Is worth moving to live vietnam

Yep

Where would you suggest living

Take your pick. There are cities, towns, villages, hamlets, flatlands, forests, jungle, mountains, desert, coastal areas, rivers. What Do YOU want?

Probably somewhere away from city close to the ocean fresh foods cold beers and socialising

If you also want to work your options might be Da Nang/hoi an or nha trang..  not sure about vung tau..

No hassles being a single straight white middle aged semi retiree in vietnam ??

Why should it be hassles "being a single straight white middle aged semi retiree" in Vietnam?  It's not a married-couple only country, not a homosexual country, not a no-white-allowed country, and not a country that is ran by young people.  It also doesn't discriminate against retirees, semi or full fledged.  In fact, I don't know many places in the world where you would encounter hassles being what you described yourself.

Is it worth to move to Vietnam?  No one knows whether it's worth it to you but yourself, however, I do think you ought to read, learn, and do a bit of research about the country before posing the question again.

I don't know that's why I'm asking

stretch56 wrote:

No hassles being a single straight white middle aged semi retiree in vietnam ??

You might be quite popular with the girls.

Been out of contact due to buying a condo near my Wife's hospital and moving from the rented house and some computer issues.

I'm retired Military, have other pensions, wife and I have US SSA payments and we have a few investments. So money is not an issue for us.

Aside from my wife's condition, reimbursed by the US Army, USD $3000.00/month is plenty for living quite comfortably even stuck here in Saigon for my wife's medical issues. Living modestly and away from foreigners, USD $1000.00 should be plenty even in Saigon.

We also own a home in Liên Hương - Bình Thuận. But, as my wife's conditioned worsened our local Doctors told us to get her to Saigon for treatment about 3 years ago. We love  Liên Hương - Bình Thuận. But, basic speaking Vietnamese is a must to live there. Phan Thiết is also nice and speaking Vietnamese is not as needed.

As to Vietnamese girls, I married my "old war buddy," a young Vietnamese woman who worked as a nurse for our Medical officer here in Vietnam back in 1971 and have been pretty well out of the market since then.

While Viet Nam is far from being a hassle-free or ideal country, if you want to enjoy life in the tropics in Southeast Asia, it's a pretty good choice in terms of:

1) stable government (one-party system with no 'political strongman')

2) fairly robust economy (some development and prosperity)

3) very low cost of living (if you make it so)

4) relative safe environment free from earthquakes, volcanoes, terrorism, internal conflicts, etc

5) relaxed visa regulations


In short, people choose VN over Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Brunei for these reasons. Basically, it's easy and flexible, and there is a lot of slack.

You have to get used to a number of challenges and annoyances first though. It's not paradise but if you have realistic expectations and don't live in Ha Noi or Ho Chi Minh City, you can be fairly comfortable.

It's also a great place if you want to get married and have two kids  and/or lose weight  .

Sounds ideal except having kids could adopt a few maybe haha

I don't know about part-time work besides teaching English, or internet work for a Western client. Both are good options. Local wages are $1/hour range here, right?

Moving overseas is a big step, don't burn your bridges, it isn't for everyone, Vietnam isn't for everyone but you might like Thailand or Philippines or ... better. Visit first and travel around!

Here is a similar thread. . There are more discussions, search "move" or "moving" or "teaching" or "working" ...

I agree with Johnross except for

johnross23 wrote:

5) relaxed visa regulations

How many threads are there on this very forum about visas?  There are constant complaints and questions on the never ending visa runs to Cambodia, the hassles at immigration from officials seeking bribes and the whole industry of travel agents whose primary purpose is not to sell tickets but visas, some of which even turn out to be complete forgeries.

Many who wrote here did so from the perspective of having Vietnamese spouses or relatives which affords them relatively long term legal residence.  For unemployed single males it could be another story.  Working in ESL part time might not even afford you a Work Permit and Temporary Residence card as employers would be unwilling to make the expenditures for a part-timer.  Even if you teach full time, i.e. about 25 face to face hours, what happens when you want to really retire and you lose the work permit?  As suggested by Gobot, you might want to check out Thailand and the Philippines.  Both have so-called retirement visas although I read that they both require some type of financial bond or locked bank account.  The Philippines has the added advantage that a very high portion of the population speaks English, so maybe no teaching work but an easier time getting around.

I have unmarried foreign friends who have live in Nha Trang for  ten years and longer on business visas. Yes, they do have to do visa runs from time to time, but look on this as a chance to see somewhere new and meet new faces.

Try Danang or NHa TRang as both these places have better infrastructure & airports closeby.

Thanks for the feedback

Thanks for the feedback hope all good with your wife

Thanks for the feedback

Hi Kerry yes I've had a few friends tell me DaNang a great spot cheers

Hi I want to explore new places sites etc sample local foods and cultures cheers

Viet is almost the same size as new Zealand. So no matter where you choose to live... Getting anywhere in the country is easy and fun. Came for a three month holiday myself and still here 18 months later with plans to stay long term.  Yes its a great place to live.. Im am ozzie and everyone reckons that's the best place to live #brainwashed!! My advice is come for a visit with the possibility of not leaving 😂 Start at one end of the country and work your way around till you find somewhere you want to call home. Wifi speeds here are very fast,  if you have some computer skills or willing to learn then you  could make 50 fold more than English teaching and enjoy being your own boss. If not... English teaching it is!!! All the best 😊👍

Be carefull, on the surface Vietnam is easy to live in if you have a Vietnamese partner who helps you get around .. language is a real issue. But Vietnamese girl friends are not shy on the financial front ....!! The culture is very different from Western culture and at times takes a huge amount of effort and patience to manage the divide ( as I am sure it does from their side). The average person is very sweet, kind and respectful .. but you cannot live off these elements alone. They lack emotional and intellectual  depth - parties and drinking is high on the social/ relaxation agenda. They work hard but generally completely  unproductive. Cities are very noisy and chaotic.....and in the traffic there are no manners. Putting all this and more together if you come forba short while and tale all the best Vietnam had to offer likely you will enjoy .. depends how deep you want to go and what you want from this experience !!!

