Vietnam

Woohoo we are off to Vietnam for a few weeks in June/July. Our itinerary is roughly:

We are going south to north, then backtracking to a little more central for the last week so we can enjoy some beach time relaxation.

We looked into intrepid again which is who we travelled with throughout Europe. We opted not to go with them for a few reasons but one of the main ones was with my back issues as bad as they are, a group tour wish other people limits my options around resting or rescheduling things. Instead we have paid a little more and we are going with a bespoke tour company. They create an itinerary with us, book all accomodation, provide drivers and guides but as we are on our own there is lots of flexibility. It also meant I got to choose nicer hotels for the same price intrepid charge.

Finally, we are going to one bag this trip. Yep. 24 days with one bag under 7kg each and I have to take a laptop within that range. Eeeeek. I’ve been researching a lot around clothing types as it’s going to be hot, humid and in the south extremely wet. I love cotton but it just would not dry the last time we were in SE Asia.

Current staple items are:

• For shirts, it’s Merino wool and tencil blends around the 125 weight. These are quite common in Australia and it means you get all those nice merino benefits but have extra strength and softness from tencil. These are so lightweight they do dry very fast despite being wool. Brands who sell this weight are icebreaker, paire and sometimes merino country.
• Shoes have been quite the adventure. In the end I’m taking keen Rose sandals which have good arch support, can be worn swimming, good airflow and have a toe cover/guard. I’m taking these instead of sneakers. I’ll also take a slip on, very flat pair of thongs or slides
• Pants/skirts wise, I tried merino and it didn’t work for me. Linen and cotton take forever to dry and merino dresses tend to be heavier weight so water is an issue there as well, I’ve settled on tech fabrics for bottom half clothing. I am currently wearing my title 9 slaycation capris all the time and they do an amazing job of comfort, quick dry and sun protection. I also purchased my first ever ripskirt along with an Eddie Bauer lilac travel tank dress. All can be mixed and matched with my tops!
• Bathers/underweae: taking monte and Lou two piece bikini set with me alongside the ripskirt and a sun cover up. For undies it’s exofficio briefs as they dry fast with a few pairs of the airism men’s boxers for sleep time. I have two merino bras now that I really like and they will be coming along. One is the baa bra from merino country and the other is the new icebreaker racerback crop which is the first merino bra that brand has made with medium support vs low.