Hi friends. Let me introduce you to Christine. I met her right here in Santa Monica eighteen years ago, and it turns out we share the exact same birthday, Birthday Twins (Sept 11!). She’s a Vietnamese American mom, and she just spent a whole month traveling Vietnam with her 10 year old. We got to meet up in Da Nang while she was over there.
Now we’re crossing paths again back in LA, sitting on the couch talking about all the differences between life here and life in Vietnam. So we turned the camera on to share them with you too.
We get into money and cash culture, the blunt questions taxi drivers ask you (yes, including your age), visas, food and health, tipping, bargaining, the everyday kindness that’s everywhere, the real estate boom, and what it’s really like to visit, retire, or move abroad. Plus the little story of how her son’s Apple Watch made it all the way from a Da Nang airport back to LA.
Heads up. This one was originally streamed live, and we chatted away for a good ten minutes before we realized the sound wasn’t on. Oops. So I trimmed out the glitch and reposted it here with cleaned up captions and chapters to make it easy to follow. Thank you for being here.
Please feel free to ask questions below or share additional thoughts on items where we may not have a full perspective. What surprised you the most about what we share? Let me know in the comments!
CHAPTERS
0:00 Meet Susan & Christine
2:02 Money: cash, ATMs & cards in Vietnam
4:07 First impressions & blunt conversations
6:52 Da Nang or LA? Where would you live?
10:17 Comparing cities: Saigon, Da Nang, Hanoi, Hoi An
13:05 Foreign ownership & Da Nang’s building boom
15:46 Visas: tourist, DTV & retirement
18:30 Politics & everyday life vs the US
21:16 Everyday freedom, coffee carts & the language barrier
25:18 Kindness & community: the Apple Watch story
30:43 Low judgment & dressing respectfully
35:29 Sun, skin & beauty culture
38:52 Eating fresh: food & health in Vietnam
48:29 Starting a business as a foreigner
53:18 Development & the property boom
1:01:30 Tipping culture: Vietnam vs the US
1:09:39 Bargaining & giving back
1:13:42 Poverty, community & wrap-up
A FEW THINGS WE MENTION
– Grab (rideshare), 90-day tourist visas, and the DTV / digital nomad visa
– Foreign-owned condo rules (~30% of units per building, ~50-year leases)
– Da Nang’s development boom, Hai Van Pass, Sun World & Ha Long Bay
– Immigration/business-lawyer and residency-workshop contacts — comment below and we’ll point you to resources.
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💛 A LITTLE NOTE FROM ME
If these videos have saved you a headache, given you the confidence to make the leap, or just made your day a little brighter, I’d love a quick memo from you — and if you’re ever inclined, a coffee is always appreciated. Links are below. ☕💛
☕ Buy me a coffee (Cappuccino or Flat White are my favorites!):
👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/whatsusandoes
🌷 Come hang out with me — offerings, freebies & coaching:
👉 https://stan.store/whatsusandoes
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REMOTE JOBS
If you’re interested in remote work for living and traveling abroad, check out my friend Markos, who runs a Skool community focused on exactly that. He runs the Nomad Fest and is well connected with all types of digital nomads — trial it free for a week here:
📎 https://www.skool.com/from-9-5-to-digital-nomad/about
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🌍 MY TRUSTED TRAVEL PARTNERS
The tools I actually use and recommend:
🛡️ Travel Insurance — SafetyWing
👉 https://safetywing.com/?referenceID=26454986&utm_source=26454986&utm_medium=Ambassador
📱 eSIM — Saily (code SUSANDOES for 15% off)
👉 https://saily.com/susandoes
🔒 VPN — NordVPN (code SUSANDOES for a discount)
👉 https://nordvpn.com/susandoes
💰 Currency & Transfers — Wise
👉 https://wise.com/invite/dic/susananital
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💬 CONNECT WITH ME
📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whatsusandoes/
📧 Email: WhatSusanDoes@yahoo.com
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Some links are affiliate links. Small commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend things I trust. 💛 Safe and Happy Travels! Susan
If you’re thinking about visiting, retiring, or moving to Vietnam, drop your questions in the comments. In a couple of weeks I’ll be doing more lives from Da Nang — subscribe so you don’t miss them!
#Vietnam #DaNang #ExpatLife #MovingToVietnam #DigitalNomad
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