vietexplorer0014

A couple of months have passed since a rather unceremonious departure from my beloved Vietnam. The feeling I won’t be returning has slowly crept in, or if I do go back, it won’t be any time soon. It wouldn’t be the same, it never is with a love affair. It’s like bumping into a former lover on the street – past feelings irretrievable, the sense of passion dulled. My overseas living career has been a series of random twists of fate for the most part, sprinkled with the odd coincidence, and, behold, even a plan and schedule from time to time. I developed a knack, a penchant for uncovering little gems of places all over several continents, envisaging short stays which evolved into years on end. I went to Europe in my early 20s with a six-month stay in mind, one thing led to another, and I finally left 13 years later. A stint in Thailand followed, which was planned for a few months but somehow mushroomed into four years. And on and on it went in that spirit until I returned to Da Nang...