Feels like Home
Jenny & Adam
HOI AN, Vietnam // Not waking up to an alarm and not rushing has been one of the highlights of the trip for us. Based on recommendations from other travelers, we ended up in Hoi An, a place we really enjoyed and ended up staying a lot longer than we planned.
The reason I think this happened, as it did with Luang Prabang, was the home like feel to this place and the connections we made. We spent 7 days here, and although Hoi An Historic Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we spent probably less than 15 minutes there. Instead, we made this place feel like home and did what we would do if it was a weekend in New York. We had a homemade breakfast, took walks / bike rides exploring, found an Indian food restaurant which we went to for lunch everyday, went to the local gym for a workout, and found a vegetarian place for dinner that we went to every night. The feeling of seeing the same people, and the same smiling faces everyday brought a sense of home and community feel to us that we have not had in quite a while.
We have found that spending less time in the “must do” or “must see” attractions of a new location have been the least exciting, and the best parts are places that we stumble upon, or little things that we like to do anyway even if we are traveling or spending a weekend at home.