've even got my own page on Amazon as an editor! ha!), and did this when I was 21/22. But they fcuking raped me with my salary. Earning eight grand a year less than the person I replaced. They told me it was perfectly acceptable, so I told them "There is absolutely no way that I can work for a company that believes this is morally, let alone financially, acceptable. Accept this as my official notice, have a nice weekend Sharon".
I didn't feel like working much after that, so I took some cash and said "You're getting to the age where this isn't going to be an option for much longer, so take a year out and enjoy yourself whilst you can".
God, I go on a bit, don't I? Sorry.
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Ionosphere
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,750 posts
Joined: Dec, 2004
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 17:18:42
quote:
Originally posted by JayHH86:
"Accept this as my official notice, have a nice weekend Sharon".
 That must have felt good but is it possible that sitting in your own back garden to chill and read would not only have been cheaper but just as enlightening?
....although I suppose it wouldn't have given you the insight into the mindless, fun seeking, traveling gap-year twats.
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JayHH86
Advanced Member
Vietnam
1,400 posts
Joined: Dec, 2008
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 17:38:05
LOL. That is exceptionally well worded: "mindless, fun seeking, traveling gap-year twats"
I do see your point, and yes, I guess I could have just sat at home doing that, but there's a few reasons why it's better here. And these, by the way, aren't all necessarily reasons why I did it in the first place, just reasons that sound good whilst I'm thinking about them now:
1) One of my closest mates has been living here for a year, so I thought I'd start here, catch up with him, and he could show me the ropes.
2) My parents aren't here.
3) It's INSANELY cheap here.
4) It'll look good on my CV that I spent a year travelling "finding myself", compared to sitting in my garden for a year, to a future employee. lol
5) I like the fact that I'm massively vulnerable for the first time in my life, and I think it's a beneficial thing to be able to deal with that.
Other than that, you're essentially right. It's kind of a pointless year. If I think about it, properly, it's just the latest in a long line of acts that I've done to try and not conform to the working life nature of society.
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Ionosphere
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
3,750 posts
Joined: Dec, 2004
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 17:54:46
5 good reasons, number 5 in particular. ;)
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simdog
Senior Member
Sweden
457 posts
Joined: Dec, 2007
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 19:11:48
i definitely prefer spending time in a place rather than just rushing through as seeing things. you get to absorb more of the culture and learn allot more, things sink in allot better than when you're just bus hopping around looking at old things.
i left Australia a year ago today, spent a month and a half in Cusco and a little village close by called Chinchero then spent 9 months in Pisco, one of the poorest cities in Peru that got destroyed by an earthquake 3 years ago. i did also go to Bolivia twice and Ecuador once but that way mainly just to get new visas. after Peru i spent a month in London and from there i went to Sweden. got no idea where i'll go next but i hate just rushing through for the sake of ticking off a box on the travellers to-do list.
if i wanna see something i'll turn on the computer or tv but there is nothing turning up in a new city with no plans and no contacts, especially if you can't speak the language...
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ozmium
Advanced Member
United States
521 posts
Joined: Jun, 2008
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 19:13:58
naw mayne go out and explore xD
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simdog
Senior Member
Sweden
457 posts
Joined: Dec, 2007
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Posted - 2010/11/22 : 19:20:41
exploring is awesome but it's no fun if your lugging all your shit around, stressing about being robbed and just trying to follow a schedule.
best way to go is get a one way ticket to somewhere cheap, set up a base camp and see where you end up.
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Hard2Get
Advanced Member
United Kingdom
12,837 posts
Joined: Jun, 2001
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Posted - 2010/11/23 : 02:08:33
quote:
Originally posted by JayHH86:
...I've spent almost three months (the entire duration of my Visa) in Vietnam and seen absolutely nothing but a small part of Saigon?
I've just sat around reading, drinking, eating and listening to tunes?
I've got two weeks left and then I'm flying to Thailand. Should I have made an effort to see more?
When you don't know the place at all then it's not simple to travel around, especially where transport probably isn't great. If you knew the place already it would be different but it takes at least that long just to get comfortable really. It's also not a simple task either when you don't know where is meant to be worth visiting etc. You've already traveled and hence your in Vietnam, you might have a point if you hadn't left you own home. I would personally love to spend 3 months in a foreign place, it would be so incredibly refreshing, and essentially being on holiday for a long long time.
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Edited by - Hard2Get on 2010/11/23 02:15:20 |
Lilley
Advanced Member
Australia
3,740 posts
Joined: Jul, 2006
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Posted - 2010/11/24 : 07:14:59
quote:
Originally posted by JayHH86:
Should I have made an effort to see more?
While I have never been there, I think I can answer with some credence. Yes. From all reports and all that I have seen of veitnam from friends, you definitely should have seen more. While it's great to chill out, you could have easily spent a week or two in several places, rather than the whole time in just one.
Glad you enjoyed yourself anyway. Veit is one of the few places in the world I'd really like to go to.
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nearly in line....
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