vietnam trip 2012 - packing for vietnam

i'm watching the husband pack now. i am quite impressed. one medium-sized suitcase that fits a full backpack, -for one week of backpacking, plus gifts for family when we are there. no extra clothes for 4 weeks.

all of the husband's clothes are in the full backpack. for the other 3 weeks of the trip, he plans to just wash what he has in there. i'm intrigued by the efficiency. i follow suit and start unloading my bag. who needs 15 tank tops on a 4-week trip anyway?

essentially, we had planned for this 4-week trip since.. perhaps when we got engaged? i don't even remember. we always knew wanted to see Vietnam together. it's funny because we were in Vietnam exactly 5 years ago, but just as acquaintances, more like friends of friends in Canada. the husband sometimes jokes and said that's where he met his wife, that he had to go back to Vietnam to get a wife. he's from Vietnam himself.

i think it's completely worth it to just visit Vietnam over and over again. there is just so much to see and there is so much history along with the cultural aspects we could never understand from living abroad. in my previous trips, i saw so much and learned so much i don't ever think i can get sick of it.

i recently have been watching this series online called "Who do you think you are?" and it's completely addictive. it's about people (various celebrities) retracing their roots and figuring out how their family came about making the choices they did to end up where they live and lived. i realize that these celebrities are English speaking, hence for them it's definitely easier for them to search for their roots than for me where the records were in English, as an English speaker, to go to find where my roots are in China and Vietnam.

in any case, i'm soooo happy to be visiting the places i had visited 5 years ago. i haven't traveled a lot, but of the bit of travel that i did, alone, i felt lonely and missed companionship in only one place. and that was Ha Long Bay. this time i get to share it with someone this time. i loved sitting on the deck on the boat with the motor off watching the sun go down surrounded by those beautiful, beautiful rocks. just amazing.