On an April afternoon, Vu and his wife and three children walked across Devil's Bridge, a natural sandstone arch that looks like a hammock stretched between cliffs in Arizona (USA).
To get there, they walked more than 3 km. Vu carried her youngest child, 1 year old, while Zoey (9 years old) and Evee (6 years old) happily led the way. After 2 hours, Devil's Bridge appeared before them, below was an abyss, in the distance were red mountains in the sunset. Although their hearts were pounding with fear, the couple held their children's hands and walked across the bridge and took souvenir photos.
“This is why we chose this life,” said Vu, 34. “Husband, wife, and children can be together to explore the world , without the pressure of bills, deadlines, or alarm clocks.”
Previously, Vu defined life as constantly climbing new levels. He worked in the automotive industry, earning between 20,000 and 30,000 USD per month. In 2019, he and his wife bought a 300 m2 house and 3 cars.
But in return, he spends 2 hours jostling on the road every day, and comes home late at night to eat dinner while his wife and children are already fast asleep. Even on his wedding day or the two times his wife gave birth, he only got one day off.
“I realized I was trying to make the company successful without making my family successful,” Vu said.
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Vu began to think more about the life his wife had dreamed of for so long. Ngoc often said she wanted to live in a small house with a vegetable garden, surrounded by husband, wife, and children.
In May 2022, Vu decided to quit his job, Ngoc closed the nail salon. They sold their house and belongings, packed their lives into 3 suitcases. The couple just thought "now that there is an opportunity, let's go, when we run out of money, we will stop".
Ignoring objections and doubts, they began a nomadic life, choosing Vietnam as their first destination. Vu was born in Kien Giang and moved to the US at the age of 5; Ngoc left Dong Nai at the age of 9. They wanted to take this opportunity to let the whole family learn more about their roots.
From the sunny West to visit relatives, the whole family traveled back and forth between North and South, and then stopped for the longest time in Da Lat. They walked almost every corner of Vietnam. The two girls Zoey and Evee easily made friends and learned Vietnamese.
After 6 months, they returned to the US, but not long after, they returned again. Ngoc's nostalgia for Tet and Vietnamese food when she was pregnant for the third time brought them back.
"After these trips, we realized that living our dream is not as expensive as we thought," Ngoc shared.
Back in the US, they bought a 20-foot RV, then moved to a 33-foot RV. Late last year, they upgraded to a 40-foot RV worth $100,000, making it more comfortable for their family of five and their dog.
America has an ecosystem built for mobile travelers. For $8,000, the Vus buy lifetime memberships to a network of more than 200 campsites across the U.S. and Canada. For an additional $700 a year, they can stay for up to three weeks at each site. These sites have security guards, swimming pools, soccer fields, charging stations, garbage disposal stations, and even small villages where nomads can meet.
They also signed up for another package. allows RVs to be parked at farms, vineyards, and homes for just $100 a year. Many times, the whole family stopped at ripe grape fields, learned about fermentation, and sipped wine with the vineyard owners.
According to the North American Camping Report, by 2020, there were 13 million RV-owning households, of which 22% were young adults between the ages of 18 and 34. These numbers continued to increase after the pandemic.
Living on the road, Ngoc works as a remote travel agent. Vu is more versatile, both investing financially and doing manual labor. Zoey and Evee do not go to school but study online, submitting their homework online. At the age of having "100,000 whys", the two children always have their father by their side to answer everything.
In mid-2024, the third child was born. This time, Vu was able to take care of his wife and child full-time. When the child turned 1 month old, the family continued their journey. The baby grew up every day on the journey from the hot South to the cold North.
On their never-ending journey, they met and made friends with many families without household registration. One family had 5 sons, the husband worked in IT, only needed to type on the keyboard 3 hours a day to earn 100,000 USD a year, enough to live the life of their dreams. Another family had a husband who was an oil engineer, flying to work every 2 weeks, and coming home every 2 weeks. The income in this profession is high, but what they chose was not a villa or a luxury car, but a carefree childhood for their 3 children.
Four months ago, this Vietnamese family, along with two acquaintances on the road, set up camp on the deserted beach without electricity or clean water. For two days and two nights, 10 children played in the sand, while adults chatted around the fire.
"One of the joys of nomadic life is constantly meeting, making friends and listening to interesting stories from people around me," said the mother of three.
The journey was not without its troubles. One of the biggest fears was car breakdown, which Vu fortunately learned to fix himself. But once, on the way from Canada to Alaska, their car ran out of gas in the middle of a 200 km stretch of road with no gas stations, leaving them stranded in the woods for 3 hours before a passerby helped.
"You guys have fallen in the forest and suffered scratches while climbing mountains, but all the wounds have healed. What remains is courage and lessons that no book can teach," Vu said.
Last weekend, the family arrived in California, the 32nd state on the journey. This was the first time exploring the state with the largest Vietnamese population in the US, so the whole family said they were extremely excited.
"Our plan is to visit all 50 states, then continue to explore other places in the world," said the Vietnamese couple.
When asked about her dream, little Zoey said: "When I grow up, I will buy a mobile home and run after my parents." Little Evee often asked: "Shall we sleep near the mountains or the sea tonight, Dad?". As the car was rolling, the couple laughed, realizing that they really had homes everywhere.
TB (according to VnExpress)Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/gia-dinh-goc-viet-ban-het-nha-cua-de-song-doi-du-muc-411445.html
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