Plans are meant to broken…. or something like that

I knew I had a short time in Vietnam, so I asked around — where should I go, what should I do?  Following a lot of questions and a lot of research, I had a general plan of 2 days in the Mekong Delta, 2 days in Dalat, a few days on the beach and then Hoi An.  Everyone recommended Hoi An.  Great — sign me up!  It seemed that it was do-able, though I would have to be careful about getting back to HCMC for my flight — but no worries.

Then, a few months later, I got great news that my friend Chloe was also going to join me in Vietnam – so I shared with her my plans.  It turned out that we would overlap by a week – so emails went back and forth, trying to make plans and confirm itineraries.  Which… turns out, is not so easy.

Long story short, we spent a lot of time together trying to figure out how to make our plans work for each of our schedules, needs, budgets, wants, etc.  It turns out that they could not mesh.  So — I am not going to Hoi An.  Instead, I have come to Quy Nhon, another beach town, though less touristy.  And then I will go to Dalat and then head back to HCMC for my 28 hour flight.  And Chloe?  She has headed north – she is going to Hoi An.

It was tough and frustrating trying to figure it all out. I’ll be honest, I have gotten use to planning on my own.  And I also am use to the ease of getting around – India made it all so easy – why is the rest of the world not like that?  I was bummed we had to split ways, as I was glad to have a travel companion.    But, at the same time, I am continuously given the lesson that I need to be flexible with my plans.  That I need to be patient and flexible, creative and willing to see the good in no matter what happens.  I guess until I have that lesson figured out – I will keep getting ample opportunities to learn it.

chloe and i on the beach, Nha Trang, before heading separate ways

So, here is to unexpected adventures, trying to keep an open mind,and (re)learning to be patient and flexible.