The accidental nomad: Month long stay in Da Nang

The accidental digital nomad

A few months ago, when browsing through my favorite travel site - google flights, I came across this new route, Delhi to Da Nang. The ticket price was nearly as competitive as a domestic route.

As someone with a remote job, I didn't feel the need to apply for holiday leave. I can travel and work remotely from Da Nang. I can visit most of the tourist sites on weekends.

The Vietnam e-visa is for a month, so why not maximize it? So I decided on a month-long plan to stay and work remotely from Da Nang. It was a relatively long duration for a holiday.

Time to arm up

I started to equip myself with all cross-border financial tools to make my stay as pleasant as possible:

• zero forex markup credit card 🔗
• zero forex markup debit card 🔗
• travel insurance 🔗
• USD currency notes 🔗

Budget stay or premium experience?

I wanted to have a premium experience. Not interested in the backpack traveler experience (no offense to those who like it). But also something that remained in my budget since the travel plan was month-long.

I started searching for hotels in Da Nang. I knew that if I could contact any hotel, I could negotiate the hotel price. That's cause

Chinese tourists were not traveling to Vietnam due to the lockdown. It was an off-season for Da Nang tourism.

I only found a hotel called Lavencos. I realized they have a Facebook page and decided to message them there. I quickly got a sweet deal from them for my 26-day stay.

I managed to secure a ₹2,000 4-star hotel which included breakfast. The hotel was sea-facing in a high-end neighborhood.

Fasten your seat belts

I had a midnight flight and landed early morning in Da Nang. I was expecting a decent city since it's a tourist place. But the infrastructure was beyond my expectations. It felt like a city in a developed country.

The city is planned such that I reached my hotel from the airport in just 10 minutes.

To excited to settle down

I was a good bit tired after almost a 5-hour flight. But too excited to take a rest. So took a small nap and left for a walk to explore the city.

The city was prettier than I had seen in photos or videos. It has Palm trees, clean beaches, a long promenade, and views of mountains like a city right from some Hollywood movie.

It had a pretty cafe, Highlands (most popular coffee chain in Vietnam), in front of the beach. I instantly decided that this is going to be my co-working place.

Enough admiration, let's talk food

As someone who can't handle much spice (I feel blasphemous saying this as an Indian), Vietnamese food has been a blessing. Pho, or Cha (any rice dishes), are usually not much oily or spicy.

Most of these dishes used to cost me about ₹120. I used the Grab app to order them right at my hotel room. Hence despite staying away from home, I never felt like staying away.

Long evening walks on the beach

There's a long promenade to walk. After office hours I would go for long walks on the beach listening to podcasts. From the beach, you can see a long skyline of hotels. That's precisely what makes Da Nang premium hotels so affordable, an insane supply of high-quality hotels.

Weekend trip to Hoi An

I was busy on weekdays with my job, so one weekend planned a trip to Hoi An, A nearby city with more traditional architecture unlike Da Nang, which has modern architecture.

The way to Hoi An made me observe how ambitious the Vietnamese government is in Da Nang and Hoi An. Real estate and hotel construction throughout.

I booked a private taxi, visited a Buddhist cave, and experienced a traditional Vietnamese boat ride.

Hoi An was a carefully crafted city that felt like showcasing a Vietnamese brand as more of a luxury brand. There are multiple stores having merchandise and handicraft products in Vietnam.

It looked obvious that the people and the government had worked hard to make the city that awesome. Pretty lamp decorations everywhere in the night were a jaw-dropping beauty.

Reflecting on the experience

I left for a month-long solo trip. For many, this is still an extreme path to take. Staying alone in a strange country for a month without friends, or family members can sound daunting, but such experiences help you grow in life.

You learn to look after yourself, entertain yourself, and reflect deeper on experience of life.

You don't have to force yourself to make a solo trip about soul searching or simply enjoying the currency arbitrage.

Just build an experience that aligns with your real personality.