I went to Phu Quoc with high expectations and didn’t really like it. I don’t know if I’d go back. Yeah, there are things that are frustrating, I’m sure there are different things for different countries… I hate it here that people basically use up 100% of the footpath for their stores or park motorbikes such that you are forced to actually walk on the road because the footpath is constantly blocked off… like the footpath is only there so they can run their food business and they don’t use part of the footpath, they make sure they use it all. I had a guy honk me on his motorbike yesterday to get out of the way because they were driving down the footpath (road is full), I turned around pointed to the ground, told him its a footpath and if he wants to honk someone, get back on the road, then stood there until he got back on the road. Yes, you eventually get used to it and it doesn’t bug you quite as much.
Like everywhere, it has its good and bad points. Good: you can live a good lifestyle at pretty much any budget. You can find many of the luxuries you had back home, can buy quality products that you’re used to using (though you might have to search for them), for me that would be organic skincare, good quality vegetables etc. There are loads of nice get-aways you can do for the weekend (ride on a motorbike) and flights are cheap domestically, so you can get around the country at a budget price and stay in a good quality hotel or airbnb really cheaply. Taiwan, by comparison is very expensive in that respect, especially if your work is such that you need to travel the same time as everyone else. In Vietnam I can get an OK room most places on the weekend for 300NTD, a good room for 450NTD and 600+ gets me something nice. I can get a flight half way up the country for 800-1000NTD, sometimes more. Which means I can go away for the weekend without breaking the bank. I stayed in a really beautiful hotel room for NYE for 1600 NTD. It was almost 5 star, it would have cost me 7,000NTD+ for the same quality in Taiwan. Before the pandemic I stayed in a $15USD room that would easily be $150 anywhere else in the world. You can’t really do that in Taiwan.
In all, you can have a quality life here. Surprisingly, I prefer Saigon. I loved Hanoi the first time I went there (decades ago), but now, not so much. (The last few times I’ve been there for a holiday, I just want to get out after a few days). I have friends that feel the same: they would never want to live there but are OK with visiting for a short time. Maybe its the vibrancy of HCMC that people like.
On the downside, there’s the bureaucracy you have to deal with in terms of getting things done. For example, my TESOL has my first and surname on it, my passport has my middle name. I’ve just been told I need to pay $50US to get an affidavit to say that its actually the same person, even though there is a photograph of me embedded into the TESOL certificate.
Food wise, its cheap, eating out is cheap unless its international food, in which case its normal priced… so you can eat to any diet. I generally eat at home, I can get organic food that is well priced (I have no idea how much chemicals are put onto conventional vegetables, but I suspect its a lot). My vegetables I buy here are lasting me 2-3 weeks in good condition, which is shocking, compared to everywhere else I’ve lived. Utility bills are similar to Taiwan.
I think the main difference for me is that people in Taiwan are more ‘mature’ and deal with you more in a western way, most of the time… that is, they have standards. Here I ordered a charger here on sale. They apparently tried to contact me by phone and when they couldn’t contact me, they don’t contact me by email, they just cancel the order. Then when I contact them they say, don’t worry, you can put another order on, just it will be at full price (double what I ordered). I didn’t cancel the order, they did, but apparently I shouldn’t be upset about that. So its all that kind of stuff you have to deal with, people urinating in streets against any wall that is there, in parks if they need to go, they just go against a tree (hence you want to be careful where you sit, or, walking down a street with an open wall, often you will smell it)… its kind of like a third world mentality, if you’re on the road you honk someone who is in-front of you to get out of the way, the biggest vehicle simply -takes- the right of way regardless of the law and you there isn’t really a need to follow any kind of road rules. Drunk driving is not uncommon. Many don’t have the same kind of decency you would expect others to behave with.
And then, on the flip side, I found myself out in the rain on a bike whilst on holiday so sheltering under someone’s front drive cover and the guy across the road motions me to come under his fully covered drive, when I don’t, but stay there for 30 minutes, he takes it upon himself to walk up the road in the rain, buy a rain jacket for me which he gave to me. Or you’re traveling in the country and someone is having a wedding and invites you in to have some food/drink.
The other major downside is theft. If you’re carrying valuables you have to be constantly aware of someone trying to steal them, especially in the cities. Pickpocketing is an issue (there was an announcement when I was in Uniqlo last night to be aware of it, but I already was, because its a problem everywhere). If you have your phone out whilst you’re in the street, you have to be 200% aware of everything that is going on around you… it takes a second for someone to do a dive-by and steal your iPhone and there are people out 24/7 cruising the streets with the sole purpose of looking for a victim. I nearly had mine stolen once on the way to work whilst waiting for a bus after it had just started raining. Fortunately, I heard the acceleration of the motorbike so became hyper alert. When I look up, there is a guy driving straight towards with me with his hand extended out in a grip he had clearly practiced, coming for my phone. He then went around the block then came back for a second go. My response was such that he dare not come back a third time or he would have found himself and his motorbike on the road.
If you have your laptop in your bag you have to be constantly aware of who and what is going on around you. The moment you aren’t, there’s a very good chance it will be gone. I lock my backpack up in my home when I leave for more than a few minutes. You just don’t have that in Taiwan. When I first lived in Taiwan (I’d visited many times) and had my phone out using a map on the streets, I would instinctively swivel to protect my phone with my body when I heard a motorbike accelerating nearby… that level of awareness is ingrained in me from having lived everywhere. I constantly need to know where my valuables are and be very aware of what’s happening around me.
I love Taiwan/Taipei, really loved living there, and its an amazing country, but I can also have a good quality of life here. For me, I can save more here if I work a second job and also its a good transport hub with cheap flights anywhere in the region, which is another plus.
Personally, I prefer Taiwan/Taipei, and would happily live there forever, but I could also live and retire here. There are just a few extra things that are abrasive that I have to deal with whilst living here.
For me, there’s a slight cost advantage to being here that enables me to save a lot more money, I can get around super easily (including to my home country), I can have the same quality things I’m used to living with/eating, the weather is relatively predictable (warm hot, hot/wet, and I can take breaks away in high quality accommodation at a very affordable price in a way I couldn’t in Taiwan. The downsides (that mostly don’t exist in Taiwan) are frustrating, but I can deal with them.