View towards downtown Minneapolis from my rooftop
Last December I decided to travel around the world.
I decided to keep living in Minneapolis for 2014 and then become a “digital nomad” throughout 2015 (and perhaps beyond). Having lived in Minneapolis for the past 5+ years, it felt like time for a change of scenery. At first I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go. And quite frankly I wasn’t too concerned about it. I just knew that I wanted to see some different parts of the globe. Fortunately, since my schedule and location are both extremely flexible due to the nature of my work (Internet-based), I didn’t have to make any huge life sacrifices to make this possible.
The question in my mind was always where to go and when – not if. Over the course of 2014, I considered various destinations. Guatemala, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Eastern Europe, and several countries in Southeast Asia made my list of possible countries to visit. In the end, however, I picked Southeast Asia as my home for 2015. I think I was drawn to the unique and somewhat “exotic” cultures of the region as well as other factors such as the low cost of living, food (I hear it’s really good!), warm weather, and community of other digital nomads.
After some basic research, I decided on Hanoi, Vietnam as my first stop. So I bought a one-way ticket from MSP to HAN that leaves on December 31. As of now, my plan is to stay there for a couple of months and then probably head to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in the south of Vietnam for up to one month. But I don’t have a concrete plan or route. In fact, I expect to change my mind (probably several times) about where to go. Any suggestions are welcome!