I swear it seems like I’ve gone down every rabbit hole. I’m trying to find the dealbreaker. I’m trying to find the thing that makes this whole thing NOT work. But I haven’t. Not yet. The math just keeps mathing.
I thought… there’s got to be really bad crime right? I mean, that’s how they make it sound. Like… it’s a communist state. That definitely means crime. Right?!? But then I researched. It doesn’t. Apparently, Vietnam has lower homicide rates than the US, and has less violent crime than many Western cities. The safety advice? Exercise normal safety precautions, keep your belongings secure in crowded areas, be cautious with personal items like bags and phones. That’s it. Safer than home.
But what about work? I work for myself, and my work can be done from anywhere in the world. All I need is a laptop and a stable internet connection. Check and check. Ken is working on building a piece of tech that we think is going to be big. And when he’s ready, he’ll work for himself too.
Can we really afford to do this? Once we sell the house, pay off any debts, and stop hemorrhaging money paying for a house in Washington state… we’ll be set.
But what about private school for Skipper? Already factored in. And even with that, our total monthly expenses will still be less than our current mortgage. We won’t be living like royalty, but we’ll have a similar day-to-day lifestyle as we do here, maybe a little better. And this will allow us the ability to give Skipper and Harry some life experiences we could only have dreamed of while living in the states.
Culinary school for Harry? WAY more affordable over there. There are multiple options for schools, and just one of them is a 3-year program that ends with dual diplomas (Vietnamese and German). That one cost less for the entire 3-year program than a single semester at a community college here at home.
The closest I’ve come to a dealbreaker is that vaping is banned. I started vaping about 4 years ago to quit smoking cigarettes. Unfortunately, all vape-products are banned in Vietnam. Their recommendation is actually… to quit vaping by starting smoking lol. I don’t think I’ll do that. But it might just be time to put the vape down too.
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