Good morning Vietnam!

I am safe and sound in Ho Chi Minh city! Just a quick note to let everyone know that I arrived in one piece. I have already made spring rolls, eaten delicious pho, taught English (both informally in a park and more formally helping out at a class for teens), narrowly avoided being hit by cars and motorcycles on these crazy streets, visited the War Remnants Museum and the Reunification Palace (where the first communist tanks crashed into in 1975 when Saigon surrendered to the North), and enjoyed spending time with Danit.
So far, so good!

The blog is back!

This post can only mean one thing…I am headed overseas again! If you are reading this, you likely already know that since my last post in 2011, I came home from South America, got my masters in social work, packed up my life in Boston and moved it to my parents basement in NY, and bought a one-way ticket to Vietnam!! I leave for the airport tomorrow. Between my job and lease coming to an end at the same time, I thought it was the perfect chance to get in another big trip, while I still can. This time there is no job or project or real reason to go. I have just always wanted to backpack around Southeast Asia, so I decided to go for it. So after getting a series of japanese encephalitis shots, typhoid pills, a Vietnam visa, another Lonely Planet guidebook, and more pages sewn into my passport, I'm ready!

I have my lovely friend Danit in Ho Chi Minh City, hence the decision to start in Vietnam. She will be the smiling face at the end of my 24ish hours of travel, and I will use her as my base while I start to explore Vietnam, celebrate Thanksgiving/Hannukah, and make the rest of my travel plans. I hope to get to Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand on this trip, with possible stops in Indonesia, Malaysia, and/or other countries TBD along the way. I am thinking I’ll be gone for about 5 months, but it could be 3, could be 7…I’m not sure yet!

I was hired to be a teaching assistant in Costa Rica & Nicaragua again with Northeastern University for 5 weeks this summer, so I for sure have to be back home by late June 2014. Likely I will be out of money way before that time, but that’s the very latest I could be in Asia. I’ll be helping to prepare for that project via skype/email/carrier pigeon while I am away, so I guess you can call this a “working vacation?” OK not really.

I feel so blessed and lucky to be able to take this time and go on this trip. It has been hard to say goodbye to so many people and I know that I will miss out on a lot here at home, but I know that this was the right choice for me. And I always feel incredibly grateful when I realize just how much I have to say goodbye to, and how many loving, wonderful, caring, special people I have in my life. I fully expect to move back to Boston after this trip and start my real social-working life there. I’m just not ready yet. I have the rest of my life to work, right?

I am SO excited for this trip, and just a little nervous. For all of the travel I have done, I have never been to this part of the world, and I am not used to going to countries where I do not speak the language and know the culture. I will learn key phrases and smile/point/gesture/laugh/get lost a lot, which I always love, but it can certainly get nerve-wracking at times. I’ve also never planned such a long trip on my own. I always meet a ton of people, so I’m sure that this time will be no different. Still, if anyone wants to come join me for any amount of time, please let me know J And if I get lonely or tired or frustrated or whatever, I may do some WWOOFing, which is an international organic farming program. So I can find a family that needs help working outside, and I work for them in exchange for lodging and food. I hope to try this out at least once, it seems like a fun opportunity! I may also look into some social service agencies/projects and various non-profits/NGOs and spend some time volunteering somewhere.

E-mail will be the best way to get in touch with me; klein.rachelg@gmail.com. When I have wifi I can use imessage, skype, facetime, and various apps to communicate. Please send me updates and keep in touch, I will miss everyone tremendously and any news from home is always appreciated.

FYI, I will be 11 or 12 hours ahead of the east coast while i'm gone, so keep that in mind when trying to get in touch. 

Sending loads of love to everyone!! I’ll update when I can J