With only 20 million VND, Yen Vi Vu made a solo trip across Vietnam on a scooter, passing through 63 provinces and cities in 10 months, and earning money while traveling.
“A girl who loves going to the bush” , that is the self-introduction line of Yen Vi Vu (real name Nguyen Thi Yen) on her social network page. This 24-year-old girl from Bac Giang is about to end her journey across Vietnam that has now lasted nearly 10 months. She went alone, on a scooter.
The colorful journey through Vietnam of a gen Z girl.
The desire to make a trip through all provinces and cities in Vietnam was sparked by Yen Vi Vu 3 and a half years ago, when she came to An Giang, stayed at a homestay and heard the story told by the host mother and her daughter. across Vietnam for 5 months on their own motorbike. The photos stuck on the wall following the S-shaped map of Vietnam and the stories they told made the girl completely captivated and yearning for a journey of her own.
But at that time in February 2020, Yen was a student, both finances and life experience were too little, so she promised herself that she would realize her dream before the age of 25, when she was working and working. save more money.
In 2022, Nguyen Thi Yen begins to prepare for her trip. She spent almost a whole year doing it, from buying a motorbike, preparing filming and shooting equipment to connecting with friends in the localities.
She bought the manual clutch motorbike worth 40 million VND 4 months before departure, test-driving a few difficult roads to get used to it. She talked about the reason for choosing this “companion”: “The scooter has a fuel tank in the front, so it’s very convenient. When refueling, you don’t have to dismantle the rear furniture, the rear rack is large enough. to comfortably carry things. The car has a beautiful classic appearance, suitable for the purpose of creating a personal image. Furthermore, choosing this car is also a way for me to challenge myself to see if I can do it or not.”
The technology equipment Yen prepared includes cameras, mini flycams, tripods, iPhones, memory cards, hard drives and laptops, with a total value of about 80 million VND. Her clothes and personal belongings are very light, including only thin blankets, car repair tools, lubricants, raincoats and shoes.
Before that, Yen joined a large-scale backpacking community, where she accumulated experience, created relationships with many friends with similar travel interests, and also brought her income.
About a month before leaving, Yen dared to tell her parents her plans. Although they were used to their daughter traveling far away from home, Yen’s parents were still very worried when they learned that she decided to go alone, driving a “hard” motorbike that was considered for men. But when they heard their daughter explain the details of the roadmap and plan, they were assured of their support.
The girl born in 1999 started her nearly year-long journey with only 20 million VND in her account. She determined to go and earn money to pay for her trip. Graduating in Multimedia Communications from the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, this travel-loving girl is a full-time Travel Content Creator. The content she produces during the trip will help her have enough finances to continue conquering new destinations.
This plan was carefully calculated by Yen. Before going to each locality, she contacts the appropriate accommodation she chooses to discuss cooperation. After going there to experience it, she produced videos and photos and posted them on social networks. About 70% of the places Yen Vi Vu stayed during this journey across Vietnam were exchanged with media cooperation agreements.
To ensure financial security, every time her account drops to a certain level, she forces herself to earn enough money for the next month. She plans in detail for at least the next week, calculating travel and vacation days to suit the schedule and video production progress.
Yen’s “companion” on every road.
Nguyen Thi Yen started traveling through Vietnam on January 30, 2023 (9th day of the Year of the Cat) and when this article was written, she was in Tra Vinh, preparing to go to the Western provinces. Her journey will end in An Giang at the end of October.
During these 10 months, she continuously shared with the travel-loving community that is following her, some exciting, heart-stopping experiences, and feelings of helplessness that brought tears to her eyes.
The 60-day Northeast – Northwest route is the beginning of Yen’s journey. The first province she set foot in was Lang Son – the place adjacent to her hometown Bac Giang, which was also the departure point. During a series of days exploring the country from the North, Yen saw countless majestic mountain scenes, the most beautiful roads, passing through the legendary “four great passes” (Ma Pi Leng, O Quy Ho, Khau Pha and Pha Din – challenges for real backpackers). She admired the beauty of the floating clouds in Ta Xua, Ha Giang, Son La, Lai Chau… with a feeling of happiness and pride penetrating her heart.
