I’m Vietnamese living in Ireland for almost 7 years now - never felt Irish or been treated like one. Language is one thing but there’s a lot more that makes a person ‘Irish’ or ‘Vietnamese’ and unfortunately I will never qualify. It’s my personal opion that Vietnamese treat expats better than we treat each other - so it’s pretty awesome being an expat in Vietnam :)

I’m looking forward to getting out of the US as soon as COVID is over. Saigon is where I’m going to move too

I appreciate your video. I 've visited here many times and now I live here, married a local. I like your optimism but my view is life here is more complex than can be expressed in a 14 minute video. Once international travel resumes I would urge my fellow Americans to visit Vietnam. The video is pretty upbeat. I'm not saying he is wrong about stuff. Just that life here is more complex than you might think and don't come here unprepared.

You have done a really good job of describing Ho Chi Minh City. My girlfriend is from Ho Chi Minh City and we love going there to visit her family and travel in Vietnam. I definitely have home field advantage being with her but I love traveling to Vietnam 🇻🇳 It is an amazing place.

Yep, let's call it Saigon 👍🏻

Absolutely Agree with you 100 percent That is why why Retirement in Vietnam is for Me as Soon as this Coronavirus let’s us get back to our Lives

Thank you for the video! I've been to Saigon two times, but I prefer smaller cities like Da Nang. I actually live in Hoi An, not far from Da Nang. It's not Saigon, but it's easy to jump on a flight and go to Saigon. You pointed out some great pros about Vietnam. I am an American and have been in Vietnam 2.5 years so far. So happy to be here since it seems much safer here with covid-19.

Re 10:41 - According to the Air Quality Index (taken 18 June 2023, 11:39), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, scored a (surprisingly good!) 41, on par with Singapore. (Unhealthy would be considered 101 and up.) So as long as you're not motorbiking, say, three hours a day, or working / jogging next to a busy street, you're good to go.

Vietnam has come a long way but it is still a developing country. One thing foreigners should watch out for are thieves. You can't be holding out your smartphones and your video recorders while in the open.

Last note: not one of the boys. The U.S. was founded by white protestants. Later came Catholics, Italian, french & German. We became multicultural. It took generations to get used to the new comers. Just when u were adapting to the change along come a new string of immigrants: indian, Chinese, African, Hispanic. So the process begins anew. The Vietnamese, like many homogeneous societies will never adapt to foreigners because we are just that, outsiders. I wholeheartedly agree w them. It is the norm & it's a-ok. Homogeneous ppl living together, but welcoming foreigners is great. Enjoy the Vietnamese way of life & then leave or stay, but never assume you will b one of them. Works for me. In the U.S. I saw the U.S. as a homogeneous nation in spite of nation of origin. New kids who's parents were Italian, Irish, German, french & others. They ALL called themselves American with no qualifiers. Italian-american, African-American... The melting pot ain't working. Just like oil & water. The Vietnamese r all pulling in the same direction. They will b a powerful nation not far down the road. U are witnessing a flower that has yet to bloom. Now is the time to get comfortable in Vietnam.

HCMC is raging hot sometimes, reflecting off miles and miles of concrete. I lived on the southern coast...Vung Tau breeze off the coast. cool people. good expat bars

Great video, much love to ya! Moving to Vietnam in July! Thanks for the info!

I've been to Saigon many times but on my last trip I was there November 2019 - Feb 2020. During their winter air pollution is terrible in district 1. Usually I spend other times of the year there and haven't encountered pollution that bad. If you have raspatory issues I'd advise to avoid those months or settle in a relatively clean part of town like the southern tip of district 7.

Such an informative video! Thanks a lot 👍🏻☺️

It really is a great place to live. I miss it a lot!

I hope to be in Saigon in July if travel is allowed. Had to cancel one flight earlier in the year.

d😆eserve more viewers! love your videos man keep up the good work!

