My favourite time in Vietnam

A city awakening

I hate flying—who doesn’t—but I love going to the airport.

An anxious traveler, I hire a private driver who’s never late to pick me up. My ride is spacious, comfortable, and if I’m lucky my driver of the day will serenade me with soft, instrumental jazz that calms my traveler’s nerves.

But what makes my 40-minute drive to the airport special isn’t these luxuries, not even the certainty of knowing I’ll get there with time to spare. It’s watching an entire city awakening.

Most of my flights depart late morning, which means I’m typically traversing Ho Chi Minh City just before rush hour. The traffic flows. The sidewalk is coming to life as vendors set up their food and drinks stalls and office workers arrive for their first, ridiculously strong coffee.

It’s a magical hour.

My favourite time in Vietnam

That early morning is my favourite time in Vietnam says more about me than this country I call home.

The Vietnamese have long days. They start early, take afternoon naps, and stay up late working—most emails from my accountant drop at 8pm on a Saturday—or socialising—drinking establishments are abuzz late into the night.

But the Vietnamese are not alone in this. When I lived in Bangkok, I witnessed the same pattern of daily activity, participated in it as I picked up my grilled pork skewers for breakfast by 7 and stayed out until 8 talking life with my friend Mei-Lynn over al dente pasta and digestive Americanos.

Long, intense days evince a culture that prizes work. Of course there are lazy Thais and lazy Vietnamese. But four years of living in Ho Chi Minh City have shown me overwhelming, perhaps conclusive, evidence of a hard-working nation.

And early mornings are the perfect embodiment of this.

Driving through Ho Chi Minh City at 7, even if I’m alone in the car, is a strangely communal experience. Witnessing the awakening street life, I feel a part of it—of the early mornings and late nights and long hours, of a culture that prioritises productivity over balance.

I take pride in this affinity.

For most of my life, productivity with a capital P has been the core around which I organised my existence. As a young student in Thailand, then the UK, it never occurred to me there was a life outside study. As a young worker in Bangkok, I poured everything into being the “best”—the most productive, the highest standard, the greatest attention to detail.

Even after I abandoned Productivity as a core value, it’s still inextricably a part of me. Though I actively try not to, I still measure an afternoon by how productive I was, a day by what I’ve accomplished—even if I’ve expanded my definition of accomplishments to include a workout at my gym or a coffee with a friend.

Even though I now preach balance and for the most part practice it, I still secretly idolise Productivity. So when I see an entire city bustling at 7 in the morning, I can’t help but admire all these people who share an ethos that shaped most of my life.

Early morning is my favourite time in Vietnam.

What do you think?

I’m a Productivity acolyte, and always will be. What about you?

What’s your relationship with productivity?

Is your life populated by long days? Do you practice productivity or balance? Why? Please hit “reply” or leave a comment—I read every response and I’d love to hear from you. If you want, share this post with a productive person who also manages to have a life.

Until next Friday… Stay thoughtful,

Val