42. A confession

If I’m honest after leaving Ho Chi Minh the remaining 3 or so weeks in Vietnam were not really the best. It’s nothing to do with the country, which was stunning and full of things to see and do, and I had a few amazing experiences.

I think one of the problems was that early on I had decided to stay in Vietnam for four weeks for no other reason that it was what my tourist Visa got me. I figured my severely depleted funds would just about suffice, but to be honest I should have cut it short. I didn’t consider doing that that though. I suppose I wanted to keep the dream alive for as long as possible. It was a mistake which contributed to a few problems:

• I was severely low on money, so was forced to spend (and therefore do) as little as possible, which was a problem given I had 4 weeks to fill.
• I found it much harder to meet people here. Largely due to my lack of money forcing me to not do as much - but also because I was not staying in more social “hostel” style accommodation.
• I was getting sad that it was the end of the road - and had some anxiety about returning to England and the “real world”. I think this was affecting my mood as well

As a result I spent a lot of time in Vietnam by myself feeling a poor, lonely and depressed that my travels were coming to an end.

That being said I was aware that this was still the opportunity of a lifetime - so made every effort to fight the negativity and make the most of the rest of my time in south east Asia.