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π§ πππWin, Winner, Lose! - Your Feb Edition of the Travel Bug Times
February's News from Hanoi |
Hey there again from Hanoi, Vietnam's capital. A big welcome to all our new subscribers and a Happy Lunar New Year to you all. We call it Tet in Vietnam. (And NEVER Chinese New Year!) It's a wonderful and very different time to be here. Just before Tet, everyone is in a frenzy to prepare for the holiday. It's a time of incredible color, joy, and rituals. Then, during the actual holidays, the big cities are like ghost towns as everyone spends time with their families back in their hometowns. We're currently staying in a huge 14th-floor apartment and looking after three shy cats while their parents enjoy their break in Sri Lanka. We're very close to Tay Ho (West Lake) and can see all the fireworks from the comfort of our comfy living room, which has 180-degree windows and views for miles. We've spent TET in Saigon quite a few times, and it's incredible how quiet and peaceful the normally chaotic city gets. As soon as we arrived in Hanoi, we stocked the fridge and cupboards and are enjoying all the comforts of home until the city gets back to normal in a few days. However, there are quite a few visitors wandering about scratching their heads, wondering what's going on. If you don't realize it's Tet and are unprepared, you can get caught short by business closures, and a general lack of services. I regularly update and share this blog on how to plan to make the most of Tet. It's based on Saigon, which we're most familiar with, but it applies to most of the other tourist destinations across the country. Because Tet is based on the Lunar Cycle, the dates change yearly. So if you are considering visiting in January or February, best bookmark the blog and have a good read before making your bookings (and apply for your visas early if you need them!) This year is the Year of the Dragon π, which is meant to be: "a time of powerful transformation and auspicious change, where ancient wisdom meets fiery determination. " I'm not big on horoscopes of any kind, but the lunar predictions make interesting reading for understanding parts of Asian culture. I'm a "Horse," and Tim is a "Rat" and this year is meant to be a mixed bag of wins and challenges for both of us. But isn't that true for everyone, every year?? I guess we'll see. It's already been a bit up and down! As the title of this email says, this month has been a case of Win, Winner, Lose! Read on below to find out why. In This Month's Issue:βWin - An Update on the curious case of the canceled booking that wasn't βWinner - of the WayAway Plus Giveawayβ βLose - A major health setback in Quy Nhonβ βExpats and Charitable Deedsβ βNew Content You May Have Missedβ βContent in the Pipelineβ βHow Our Travel Plans Are Shaping Upβ βRunning Total - WayAway Cashbacks (Aug 23 -Feb 24)β βTravel Deals From Our Partnersβ βTravel Competitionsβ
Win! π₯³πWe won the cashback battle!!! For those of you who've received the December and January editions of the newsletter, you'll know we've been fighting Booking.com to reinstate a wrongly canceled booking so we could get our WayAway Plus cashback. To cut a long story short:
If you're interested in reading the whole thing you can access the old versions of the Travel Bug Times on this page. β Well. Not long after I sent the last newsletter, we got an outcome. Wonders will never cease. After what I presume was plenty of behind-the-scenes negotiations, we were credited with the cashback originally promised. Well done team! That's got to be a WIN, considering Booking.com has one of the most frustrating customer support processes we've come across. That's the third time I've needed the WayAway Plus team's support for different issues, and they've come through (eventually) every time. Note: I've included an updated Cashback Accumulation tally in the usual section below. You can also access it on this page. With six months to go, we're already up to six times our membership fee (and haven't started booking most of our six-week Philippines adventure yet, which starts in a week). If you want to try out WayAway Plus next time you're planning a trip, they have a free 7-day trial so you can make an informed decision before committing. Here are the instructions on making the most of that free trial period.