I'm a 39 year old American. I grew up in the Green Mountain State -- Vermont, USA. I've also lived in Washington DC, Virginia, North Carolina, New York City and California.
I visited Viet Nam for the first time in December of 2003. The delicious food, warm people, rich culture and fascinating history captivated me. I decided to move to Viet Nam in May 2006 for a little adventure and to try my hand at doing business here. Currently I live in Ho Chi Minh City, aka Saigon.
My background for the past ten has been in the Internet industry -- LendingTree, Yahoo and AOL. Before that I was a financial analyst at a private real estate investment company and attended business school.
I love hearing from my readers. But in the interests of reducing email load, please read below before you contact me:
If you're planning a trip to Vietnam, I suggest visiting TripAdvisor.com at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g293921-Vietnam-Vacations.html. TripAdvisor will give you much better advice than I can. I will say that Ha Long Bay is a must-see if you're in Hanoi (do the overnight boat tour). I've heard Sapa is magnificent but I haven't been yet. Nha Trang is a good beach town. Saigon has great nightlife.
If you're considering moving to Vietnam, the best advice I can give you is to spend a few weeks hanging out and getting a feel for the place. If you want to know about the job market, visit http://www.vietnamworks.com and click on the "Expat" category. But honestly, the best way to find a job in Vietnam is to network and be here on the ground -- you'll find opportunities on the ground that you could never find online.
scotch, apple pie, swing and salsa dancing, adult swim on the cartoon network.