I'm european and planing to move in Saigon this winter. I'm not planning to go back in Europe, my plans are to remain there. This video helped me alot. Thx :)

I'm Vietnamese. I'm not rich but still live like a Queen in Saigon. Everything is cheap, convenient, people are so flexible and willing to do a lot of things. I love being served and receive good services so Vietnam is perfect for me. So good. Tomorrow gonna have some oil massage

Thank you for this. I really want to visit and this video is filled with practical tips and pointers. Thank you. 😁

Just an addition about noise: You guys might hear your neighbor singing karaoke at midnight.

Great video... Thank you. I'm moving there for a year at the end of this month.

Saigonese.... Is that a word...I like it.

That’s true, the noise 🤣🤣🤣. My neighbors keep banging something every weekend when I need some more sleep, that makes me crazy 🤣

A great run down of the pros and cons which make good sense. I have to agree with you on most of them that you have listed. I am from Kuala Lumpur and have visited Saigon many times over the years just before Covid-19 and I can agree with your views. Stay safe!

good dude, very informative. thks

Great city . Been living in my youth . I am thinking of spending more time in Saigon .

youtube recommended this video to me. amazing and helpful video for a Vietnamese like me to know more about how foreigners think about our country. subcribed your channel!

I hope at some point you visit DaLat. Vietnam is a possible retirement country for us in a few years, and we prefer cooler weather. Thx !

Oky. Beautiful. Place

Love the video and Vietnam and it’s people

About the last con of the video, most of people can't understand how hard it is even for vietnamese people to learn Vietnamese language, it is very complicated because of the country's history, so when you see the Vietnamese reactions to your speaking they are actually accepting you as one of them, that's where the smiles , laughing come from from. It takes people all grade school to learn their own language and still difference between the 3 regions...and so much more to it then just this, you would need to know the culture too...so welcome to the club 😆

There's a club in our country as well, we just don't admit it.

Good video bro, but I can’t agree with you about security and safety in Sai Gon. Have met few times thief’s trying steal bikes. My brother has been robbed in Sai Gon. So I think it’s not safely here as in Norway, but it’s still comfortable 😀 Nice video 👍🏼

Metering design so you define your measuring unit without dangerous hidden agenda

Great video! You are on point with most of your observations. However, I think you are missing the point about how open most Vietnamese treat foreigners. Learning how to speak Vietnamese goes a long way towards getting people to open up to you. Any way, keep up the great content.

I agree in evrything you say.. Whitout the traffic I love the traffic and the sound of all motorbikes ;)

I view heavy rain as a plus. Bats down the pollution, in any city.

Great video mate, you're easy to listen to!

i just visited Saigon and to add to the cons, there are rats everywhere, rent can be quite high if you want to live in a good area in a nice place. International food can be found in import shops such as Annam and Nam An, but it is really expensive. For example, 200g of parmesan cheese will set you back £8 as opposed to £3.70 in London, and wages are different too. A big one too is the lack of green spaces. You can find them, but they are not abundant at any rate. The people totally amazed me though and I loved the live music scene.

Tha. Moving there next year.👍

I like that you addressed the noise and pollution stuff as well as some of cultural barriers. I may have missed it but what did an average locally produced beer cost ?

last con was very insightful. I think you may be a lot closer than you think.

I have relatives who live in Ho Chi Minh City and I've mused about moving over there for 6 months to experience new things and feel closer to my heritage. Hopefully next year the pandemic will start to die down and Vietnam will allow international travellers to enter without any mandatory quarantine; I'll be booking my tickets straight away 😇

Love the positive feel, broke my heart to leave (due to covid), Saigon was my home... but will disagree on a couple of things...no homelessness or drugs? sounds like you mainly stay in Q1, Q2, Q3, Q7...obviously have never been to Q4, Q5, Q8, Go Vap, Tan Binh (I could go on)...Sure can't become a local (I've lived and worked in seven countries, goes the same anywhere) but learn a few expressions, hang out with Vietnamese where they do, accept them and their culture and go with it and they will take you to their hearts and treat you like family forever! Hoping I can return as soon as this is all over!

Do you have any updates thoughts (it you are still there)? I have the opportunity to live in either Saigon or Hanoi, can't decide

Yeah people in the South tend to be more friendly than people from the North. It's interesting to hear you say Sai Gon is safe. We Hanoians say Sai Gon isn't safe. When I go to Sai Gon I always have to watch my phone (LOL). In Ha Noi, I don't worry too much - I always have my phone out. But in general, Viet Nam is a fairly safe country in terms of violent crimes. You may not be able to fit in easily here but there's virtually no hate crimes against you because of your race or skin color.

