I've been lucky enough to live and work in Vietnam on two separate occasions. Vietnam is an amazing country with great food, gorgeous beaches, lots of history and culture, and some of the most amazing people I've ever met. I highly recommend you find a way to visit. As with living anywhere, I managed to learn a few things! Hopefully these 5 thoughts will help you out when you visit or inspire you to go!

Traffic in Vietnam is a little bit different to say the least. Getting across the road in any major city is a challenge to the uninitiated. Crosswalks seem to be suggestions and traffic lights hold a bit more sway, but not much. Add to that the fact the motorbike riders regularly use the sidewalk (for riding as well as parking) and you have a recipe for what some might refer to as chaos! Vietnam has a love of large rotaries/roundabouts and they seem to encompass most major intersections. Add to that the fact that whole families travel on a single motorbike and the bike are used to transport almost everything -- and I do mean everything -- you have a chaos that was unimaginable to this westerner the first time I landed. I lived in the center of Danang when we first arrived and it was a real struggle for me to get across the street. One morning I ended up on a small island in the middle of the road in tears. I’ve come a long way since then! My best piece of advice for crossing any major road where you feel uncomfortable is to draft off of an older person who is also crossing the street. They’ve been doing it a long time and they are still in one piece! You can graduate to the slow and steady method when you feel ready. To do this, step out in to the street with your hand slightly towards traffic and walk slowly and steadily across while keeping your eyes on oncoming traffic. The desire to run across the street is strong but I urge you not to do it! Slow and steady is the way to go. The crush of motorbikes will somehow work its way around you and the other pedestrians but do be careful. Accidents happen.

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Depending on where you are in Vietnam, acquiring groceries has some nuances. If you are in a major city like Saigon or Hanoi you will have some western options in addition to the traditional markets.

In Saigon, there is a Metro which is similar to Sam’s club or Costco in the sense of having groceries and housewares as well as needing a membership card to enter (free in every Metro I’ve been to — they just want to give you a card). There are also more upscale markets catering to westerners with imported products from Europe, Australia, and the United States. And there is even a Vietnamese run store for all those hard to find products like molasses and cocoa powder, tortillas and sour cream. In Danang it was a bit different. There was also a Metro, although a bit smaller. Other markets included a Korean grocery store chain, local Vietnamese grocery stores, and little markets that carried a few western products (like cheese!) And, once again,  local markets! Every town seems to have a least one local market where you can get freshly grown produce, fish, and meat. I shopped for fresh fish and produce in these markets since meat is not refrigerated.

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Street food is amazing in Vietnam just make sure to remember sanitation standards might not be what you are used to. Choose nice clean carts with lots of turnover and you’ll be fine.  

Banh mi, bun cha ca, pho, banh xeo, rau muong, ca tim, ca phe sua da, (I could go on and on!) There are some amazingly delicious little spots with fantastic food. Be sure to venture out of your comfort zone. Frogs legs are a delicacy in Vietnam and ech chien bo (think chicken wings made with frog legs) is a classic to go along with a late night beer!

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Vietnam has beautiful beaches and the one most westerners are familiar with is China Beach or My Khe beach. This is the beach made famous by the TV show because it is where the American marines landed during the Vietnam War. This gorgeous beach stretches for many miles. Some of it has been overtaken by private resorts but there are still miles of beach for the public to enjoy along with a beautiful promenade bordering a large portion of the beach.

The Vietnamese enjoy the beaches early in the morning or later in the day at sunset. You will find the beach strangely quite during the hottest part of the day. Quite a switch for sun worshipping westerners! If you head to the beach midday you will be practically alone. Please be sure to wear plenty of sunscreen. During the summer months it’s hot. Not southern USA kind of hot.  Not desert kind of hot. Truly tropical, humid kind of hot. The kind of hot that takes your breath away when you step outside and drenches you to the bone. Vietnam is located between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator. I didn’t take this seriously enough and got a blistering burn right at my hairline. Having said that, the water is warm and crystal clear. Vietnam has more than 2000 miles of coastline so you're never far from a gorgeous beach. Be sure to enjoy. And get an ice cold coconut from the coconut lady on the beach! She'll be carrying a cooler.

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Everyone gardens! Vietnam has some of the most beautifully landscaped traffic islands I have ever seen. Seriously. Just watch out for cows. They tend to appear unexpectedly in the middle of the islands. Seriously. (Obviously they appreciate the gardening too.)

From manicured shrubs, to palms, to beautiful tropical flowers the Vietnamese have the gardening down! Even those people who have a small backyard are using it as a vegetable/flower garden. Go for a walk in any neighborhood, and I highly recommend that you do, and you will see gardening everywhere there is a bit of soil.

I hope these randoms thoughts about my life in Vietnam will encourage you to visit Vietnam if you're able. It is an experience like no other and I think you will love this country as much as I do.