Vietnam’s Art Deco Beach on $300 a Month

Vietnam’s Art Deco Beach on $300 a Month

Despite having lived in Vietnam for well over a decade, it took years before I even heard of Quy Nhon, a city of more than 450,000 sun-kissed souls on the south-central coast. A friend told me it was a beautiful place, just right for retirees, but there were only a few foreigners living there. How could this city have escaped my notice? My curiosity was piqued...

A Livable City with Small-Town Charm for $1,500 per Month

A Livable City with Small-Town Charm for $1,500 per Month

I’ve always found Da Nang enormously appealing. For one thing, I’ve never been to another city with a dragon bridge. The nearly half-mile-long dragon-shaped bridge spouts steam and fire every weekend night for the amusement of spectators young and old. It’s astounding in no small part because the Dragon Bridge is a major thoroughfare that spans the...

Hẹn Gặp Lại… Goodbye Vietnam, I’ll See You Again

Hẹn Gặp Lại… Goodbye Vietnam, I’ll See You Again

I’ve never felt so comfortable living anywhere as I did in Vietnam. The people are welcoming and genuinely friendly, the mountains and beaches are breathtakingly beautiful, and the cities are alive and vibrant. It was my home for more than ten years—first in Nha Trang on the south-central coast, and then in Hanoi and Da Nang.

Bernal: Take a Day Trip to One of Mexico’s 13 Wonders

Bernal: Take a Day Trip to One of Mexico’s 13 Wonders

I could see Bernal long before I entered this small town in the middle of Mexico’s central highlands. The Peña de Bernal—a towering rock monolith similar to Devils Tower in Wyoming—stands 1,148 feet above its base in the high desert, dominating the landscape for miles around. This volcanic dome is said to be the third-highest of its type in the world...

“I Was Tired of Asia’s Heat, but Then I Found Dalat.”

“I Was Tired of Asia’s Heat, but Then I Found Dalat.”

A gentle breeze herds puffy clouds across a clear blue sky. Stretching out in the distance are miles of mountains and pine forests. Banana and papaya trees strain to stay upright, weighed down by their heavy fruits, while the hills are dotted with greenhouses full of brilliant flowers, temperate-zone produce, and ripening strawberries.

Celebrating the Lunar New Year in Vietnam

Celebrating the Lunar New Year in Vietnam

The Tet holiday, Tết Nguyên Đán (“Feast of the First Morning of the First Day”) feels like a combination of New Year’s Eve, with aspects of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, all rolled up into one fabulous, frenetic weeks-long celebration. In addition to ushering in the Lunar New Year, it’s also considered every Vietnamese person’s birthday...