Authentic Travel in Vietnam: Returning Without a Guide, Walking With the Heart
Traveling Here Is First and Foremost a Return to Oneself
I didn’t come to Vietnam to visit.
I came back to understand.
What I had lost. What I had never received. What I carried without knowing.
A simple ticket. A bag. No plan.
Only this strange feeling:
“This might be the place where I was forgotten.”
What you’ll read here are not travel tips.
They are footprints on the path, fragments of connection, images etched in absence.
An Authentic Journey Is Not a Checklist
❌ The best 5-star hotels
❌ “Top 10 beaches” lists
❌ Perfect 12-day itineraries
Here You Won’t Find:
Here You Will Find:
✅ Villages scented with incense
✅ Rice fields where I cried without knowing why
✅ Silent conversations with strangers who told me more than any guide
Traveling to Vietnam when you are adopted, uprooted, or simply searching,
is not about leaving.
It’s about trying to come back.
What I Share Here
🌿 Genuine travel journals
🛕 Off-the-beaten-path places, deeply human
📷 Photos taken without trying to impress
🧭 Practical tips: transportation, climate, customs
But above all:
🧡 texts for those who want to travel differently,
with humility, respect, and attentiveness.
Traveling is also meeting what you carry within.
You don’t need to be Vietnamese to feel uprooted.
You don’t need to have been adopted to search for your place.
I discover this country with my flaws.
And every step here is an attempt to mend a blurred memory.
This site is here to guide you without imposing.
To offer you a map without drawing the route.
Who Is This Section For?
📍 For adoptees returned to their homeland
📍 For sensitive travelers
📍 For lovers of Southeast Asia
📍 For those who want to see, feel, understand — not consume
Discover in This Section
Losing My Bearings in Hué to Find Them Again
Walking the Streets of Saigon with a Name Given to Me
Why I Stayed in Nha Trang Without Knowing Why