Leaving home, American tourists spend 40 million VND/month to live comfortably in Vietnam

(Dan Tri) - Coming to Vietnam for tourism 6 years ago and only planning to stay for a short time, unexpectedly the American guy's life here attracted him so much that he decided to stay. He currently has no plans to return home.

The fateful trip to Vietnam

Travis Carrasquillo never thought he would leave his hometown to go to a far away country like Vietnam and live.

Before coming here, Travis worked in Hawaii as a behavioral analyst, supporting autistic children in military families. It was an extremely stressful job, and he knew he couldn’t keep it up.

Because he loves to travel , he has visited many provinces and cities in Vietnam (Photo: Travis Carrasquillo).

Due to his love for traveling, after visiting the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam three years in a row, he realized he truly loved Asia.

In early 2019, he received a message from a retired military doctor living in Hanoi . He said that the couple had an autistic son and needed someone to teach and take care of him.

For Travis, the timing was perfect. He thought it was his cue to leave his home country of America.

"Hawaii never really made me feel like I belonged. The cost of living here is very high. Even though I love the scenery here, I knew I couldn't stay here long term," he confided.

6 months later, he moved to Hanoi and studied Vietnamese for more than 1.5 years to achieve a good communication level. Having a girlfriend who is a Vietnamese teacher helped him improve his listening and speaking skills every day. Along with that, he worked with a family with an autistic son for 4 years. He taught the boy after school, helping him develop communication skills and social integration.

When his work ended, he decided to stay in Vietnam and moved to Da Nang , a peaceful coastal city in the Central region. To him, Hanoi is a wonderful place, rich in history and culture, but quite polluted.

Two years ago, when he moved to Da Nang, the place was still quite new. Because he loved the city with its beautiful beaches and pleasant climate, he decided to try living here.

He revealed that he has no intention of returning to the US (Photo: Travis Carrasquillo).

In Travis’s eyes, Da Nang has the perfect balance of nice cafes, good gyms and great food. It has everything he needs, but not as crowded as Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. He chose to live downtown instead of near the beach because the rent is cheaper. It is only about a 10-minute drive to the beach.

Spending nearly 40 million VND/month is enough to live comfortably.

Travis estimates that he spends about $1,500 a month. This is enough to cover rent, food, gym expenses, and even short weekend trips. With this amount of money, he can do almost anything he wants.

"Many people know that costs in Vietnam are cheap and mistakenly think that cheap means poor quality. In fact, it's the complete opposite," he commented.

Vietnamese cuisine is what the American guest loves most (Photo: Travis Carrasquillo).

One of the things that impressed him the most was the fresh and healthy Vietnamese cuisine. When he lived in the US, he rarely ate out. In Vietnam, this was completely different. For him, going out to get food in Vietnam was easy. He also found that Vietnamese people are friendly, warm and have a strong sense of community.

Travis observed that Vietnamese people spend a lot of time sitting around chatting, going to coffee shops, or hanging out with friends. That sense of togetherness is something he felt was missing in America.

When he returned to visit his parents in the Chicago suburbs where he grew up in the summer, everything was different. The streets were quiet, the houses were closed, everyone was driving from place to place. He liked the quiet, but he missed seeing people out and about, living slowly and intimately like in Vietnam.

"Of course I still miss my family. If it weren't for them, I probably wouldn't want to come back to the US. I also love Vietnam and have advice for anyone who intends to live here. Experience it for yourself, take the time to explore and see if Vietnam is right for you," he said.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/roi-que-nha-du-khach-my-chi-40-trieu-dongthang-song-thoai-mai-o-viet-nam-20251028134113599.htm