β And here's a 55% discount code to save you 55 USD and sweeten the whole deal. Winner ππ₯We had a winner for our WayAway Plus competition. Lesley M. won the one-year membership and was pretty stoked. I know she has a big trip planned this year, so I'll check in regularly to see if she's reaping the benefits and racking up the cashback. I know we are, and so is one of our other readers Jo who is a very experienced traveler. She recently wrote to us and gave us some great feedback. I checked and she was happy for me to pass it on to you all.... "Iβm always looking to save some dollars on travel; it's just what I do. I was thrilled to be introduced to Wayaway by Sharyn. So far, Iβve only made 3 bookings, but I already have $43 cash back pending. With a fair few months' travel accommodation and flights ahead, I expect to be clocking up a few hundred! Itβs pretty easy to use and very intuitive. Thank you so much, Sharyn " So now the LOSSβ¦Quy Nhon, where we left off last time, is a fabulous place, and we'd hoped to explore it over two weeks. BUT, I had a bit of website work I needed to catch up on, and while the weather was warm, the skies were a bit grey. So...we put off our explorations until the second week when the sun was forecast to reappear. No one wants to see pictures and videos with gray skies, do they? Big mistake. Day 5 of our stay, Tim was a bit off. By Day 7 he had a temperature of 39 degrees C (102 F), aches and pains all over, and an intense headache. We contacted a good friend who lives in Quy Nhon, about where to take him to get checked out. she's a nurse in a former life and has had Dengue 4 times, so I was confident she knew what she was talking about!!! She recommended the general hospital just a km away from where we were staying. Less than an hour after we arrived at 7 pm at night:
Total cost: - around 30 USD (43 AUD)! Not even enough to worry about claiming through our Travel Insurance, which we NEVER travel without. Can you imagine that happening in your country??? I remember waiting over an hour in Emergency in a hospital in Brisbane with chest pains before anyone even did a basic examination!!! Unfortunately, there's not a lot you can do for Dengue except, boost the immune system (Vitamin C), give limited pain medication (NO Ibuprofen or Aspirin), and stay hydrated. So rather than explore the second week, he lay in bed, and I watched over him. I have to admit that neither of us got much sleep, and it got a bit scary at times. I'm so grateful for the professional care he received (and the support and advice from our friend.) While there was limited English at the hospital, they had enough to communicate the important bits with some help from Google Translatecontact the people at Quy Nhon Guidebook if you need any information on the area. And the fact we had a comfortable, spacious apartment, for the recovery was a bonus. Thankfully, by the following week, he was well (or pig-headed) enough to jump on a bus to Hoi An. And while tired, he's pretty much OK. So, I guess we'll just have to return next year to finish our explorations. In the meantime, if you need any information on the area, contact the people at Quy Nhon Guidebook. It's managed by the friend who advised on the medical facility above. She also runs one of the best bars in town, the Quy Nhon Sports Bar. and is a fountain of information about everything Quy Nhon! And for the Aussies amongst you, she was also part of that famous Aussie band Painters and Dockers, is a crazy North Melbourne fan, and is incredibly supportive of many charitable causes, including those run by the Vietnam Swans - the local AFL team based in Saigon. Which is something I want to mention to you all... Expats and Charitable deedsThere is absolutely no doubt that most expats lead a very comfortable life here in Vietnam. But I'm happy to say that many don't take that privilege for granted. Many charitable causes run and supported by expats do an enormous amount of good for Vietnam and its people. β One of the latest is the Vietnam Charity Walk.β I met Jake and Sean at the Quy Nhon Sports Bar while we were passing through, and they are making a mighty effort to raise funds for two very worthy charities by WALKING self-supported from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City. That's a distance of approximately 2,000km and they are doing it in 60-70 days. Just as a reminder, we took around that much time to CYCLE that distance. It's a huge undertaking and one that deserves EVERYONE's support. The two charities they are raising funds for are: βThe Blue Dragon Foundation - which does amazing work to rescue victims of human trafficking and return them to their families. It's heartbreaking that such an organization is needed in Vietnam, but take a look at some of their stories on the website, and you'll realize how essential it is. βThe Thanh Loc Project - builds houses, schools, bridges, water pumps, toilets, and other infrastructure projects in the very poor Thanh Loc Commune in Vietnam's south. It also provides Student Education