Hi what sort of computer skills are you talking about cheers

That lack of traffic etiquette is one of my favourite things about this place.

Hi what sort of computer skills are needed

Where do I start? Social media.  SEO. Marketing. Graphic design.  Video /youtube. If you have the time and will to learn essentially a new language (that is online income) then Vietnam is one place to sit down and do it!! Maybe check out warrior forum for some ideas 👍

Where are you coming from ?

Brisbane here at the moment have many options just weighing a few up cheers

Like any other country, knowing the local language and customs are very important to living in Vietnam or anywhere else unless you wish to live in an expat enclave. If you wish to live in an expat enclave, why bother to leave your native country?

If you are willing to put in the effort to gain a basic understanding of Vietnam and the Vietnamese culture and language, you will find Vietnam a very rewarding country to either live in or visit.

Lose weight????

Pretzeldog wrote:

Lose weight????

Actually this is not an inaccurate prognosis.  As long as you don't spend your time seeking out western foods like Pizza Hut and McDonald's and knocking down Tiger beer you may lose weight.  Comparing notes with an Australian friend, we both noted that we had lost about 10-15 pounds in our first six months.  In my case, I was married.  He was single (at that time) but was eating Vietnamese food exclusively.

I think there are two factors.  One is more vegetables and less meat.  Most Vietnamese have meat with every meal, except on certain Buddhist holidays, but the portion size is smaller.  The other reason may be a difference in the stomach "bugs."  I don't mean illness but maybe a difference in certain beneficial bacteria. 

I gained 10 lbs on return to Hawaii because my wife said that the pork was so cheap.  Imagine if we lived in Iowa.  As I have said before, her brain can instantly convert $/lb to VND/kg while I need a calculator.

No not just to lose weight but live and enjoy what is on offfer food culture and country wise

stretch56 wrote:

No not just to lose weight but live and enjoy what is on offfer food culture and country wise

I didn't say it was a goal.  I just said it might happen.

My 40 size pants are now too big and size 36 works pretty well.

Anything possible I'm thinking not that I need to lose much weight

THIGV wrote:

Pretzeldog wrote:

Lose weight????

Actually this is not an inaccurate prognosis.  As long as you don't spend your time seeking out western foods like Pizza Hut and McDonald's and knocking down Tiger beer you may lose weight.  Comparing notes with an Australian friend, we both noted that we had lost about 10-15 pounds in our first six months.  In my case, I was married.  He was single (at that time) but was eating Vietnamese food exclusively.

I think there are two factors.  One is more vegetables and less meat.  Most Vietnamese have meat with every meal, except on certain Buddhist holidays, but the portion size is smaller.  The other reason may be a difference in the stomach "bugs."  I don't mean illness but maybe a difference in certain beneficial bacteria. 

I gained 10 lbs on return to Hawaii because my wife said that the pork was so cheap.  Imagine if we lived in Iowa.  As I have said before, her brain can instantly convert $/lb to VND/kg while I need a calculator.

I too lost weight after I came to live in Vietnam and I think that THIGV is right. The portions are smaller - and there is less fat attached. The Vietnamese do like a bit of fat on their pork but not overmuch and I never see any fat on the local beef here. We buy beef from MM supermarket (used to be Metro) either Australian or US and always cut the fat off before cooking it. In UK I would just shove it on the barbie, fat and all.

To compensate for the smaller meat portions I eat a lot more veg and fruit than I used to and most of it is fresh picked that morning from local farms or markets. In the UK the fruit and veg might have been days in transit from Holland, France or Germany and then a couple of days on the shelf, so that sugars in the fruit and veg start turning into starch.

I don't drink anything like as much beer as I did in the UK, mainly because I think that the local canned and bottled brews are mundane - and I'm buggered if I'm going to pay the price of a pint in the beer craft places, so I have a bottle of red wine a week and a couple of beers (Saigon red) after shopping.

One big thing is that I don't eat rice and apart from banh mi, which I sometimes have for Sunday breakfast, I have cut down massively on carbohydrates. Chips (fries) are something I eat once a week and I usually buy a loaf of bread from An Phu supermarket once every couple weeks.

In fact my diet has changed radically from what it was when I lived in Europe and i have lost 20 kg since coming here.

Well done Matt

@THIGV, Matt, et alii --  i must be the only person who gained weight anytime I stayed in VN for longer than a month.  I've never gained more than 7 or 8 lbs, but on my body frame, 4kg of unwanted baggage is still a lot to carry.

For almost 20 years now, our diet has always been healthy no matter where we lived -- plenty of fruits and a lot of vegetables, minimal amount of meat with fat removed, and very little salt.  In addition, no sugar for me because I simply do not care for sweets, and no more alcoholic drink for me because my two favourite single malts are not available in VN.  We also walk a lot and work out almost daily, but while spouse maintains his weight, I just get thicker, Vietnamese cuisine notwithstanding.