A Ben Abroad

As great as Saigon is (and I do love the sheer electricity, the convenience, and the never-ending variety of foods and cafes), you've go...

Cha Gio Chay - Vegan spring rolls Strap in - I'm about to start a series of my favorite veg restaurants in Saigon, according to area! Bu...

Cafe Time is Life. You know I speak the truth. I moved into my new place October of 2019 here in Tan Dinh ward, District 1 , and I really co...

My Tho is just a short distance from HCMC (less than 40 miles) but it feels like another world. It takes the bus -  Hung Hieu from District ...

It's that time again, folks - I've moved! And I have to talk about it! And lots of other things! Because I can never shut up! I have...

[NOTE: This post goes out to my friend Jenny, who asked me about architecture in July 2013. Excitingly, it's a much more interesting to...

One of the more famous sights to see when visiting the HCMC area is the Cu Chi Tunnels in the Cu Chi district some 2 hours north of the c...

Erin, I adore this picture. One of the best and most relaxing adventures of my summer was my return trip to Da Lat, in the Central Highl...

The entrance to our nearby beach. Note: I'm currently in Chicago and it's -12 C. These pictures are making me really happy. Vũ...

Hey, you. You in the office. You seem stressed. What do you want? You want peace and quiet? You want dogs? You want the best diving i...

An Bang Beach in Hoi An. Did I steal this from my instagram, or did my instagram steal this from my blog? Over the past couple months I...

One year and two days ago I left US soil. One year ago today, I landed in Vietnam. I did a preposterous, crazy thing. Irresponsible, ev...

Ha Long Bay  (1994) It's not long after spending some time researching or living abroad that the subject of UNESCO's World Heri...

The major difference is that, in the game, you're almost perpetually physically alone - traveling, I'm only mentally isolated. ...

Last week I got an irresistible proposition: opening day of the Dong Nai Football Club. It provided several very fun firsts: my first chan...

I've been told by many locals that street food is the way to get the real Vietnamese experience - restaurants are fine and all, but if...

I never appreciated what I had in Chi-town. God bless you, grid system. "Where in the twisted hell am I??" is something I f...

District Can Gio. Recently it was the most glorious holiday ( TEACHER'S DAY! ) and I was able to rearrange my office hours to take a...

Recently I went to Monkey Island with a friend on Teacher's Day , and we ended up taking public buses to get the full experience. Thi...

I waffled (fun word!) for several months before finally picking a place to go teach English, and even then I was unsure and lacked confid...