Proud to be a Saigonese! Thanks, for sharing 👍🏻

Saigon has the most pickpocket and scammers in Vietnam. DALAT has the most friendly people I ve ever met in Vietnam...maybe on earth. And Dalat has the best weather in the entire world...

Since you guys physically are strong built, those criminals just don’t want to mess with you foreigners....😋

Not being fully accepted is not just a Vietnamese thing. I live in the U.S. for 47 years, yet I sometimes still come across white and black Americans who told me I speak English well - WTF!

Watching from Alaska 😂😂😍😍😍 I’m VIETNAM ✌️✌️✌️

What time of the year is this filmed? I’m thinking about coming next summer (July, August) but apprehensive due to wet season!

I've been cheking out the city & they do have a good bus system. Abt 22¢ a ride. They may even have metro card. Don't remember.

More pics of the city and less of the speaker please. You may as well have just written something readable as you dont necessarily show much of the city. alot of youtubers do this where its 90% their talking face which doesn't show the visual of what the viewer actually wanted.

Cool content. Keep up with the good work! One thing I disagree is that being able to speak a certain amount of English in America doesn't guarantee that you'd be seen as an American or someone in the club as you said.

You said that Ho Chi Minh City was incredibly cheap. But what are you comparing it to? A quick look on Expatistan and Numbeo showed that Oaxaca or Mérida Mexico were 17% or 18% less expensive than Ho Chi Minh City. Rent in Mexico was much lower, almost 50% lower. I have nothing against living in Vietnam but I would always be more partial to the Latino culture, be it Portuguese or Spanish speaking since I speak those two languages. I wouldn't be able to live in a country where I couldn't speak the language. So far I have lived in Mexico, Brazil, Spain, and Portugal and I could always understand and speak to the locals. The heat would put me off too. Oaxaca or Querétaro, or Guadalajara Mexico would be great for the climate. Regarding acceptance by the local culture, Brazil would be ideal because of all the immigrants who went. I think Portugal is also very accepting of foreigners.

This video is spot on!

Great video man! Do you recommend getting vaccines for different kind of diseases? For example, when I've been to Japan, I didn't get vaccinated for anything and haven't had any issues at all.

Would really like to live there but the heat, upper 30's would render me a useless mess unfortunately.

Damn so good to live there bro 😁

Fair and objective....

I will move to Saigon shortly; can you recommend some places to study or take classes for Vietnamese language? And...if I ride an e-bike, can that work on the Saigon streets as well?

Another advantage is the climate. In a video uploaded by someone on KZfaq I don't remember his name, you said that you live in Ho Chi Minh City but in fact you live in Serbia. So which is right and which is wrong?

if u never see the crime in Saigon,its because u live in fany district (1 - 2 -3) or you not live here enough. They will rob you in middle of the day,EVEN THE TRASH CAN. Search the world "trộm thùng rác" you will see thousand video. And Saigonese we speak vietnamese and about 20%-30% can speak cantonese (include me) more than chinese that for sure im Saigonese i live here 30 years. And plese guys,we refer to use the name SAIGON more than real name of this beautiul city

Good Video. Although I am visiting Saigon & Danang in June, I'm really hoping to spend time in Dalat/Na Trang when the 3-month Visa-On-Arrival (VOA) is brought back online. Does anyone have any words of wisdom about living in Dalat?

Seriously considering moving my family there - do expats homeschool at all ?

great insight...thanks.

Hi ,I lived in Saigon ( Ho Chi Minh) a few years ago and i am planning to go back once they reopened the border. Have the Vietnamese government implemented some restrictions ( Curfew , mandatory indoor masks, social distancing, 2m rules etc) ever since the pandemic started ?

Please help if you can Can foreigners own property? Where is the best suburb to live? What would be the cost of a small house with land?

