I decided to solo motorbike Vietnam!
May 2022. I quit my job, have another one lined up in three months, and besides seeing family, I had nothing planned. I have never had a break this long in my life, and I wasn’t sure if I would ever get one this long again.
I decided to do something fun with this big wad of time by going somewhere interesting. But where exactly?
I actually did have a plan: I wanted to rent a motorbike and travel the entirety of Japan. But, there was one problem: the country was essentially closed to tourists because of COVID. So where else could I go?
Enter Vietnam. It’s a country with a rich motorbiking culture, and with delicious food too, I heard. It was completely open to tourists too, with all COVID entry restrictions lifted! This alone was enough to convince me, but the loads of blogs I read online raving about the beautiful riding, nature and culture pretty much confirmed that I needed to go there.
My plan was settled: one way or another, with a motorbike, go from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. I would rent one there, and I would take it through some roads all the way until I dropped it off in Ho Chi Minh City.
I started making a plan, but I didn’t get very far, since I didn’t have a lot of time. I only had a rough idea of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do for the first half of Vietnam, which I adopted from Tigit Motorbikes. That was about the entirety of my planning. I would see the rest when I got there.
With my one way ticket in hand, a hotel reservation for the first night, and my only deadline being the first day of my new job in early August, I boarded the plane to Vietnam on June 19th. I didn’t know what to expect, but this would turn out to be one of the most interesting and amazing experiences in my life so far. Join me on the following blog posts as I dive into my journey, where I will tell you all about the ups and downs of my travels!
Update: October 21st, 2024
Here is the table of contents for all parts: