What I'm Doing Now
I'm writing this on a warm Wednesday afternoon in Da Nang, Vietnam. I moved here 1 week ago.
I spent the past year and a half saving enough money to fund life in SE Asia, so it almost goes without saying that it's great to finally be here.
The first two weeks of the journey were spent in Hanoi. Hanoi is big, busy and loud. I enjoyed the chaos of the city, and loved experiencing life in Vietnam through what felt like a very authentic window.
Hanoi was fun, but 1 week ago I arrived in Da Nang and this city has blown me away.
I wasn't sure whether I would want to stay here long-term or move on within a few weeks, but it has taken only 1 week for this city to decide for me. In addition to the beautiful beach, the LA-esque vibes and energy, it's the communities of awesome people that have really swung it.
I've spent the first week being very social and trying to meet as many new people as possible. Add to that the usual life admin necessary when arriving in a new city, and I have:
🚪 Found a great apartment for the next few months.
🏋️ Found a few cool gyms that have everything I need.
👨🏻💻 Joined a brand new co-working space as one of its first members, and the community of people here is already unreal and growing fast.
🤗 Attended a bunch of events and realised that this place is packed with super interesting people. From nomads and startup founders to remote workers, everyone seems to also be doing their own thing.
💈 Found a great place to remove my head hairs.
🇻🇳 Scheduled my first Vietnamese lesson!
It has been a crazy week, but settling into life here has been such a great experience so far. Da Nang is giving me very good energy.
In fact, a few different people I've met have all said the same thing: Da Nang is at that inflection point where it's about to explode in terms of interest, but hasn't yet turned into Bali or Bangkok in terms of busyness and cost.
The plan now is to find a good balance between using the time here to get some deep work done on Yakk and some other projects, while making more connections and investing energy into some exciting early friendships.
PS: if you happen to find yourself in Da Nang, let me know – I'll be here a while.