As a Vietnamese I disagree with cheap and safe! Food aint 1 or 2$ ...cơm sườn or phở is about 3$ and I have to eat at least 2 orders to feel full; maybe it's cheap with foreigners but not working class Vietnamese. Safe?! Fighting, robbing, scam, drug...everywhere...maybe you're a foreigner ;hence, they dont target you.

Did you see any VC?

I'm pondering your last con. As a Vietnamese person who has lived in the US most her life, I don't know that I 100% belong. And my English is excellent - if you spoke to me on the phone, you wouldn't know I wasn't born here. I think even in the US, ethnicity plays a big part. I mean, hello, black people oft times don't feel like they belong here. I think for me, I do fit in better because I have for the most part, assimilated to the language and culture. For you, being there 1 year and not really speaking the language, it's going to be different. It'll be the same as if you were a foreigner in the US and didn't speak the language or knew much about the culture after a year. Now try living somewhere 30-40 years and speaking fluently without an accent, you'll still be a bit exotic to the locals if you don't look 100% like the rest of the population, but you'll fit in better. Also, Vietnam hasn't seen a lot of foreigners until recently. I'm sure as they are exposed more in the next 20-50 years, things will change.

R elec. Mottos on the radar?

you could try vinhome apartment, they are consider luxurious and i saw a guy who did the monthly calculation, including all the relaxation and food, to a total under 1k usd per month. Totally Sound proof. As for being vietnamese, for me personally, if you love VN, live in VN, speak vietnamese, your vietnamese enough :) regardless of your skin color. cheers.

I'm searching for a place to teach English where I can indeed have true integration. I want to be in the club. I spent 4 years living in Finland in which you cannot under any circumstance be in the club.

As the saying goes that there are many ways to skin a cat, your point of view is just as valid as anyone. Yes, it's a cultural thing and you might feel that you are not part of the club but don't (and I am sure you are not) take it personally. Yes, air and noise pollution are bad but after all VN is still a developing country. This is the allure for most if not all non VN ppl: VN is straddling the fine line of past and present; VN is a gorgeous pastoral scene painting with sharply protruding buildings. There are pros and cons to all but if you like it, you like it. Thanks for liking my country but no hard feeling if you don't. Lastly, to add to your knowledge: Vietnamese is a language combination of the Chinese characters and the French alphabet. So Bon Voyage!

Good video agree with your points. As a woman feel safe as like to wander and explore the true areas of Saigon. Never felt that in Thailand and Indonesia as felt I was extremely out of place if I wandered out of the tourist areas. People here just want to say Hello. I go to the markets and buy fresh food. Like all the levels of security. Traffic cops, real cops, guards in stores, guards outside hotels and apartments. Coming from London I'm envious of how this keeps low level, anti social petty crime in hand. Only point I would make about integration is that I lived in France for many years. IMO you never feel part of their community in France. They will charm you and maybe ask you to dinner but they keep their closeness especially for family. Guess probably the same every country unless you are absolutely fluent in their language and maybe marry a native!

Hold up, who's speaking Spanish in Saigon? A filipino community? What's the history of Spanish in Saigon?

Is it noisy everywhere! Or can District 7 or 3 (or any other option) be quieter and more peaceful to live?

Just curious, besides being a a vlogger, what job do you do in VN? :D

Nice explanation about Saigon

Please how about schools for children I want to move to Vietnam with my 7 year old child. Thank you

I prefer a more countryside area, away from the city from the noise of constructing.

Noise cancellation

Siganeese people?

Hey! I’m looking to move to Vietnam around begin october 2021. Im a Vietnamese person living in Belgium. I wanna be an English tutor too. Is it easy to survive there as one? Cause I wanna stay there for about a year.

It would be awesome if you knew the real name of the city, it is not Saigon, it is called Ho Chi Minh City. Since you live there i think it’s convenient to know that.

How bad are the bugs/mosquitoes?

Please just don't take cigarettes from strangers, especially unregistered motorbike taxis.

How easy is it to start a small business?

Agree with everything you said. All true.

Do you speak Vietnamese fluently?

Are you still in Vietnam?

Hey Pierce, How do you connect with the expat community? Any tips?

Nice propaghanda for the Commies

Now you know how minorities feels in the USKKK