Sharing stories of nomads during the coronavirus pandemic (Vol. 4)

We’ve been reaching out to our nomadic friends to make sure they are safe, healthy and offered them to share their stories on our blog as everyone’s situation is very different, especially when you don’t have a fixed home. Since we’ve received a few of these stories, we decided to publish every Wednesday. (Make sure to sign-up to our newsletter to get these stories are soon as we publish them).

This week we are sharing the story of Eric & Katie who are currently in Vietnam. Through their story, you will learn about how they ended up where they are today, how they are currently handling this pandemic and what’s next for them.

Eric & Katie 

Eric from Bonus Nachos here. My wife Katie and I retired in April 2019, and like Mr. & Mrs. Nomad Numbers, we are fully nomadic with no home base. Since retiring, we have been traveling around SE Asia, including stops in Thailand (twice), Cambodia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

Introduction To The Coronavirus

Our first glimpse of what travel during the Coronavirus was going to be like happened when we arrived in Ha Long, Vietnam in early February. We had been in Vietnam for 3 weeks already, but attitudes were markedly different compared to Hanoi. We had to get our body temperature taken prior to checking into our Airbnb to make sure that we did not have a fever. There were many signs around town promoting handwashing and wearing masks. Ha Long Bay is obviously a big tourist destination that hosts many Chinese travelers. Maybe they are just being overcautious I thought. COVID-19 was still mostly contained in China at this point, so like the rest of the world, it wasn’t something I was all that concerned about.

We left Ha Long on February 12th for a month-long stay in Hoi An and everything seemed to go back to normal. Tourists were crowding markets in the old town. There wasn’t excessive mask wearing. Extra hand sanitizer was made available, along with signs requesting it be used before entering shops and restaurants, but other than that it was business as usual. But during our time in Hoi An, the virus spread further and the world began to take defensive measures. While travelers from China had already been banned just about everywhere, suddenly other countries were experiencing greater restrictions. South Korea and Japan residents quickly found themselves on the receiving ends of travel bans. But overall, the mood was still chipper and pleasant.

Things Became Real Very Fast

When we left Hoi An for Danang on March 11th, everything changed. Instead of things operating at full capacity, Danang was already partially shut down. Whether it was by choice or by mandate, many restaurants and bars were closed due to COVID-19. Despite being only 18 miles (30km) away and having almost 10 times the number of residents of Hoi An, Danang felt much more desolate. The situation had moved from distant concern to close reality.

Upon check in to our apartment, our Airbnb host had us fill out a medical declaration form online. This was now mandated by the government. Information included our last flight and what seats we sat in. We had to provide our address and phone numbers. In addition, we had to state whether we were experiencing fever, cough, vomiting, diarrhea, or other symptoms. This information is then stored so that if we test positive for COVID-19, it will be publically shared to warn people that we were in close proximity with. Or alternatively, if someone we were in close proximity with tests positive, we would get notified. You can read about each of the positive tests on their dedicated Facebook page, where they list the infected person’s recent travel and sometimes other places they visited within their city.

We do feel fortunate that the Vietnam government and populace is taking the situation seriously, even if we didn’t realize how serious it would become upon our first experience a month prior. Many major roads here in Danang have PSA-type banners about COVID-19 hung on the light poles. We receive a touchless body temperature reading and a squirt of hand sanitizer when entering the local mall to grocery shop. Face masks were also recently made mandatory for all indoor shopping. So while the coronavirus continues to spread here, the speed is much slower than in other areas of the world.

What’s Next?

With the closing of so many national borders around the world, we aren’t left with much choice of where to go. We recently applied for a 3 month visa extension and are hopeful that gets processed. Assuming that happens, we are planning to stay put here in Danang for the foreseeable future. To the surprise of no one, world travel is not fun during a global pandemic. 

Update as of 4/14/2020: We did receive our 3 month visa extensions, so we’re now able to legally reside in Vietnam until July. We’ll be staying put in Danang until then.

Frequent travel at this time could also be considered irresponsible. Some studies estimate that up to 60% of people have few to no symptoms but are still carriers and spreaders of the virus. Even if that number is inflated, it seems ill-advised to travel when we could be unknowingly spreading the virus to multiple local populations. 

COVID-19 has already changed travel for the short term and it’s very possible that there will be long term ramifications. We could certainly run into extended travel bans or more forced quarantine measures. Flights could become much more rare and expensive as airlines go bankrupt due to lack of demand. Freedom of movement, something that we had completely taken for granted, is no longer assured.

While travel is completely in flux at the moment, we’re certainly not abandoning our dreams of seeing the world. Our focus has shifted to be more short term since it’s impossible to plan very far ahead at this point. Our desires may be delayed or slowed for a while, but they are not disappearing. While it’s hard to know how long the effects of this pandemic will last, there is one thing for certain. This too shall pass.

Want to read other stories?

Check out the previous stories we published on our blog:

• Volume 1: James & Emily (Cyprus) & Michelle (Australia)
• Volume 2: Shoshannah (Arizona, USA) & Eric (Michigan, USA)
• Volume 3: Ali & Alison (San Miguel de Allende, Mexico)

Do you want to share your story?

We are living in an unprecedented time and we would love to share your story with our audience and connect with our community. So if you are interested to share your story, please reach out to us. (We created a story outline template if you are looking for guidance about what to discuss).