Greg is yet again another friend I met in Australia who has recently swapped travelling solo for couple travel. I talked to him and his girlfriend Char about the differences between travelling solo and as a couple.
They’ve had experience of both and it has been interesting listening to them talk about their travels with and without each other.
Also we dig into Vietnamese food, working while travelling and items to not travel without.
This is part one of their Vietnamese experience. Keep an eye out for part two where they talk specifics of travelling and being stuck in Vietnam due to the pandemic.
For more on their adventures check out their travel Instagram Itchy Feets!
[Vietnam went back into lockdown at the time this post was published]
Was there anything that stood out for you to go travelling together instead of solo?
G: When travelling solo you have the freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want. And you can sometimes keep to yourself; you’re also really sociable because you don’t have anybody, so you’re more likely to talk to everyone. It feels like a holiday when you’re with somebody else, who has the same interests. You know what you want to do with the time. When I travel solo I’m very much influenced by what other people are doing because I don’t like researching anything.
C: I’m definitely the researcher.
G: I meet people and they recommend stuff to me or they tell me a list of things and I’ll tag along.
Talk me through some of your previous travel experiences?
C: I lived in Australia for two years. Stayed in Sydney, but I’ve travelled most of Oz. I didn’t make it to the West Coast. My stay was mostly made up of little trips alongside living and working there. I absolutely loved Sydney but my visa ran out and I headed back to England.
G: I did half a month in France after my graduation – summer luxury sports retreat as my first taste of travelling. When I came back I worked a job which felt dead-end and chose to go back for a ski season in France on my own as a transfer driver and chalet host.
Once I returned to the UK I worked as an estate agent – loved the job but hated six days a week and sacked it off. Went on another ski season on my own, doing another similar role. Came back and started talking to a mate about going to Australia for ages, but he was constantly putting it off, so I also sacked him off and went on my own. Eight years later and he still hasn’t left the country!
I travelled Asia; Thailand, Loas, Phillipines, Cambodia, all over 6 months on my own. I went out to Thailand with a friend who had done a full motorbike road trip from the middle to south and went all the way up to the north which was good fun. I went onto Laos on my own, which was daunting from doing the first leg with someone to then branch off and be on your own. You just wish it will go well.
After a couple of days it became normal. That gives me a clear idea of being in a group to being solo. With my mate I didn’t socialise with others, we weren’t bothered about making friends. Whereas on my own it was about making friends.
C: My other trips were planned holidays. Australia was the first time I’d been on my own. I’ve also been to Dubai, places in Europe, Egypt, Tunisia, I’d never been on a long-haul flight ever and it was exciting. You do go out of your way to meet people and don’t have that opportunity to feel like you are on your own. And when you go on holiday you know you’ve got limited time somewhere.
In Australia I had all the time in the world. It didn’t feel like I needed to cram everything. It’s definitely about your comfort zone with somebody else. I’m glad we both had the experience of travelling on our own because it set us up to be able to travel with someone else.
How did you know you both shared a love for travel?
G: We went to school together but we weren’t in the same social circle. It was only through social media and seeing each other’s travel photos that we stayed aware of each other and what the other was doing. It was a dormant relationship with online comments here and there.
[Charlotte laughs over Greg’s use of ‘dormant’]
Aware that we both shared similar interests. When I first planned to go to Oz Charlotte was out there, so I was speaking to her.
C: He was going to stay with me but he ditched me for a track bike.
G: I was set to go at the start of the year and my mate convinced me to do a track day and it was the best thing I’ve ever done. I did a whole track season and Char had come home by that point.
C: But I think it worked out really well in the end because you got to do all your track bike experiences, went to Oz for a year on your own and after all that was done, flew back to England.
I asked if he wanted to come over for a Chinese takeaway and he said ‘sold’ – we have been together ever since. We had so much to catch up on and talk about.
Any initial hesitations about travelling as a couple and how did you overcome these?
G: For us we don’t have many issues as we have similar interests. We are quite relaxed in making sure we do everything.
C: We both made sure during lockdown that parts of the day were spent doing our own thing despite being in the same building. We were going to be inside for a long time and knew we needed that space to make it work.
I’m working over here so that gives me something else to focus on. Greg’s still doing work and bought a PlayStation to keep the day interesting, so he can still be mentally healthy.
We did quite a lot of yoga during lockdown.
G: And we bought a paddling pool.
C: We measured the balcony and bought it to fit the exact measurement of our balcony, it was great.
G: Keeping your day fun and as separate as we could do during lockdown helped. We also rinsed boxsets. We love watching boxsets.
C: Even without the virus, we binge watch loads of stuff so having spare time to watch things didn’t really phase us. We rarely differ on opinion. Anywhere we’ve been we have relatively wanted to do the same thing which is always good.
I’m big on food and have heard incredible things about Vietnamese food. Do you have any favourites?
C: I’m gluten and dairy intolerant and being in Vietnam can be difficult especially as I’m picky about meat dishes on offer.
G: If it’s not breast meat or any gristle skin or anything other than plain European style processed meat, she’s got a specific taste and will write off the entire meal.
C: No! I’ve found places I’ve liked. A vegan bakery called Cookiss, that do desserts, breakfast and cake, cookies, biscuits, you name it. Yummy stuff to get your sweet tooth fix. They also have a dish called Pho, which is rice noodles, beansprouts, and any meat.
G: It can cost as little as 20,000 for the local ones or 150,000 for Char’s fancy ones…
[They bicker over the fancy pricing]
C: I don’t think we have long enough for Greg to talk about food.
G: I like everything. The Western food and Vietnamese… I‘ll eat everything.
C: He spends lunchtime and dinnertime ordering off Grab. It’s like UberEats.
G: It’s so cheap.
C: If you wanted to order Mexican you could get a starter and main each, plus two sides for maybe £10 quid.
G: Basically four mains by the quantity.
C: I love rice noodles with anything.
G: Good BBQs and Mexican places. Wicked Greek places.
C: Giant platter that takes up an entire table with unreal Greek dips.
Are you working while travelling?
C: I’m working for a Chinee teaching company. I teach online with headset via webcam one-to-one classes with Chinese students. A lot of their time has been open during the day to be filled. I do 3-3.5 hours a day with them.
As we don’t know when we’re leaving I’ve been having interviews with language centres in Danang to get extra hours. We need the finances as we’re in limbo about when we can leave. We have savings but are trying our best not to touch those for when we get to New Zealand.
G: I’m looking at self-employed ventures – online based, start-up phases of it but have a company formed, so I’m in discussions with suppliers. This is an ongoing positive impact from the time I’ve had post-virus. The virus gave me time to develop myself and do more.
C: I feel Coronavirus made me appreciate that since I’ve graduated I’ve never had this much free time to do exactly what I wanted when I wanted. We’ve come out of it better.
G: It is what we made it!
C: It’s nice to be able to see stuff from a different perspective.
What’s one item you took and never used?
G: My jeans. Many winter clothes as we were supposed to be in New Zealand. I travelled quite light. We have ski gear my parents were going to mail out for when we got to New Zealand.
What’s the one item you wouldn’t go travelling without?
C: Sunscreen, make up wipes and my camera, plus my laptop. Everything else like clothes is disposable.
G: My Go-Pro- drone, speaker and laptop – I like to be able to play my music, record and edit footage – I like my tech.
Part two of their journey in Vietnam will be released soon. It covers the ins and outs of living in Vietnam during the pandemic and how the country contained the situation.
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