Our two years of being based in Saigon is rapidly drawing to an end. We had goals of becoming conversant in Vietnamese, spending more time with Becky’s relatives, and traveling this region. Mission accomplished! Our Vietnamese is still at a beginner’s level but we are pleased at our progress thus far, and plan to return in the future for more in-depth lessons. Living, eating and sleeping in a Vietnamese household off-and-on for the past 24 months has been an interesting eye-opener to say the least…we are forever grateful to Becky’s aunt for putting up with us and taking care of us for these past few years. And yes, we did take advantage of travel while we made Saigon our home base in the fall of 2016, to include trips to Taiwan, Bali, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, American Samoa, New Zealand, Korea, Philippines, and India. And we’re not done yet…we intend to visit Sri Lanka and the Maldives before relocating to South America in a few weeks.
Upcoming travel plans will include a brief stay in Ecuador for intensive Spanish lessons and a Galapagos SCUBA liveaboard, followed by trips to the Falklands and Peru. Then we’ll be making our way to Central America, with the goal to ring in New Years in Panama with our good friends Becky and Francisco. Our current plan Is to make our way overland from Panama to Mexico in the span of around 3 months, arriving to the US to enjoy Spring and Summer. No set agenda in the States as of yet, but we want to buy a camper van so we can do a road trip to hit a few national parks with friends and family. And then, drum roll please, we’ll be heading back down to South America for an epic 31 week Trans South America trip where we hope to be able to visit every country in South America. Fingers crossed Venezuela’s political situation will have improved by then, and they start to reissue tourist visas to Americans…if not, we’ll have to adapt and overcome.
Here is a map of our overland trip in South America. We can’t wait to do our 3rd trip with Oasis Overland!
