Vietnamese people are eager to return home for Tet.

Preparing for her Tet holiday in her hometown, Ms. Kim Ngan, living in Falls Church, Virginia, USA, bought gifts for relatives and friends such as green oil, candy, and chocolate about 2-3 weeks before returning to Vietnam.

Ms. Ngan said that her work in the US is quite busy, usually only having one day off a week, so she has to take advantage of the time to choose gifts after work. According to Ms. Ngan, the price of goods in the US before returning to Vietnam was stable, so she was not too worried.

Eager to return home after many years away from home, Ms. Ngan planned to buy plane tickets in May last year to save money because if she bought them close to Tet, the price would be very high.

"I decided to buy a round-trip ticket from the US to Vietnam on a Korean airline for $1,800 instead of buying a ticket in December 2022 for nearly $3,000," Ms. Ngan said, not forgetting to share that she was very happy to return to Vietnam to celebrate Tet with her family and relatives after two years of the turbulent COVID-19 pandemic.

Người Việt háo hức về quê ăn Tết - Ảnh 1.

Kim Ngan's family (right cover, sitting row) is ready to welcome the Year of the Cat 2023 together.

Like Ms. Ngan, Ms. Thu Tran, product development strategy manager of an international cosmetics company in Warsaw, Poland, booked her flight tickets last summer. She was so excited that she asked for leave… 6 months in advance.

According to Ms. Thu, round-trip tickets are very high at the end of the year but usually cheaper after February, so many people will wait until after Tet to return home. But it has been 8 years since she has been home for Tet, so she is determined to return early.

Ms. Thu even saved her vacation days last year and arranged to work remotely to have more time with family and friends in Vietnam. This time, Ms. Thu mainly spent time traveling with her parents, her and her two grandchildren, and took wedding photos because wedding services in Vietnam are quite good.

After 5 years away from home, Mr. Lai Minh Huy, currently living and working in Toronto, Canada, prepared his luggage to return home about 8 months ago, from booking plane tickets to arranging work for the most convenience. He also thoughtfully bought gifts early for his family and friends, such as candy, cosmetics, vitamins, etc.

Người Việt háo hức về quê ăn Tết - Ảnh 2.

Ms. Thu Tran (right cover) and her husband traveled with their family in Vietnam before Tet (Photo provided by the character)

Mr. Huy said that the plane ticket was very expensive - about 2,500 CAD (more than 43 million VND) during peak season - but because he wanted to go home to celebrate Tet with his family, he did not consider it.

Mr. Huy revealed that this time he returned to Vietnam to take wedding photos and get married after 3 years of delay due to the pandemic. Longing to be with his family, for Mr. Huy, just being able to gather with his relatives is enough!

Equally excited, Mr. Danny Le, a business analyst at Cuscal Company, said that on this occasion he brought back most of Australia's typical products (he lives in Sydney) as gifts, including cherries, beef and macadamia nuts.

To ensure a smooth trip back home after 3 years away, Danny Le carefully placed orders 2-3 weeks in advance to ensure he had enough fruit and to keep the nuts and fruits fresh. The price of airfare at the end of the year is quite high, so Danny Le arranged to buy tickets 5 months in advance.

Danny Le's plan for this Tet holiday is to visit family and meet friends, and also take the opportunity to travel to provinces and cities to enjoy Vietnamese specialties.

Source