Yen cannot forget the road from Dien Bien to Son La, which left her with a lesson to become a more mature backpacker: “I didn’t think the distance would be that long, it was planned to go from noon to about I arrived at 6:00 p.m., but in reality I still hadn’t reached Bac Yen town until 8:00 p.m. The pass was deserted and very dark, with no lights. When going uphill, I saw the wheel spinning, thinking it was punctured, so I tried to turn around. Again, I went downhill to find a house to sleep in, because running downhill would be less tiring than going uphill while the car was having problems. But then I turned on the light to look at the wheels and it turned out to be okay, the car was wobbling because I walked on the oil tanker’s tire tracks, so I got slippery. At that time, I breathed a sigh of relief, avoided the car’s tire tracks to avoid slipping, and continued. When I arrived in Bac Yen town, I had to find a place to sleep immediately.”
After that shocking incident, Yen learned an important lesson: to calculate extra travel time, in case of an incident, you still have enough time to find a safe place to sleep.
Going down to the Central region, driving along the coastal road for the first time, Yen seemed to burst with joy at what came into view: the wonderful scenery on Ly Son island, the ancient beauty and charm of Hue and Hoi An, The charming sand dunes in Phu Yen… The experience of living on Robinson’s deserted island in Khanh Hoa or 13 rainy days in Da Lat… are also forever precious assets in her memory store.
The 24-year-old girl’s journey through Vietnam also included tears. That was the time when Yen woke up in a house in Vinh Long at 5:00 a.m. one day in late September, stuck her feet out of bed and was startled when she heard a “thump” sound and saw her feet in the water. She was shocked to see all her belongings floating. She hurriedly picked them up and was miserable when she saw that the hard drive could not escape the disaster. In the video shared that day, the always cheerful and lively Yen Vi Vu had to wipe away her tears. She choked up and tried to hold back her sobs, confessing that in many months of being a long-distance girl, “this is the first time I really want to go home.”
That day, Yen had to temporarily suspend her mission to save her precious hard drive, but until now she still doesn’t know how much data can be recovered. This loss made the girl who had never experienced water flooding into her house so desperate that she thought she might abandon her journey.
Video: Yen’s belongings were floating in the room when water flooded into the house.
Of course, after a moment of weakness, the girl rallied her spirit to continue. Every day, she usually wakes up at 6 a.m. to catch the sunrise, and must arrive at her accommodation before 5 p.m. In the evening, she will walk around the homestay area or in the city to experience and visit, not move, because of one principle: Safety first.
“However, my biggest fear is fear of bad people, for me that is the biggest danger. Some incidents like car breakdowns, I can find a place to fix. I also have a few times of negligence. And on a difficult road, I fell off my bike, but luckily it was just a scratch and nothing serious ,” she shared.
The most memorable experiences of the Bac Giang girl.
Alone on the Thien Ly road, the young girl often feels lonely. Yen gets rid of that feeling by starting a conversation and talking to people she meets. She also often chats with the car – her closest companion. In addition, there are hundreds of friends and thousands of travel enthusiasts who accompany her through social networks by following her journey and discovering new things with her in destinations.
With each route passed by motorbike, Yen expanded her knowledge of culture, cuisine, and understood the lives of people and the cultural values of each locality. She passionately immersed herself in the lives of ethnic people, going with them to the forest, climbing mountains, kayaking, waterfall skiing… To take photos to mark where she had been, she often asked people around her. If she doesn’t have anyone to ask, she takes photos with a tripod.
In addition to satisfying her passion for traveling, Yen considered this trip across Vietnam a big challenge for herself by stepping out of her comfort zone. Before every difficulty she encountered on the road, she told herself she had to overcome it. That mentality combined with careful preparation, caution and luck helped Yen keep everything under control.
“During this long journey, I received a lot of help from friends, but the most impressive was a friend I just accidentally met while drinking water on the roadside on Ly Son island. That new friend spent a whole day to take me out and take pictures for me, and also invited me home to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival ,” Yen confided.
The Bac Giang girl said that at the end of her journey through Vietnam, she will visit home for half a month and then return to Ho Chi Minh City to start a new job. After exploring the beloved S-shaped land, she will head abroad and Southeast Asia will be the area this travel blogger will prioritize next year.
Unforgettable friends on Yen Vivu’s journey of thousands of miles.
($1=24,000 VND)
According to VTC