I am grateful to Jeri Hammond for asking me if I kept a travel blog. I don’t, but she planted a seed in me. On our first day in Hanoi, Vietnam, I met Jim from Boise, Idaho at New Day restaurant, which became our go-to restaurant for good, inexpensive Vietnamese food. Jim was helpful in several ways. He persuaded me that a Vietnamese Sim card would be useful so that I could make local calls. He turned me on to Grab, a service similar to Uber, and introduced me to egg coffee at Giang cafe.
Jim reconfirmed my delight in serendipitous encounters. They happen plentifully when traveling and they also happen at home. In the past, they often “made my day.” I realized that authentic exchanges between myself and others were the aspects of traveling that were most memorable and most treasured. They often are joyspotting moments.
On Dec. 20, 2018, around Day 8 or 9 in Vietnam, as I was seriously jetlagged and up for most of everybody else’s sleep time, I googled ‘how to begin a travel blog.’ I discovered Nomadic Matt who was extremely helpful in providing step by step instructions.
By the way, if you’re not familiar with the term ‘joyspotting’ and want to know more, click on this link https://www.ted.com/talks/ingrid_fetell_lee_where_joy_hides_and_how_to_find_it?language=en
and watch Ingrid Fetell Lee for 13 minutes. You won’t regret it.