Scholarships for kids who would otherwise miss out on an education. So if you would like to learn more and/or contribute here are the links to follow: βGoGetFunding Page - It would be great to get the guys closer to their goal. βTheir Facebook Pageβ βInstagramβ βPatreonβ Even the smallest amount will make a difference. New Content On the Site You May Have Missed.Where does the time go? I had high hopes of getting lots of content published but most of it's still in draft. But what did get published includes: βThe Pros and Cons of Carry-On and Checked Luggage: Which One is Right for You? - Several of the travel community's best-known bloggers weighed in on the debate. βVisiting Saigon During TET 2024 - A handy guide on how to plan and prepare for a visit to Saigon during TET. but it applies just as well to other popular Vietnamese destinations. βIn Saigon: Pho Binh - The Noodle Shop that Changed the War - This is one of my favorite stories about Saigon's history. how different might things have been if it wasn't for this humble noodle shop? βVideosβ Check out the Catch Our Travel Bug YouTube channel. I think I'm getting better, do you? The trailers for: The Pros and Cons of Carry on and Checked Luggage βPho Binh- The Noodle Shop that Changed the Warβ βVisiting Saigon During TET 2024β β1-day, Free Self-Guided Walking Tour of Ho Chi Minh Cityβ The two programs I'm using to generate the videos are PictoryAI and Lumen5 Both have either a free option or a free trial, so why not have a play-around yourself? Content In the Pipeline.In the pipeline are now almost two dozen or so blogs about different aspects of travel. Added to last month's list are:
I think it might be time to stop generating ideas and get some of these drafts finished, don't you?? But that might be easier said than done this month because we're on the move again next week, and we won't be nesting again until the second week of April when we arrive in Thailand for our 10-week housesit. How Our Travel Plans Are Shaping Up.We've cut our trip to the Philippines back to just under 6 weeks as we've been invited to a housesit in central Singapore for 9 days at the end of March. We're excited about that because COVID kept us from exploring everything we wanted to back in October when we were there. We then have time to travel all the way to Hua Hin by train. Connecting all the different trains will take some savvy booking skills, but I love nothing more than a challenge. :) Our 8-week sit in Albania, starting in June, is still pending until the homeowners confirm their new home around May. But, our planning to visit the area continues even if it doesn't eventuate. The summer cycling route along the Loire river and surrounding French countryside is coming along nicely The best way to stay on top of our movements is to FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK. Now, for some numbers. :) Our WayAway Totals to 1st Feb 2024Here are our latest totals from discounts and cashback for bookings made via our WayAway Plus Account. You can see the monthly progression on the new WayAway Cashback page on the website.β Since the January update, we've actually gone backward! What???? Easily explained.
Note that we withdrew another 95 USD into our PayPal account with a further 95 pending. Despite the glitch above, we've earned over six times the discounted membership price back with six months to go and a lot more travel planned. Latest Deals From Our PartnersAs usual, you can find all the latest deals on this page. Some come in later in the month, so Iβll update the page as they do. PLEASE NOTE: Some of these have short validity periods as they are Valentine's Day specials.
Note that if you book your accommodation through Bookings VIA WayAway Plus, you get the Early 2024 deal + your Genius Discounts + Cashback. We've already taken advantage of these discounts several times this month and had massive discounts.
Travel CompetitionsI have just updated the Travel Competitions page with the results of the WayAway membership competition plus all the other ones we entered this month. This month you can win (if we don't :) ):
Ciao for now. Hanoi is waking up after the Tet holidays so we have some exploring to do!Once again, we'd love your input on what you think of both the format and the content of this newsletter. As always, with us, itβs a work in progress, and we'd love your help to make it better. Happy Travels β β |
βCatch Our Travel Bug
We're long-term travelers sharing our passion for independent, budget travel. Every newsletter gives you travel tips from experts, lessons from the road, great deals, and carefully curated travel products & services.
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