“I’m on vacation every day.”

Kavi Vu, 33, moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in August 2023.

Courtesy of Kavi Vu.

When Kavi Vu was 3 years old, his family fled to the United States, after a decades-long war in their home country of Vietnam. After 30 years, she returned to her native country to “slow down” and discover her native country.

Vu moved to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, last year, where she currently works remotely as a creative consultant and freelance videographer, earning approximately $11,000 per month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. She just needs to work around 8-15 hours a week.

“I was able to reduce my workload significantly, much less than if I lived in the United States,” she said. “I'm very privileged in the sense that in Vietnam I can say how many hours a week I work, which I know is insane. Coming from the United States…I worked about 10 hours a day .”

“I came here primarily to work less and observe more,” Vu said. “I feel like the United States is doing a lot, and here it’s a lot of being, being present. [and] just like existing, and it's really nice, because sometimes you just need that space to sort out a lot of knots in your head.”

Not the American dream

Vu and his family fled Vietnam for the United States in the 1990s to escape the aftermath of the Vietnam War, also known as the “American War” in Vietnam.

“My sisters were actually boat people (refugees who fled Vietnam by boat), so they were in refugee camps in the Philippines. [They] I came to the United States and was able to sponsor my parents and me from Vietnam,” she said.

Kavi Vu and his family at Christmas 2021.

Courtesy of Kavi Vu.

Vu's family ended up in Florida, where she spent 10 years before moving to Georgia where she lived on a small chicken farm. Growing up as a minority in the United States, she never felt a sense of belonging, she told CNBC Make It.

“We were living the refugee experience,” she said. “I mean, we were the only Asians living there, so it was really shocking,” she said. “You always feel like an outsider.”

Her feeling of being an outsider increased as she became more involved in politics in 2016. For about six years, Vu worked as a freelance videographer on projects aimed at engaging minority voters in the states. of the South, but it began to wear out.

Vu said she was exhausted from juggling “a million different things at once” and felt like her brain was “constantly spinning.” “The American dream just started to feel like it was diminishing…and I just felt like I needed a break from America.”

In August 2023, she took the plunge and left the United States for Vietnam.

“I’m on vacation every day.”

Today, Vu lives in a luxurious one-bedroom apartment, for $950 a month. His apartment is located in the Bnh Thnh district, a central location in Ho Chi Minh City.

Inside Vu's 1-bed, 1-bath apartment in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Courtesy of Kavi Vu.

Vu's apartment complex offers several amenities, including community pools, gym, restaurant, bar, and spa.

“I feel so privileged, like I literally feel like I’m on vacation every day,” she said. “When I talk to people every day, I definitely have…a fancier, nicer lifestyle, and when I talk about how much I pay for my rent, among different groups, I definitely pay rent among the highest.”

Vu pays around $950 a month for his luxury apartment in Vietnam.

Vu pays around $950 a month for his luxury apartment in Vietnam.

In total, Vu spends about $1,500 a month on living expenses, including food, transportation and rent, according to the documents reviewed.

For transportation, she uses the ride-sharing app Grab to get around the city, which typically costs between 50 cents and $4 per ride. She usually chooses to eat at local food stalls and restaurants, which average between $2 and $5 per meal.

“My money goes a long way here,” she said. “Budgeting was easy, especially if I want to earn US dollars in Vietnam… It’s like the best life hack.”

Life in Vietnam

In addition to being an independent creative consultant, Vu is also a content creator and enjoys documenting her life in Vietnam. Today, she also has more time to work on her passion for poetry.

“Everything was moving at twice the speed in the United States, and I never realized it, because … I was constantly in it,” she said.

While living in the United States, Vu was always preoccupied with paying her bills and achieving the “American Dream.” So she was constantly in a hurry and felt like she had to continually optimize her time, she said.

After moving to Vietnam, “life seems slow,” Vu said. “Even though Saigon is very hectic, people sit still [in coffee shops] for hours at a time and I can't remember the last time I did that in the United States, even for a few minutes at a time,” she said.

Kavi Seen with his mother on a motorbike in Vietnam.

Courtesy of Kavi Vu.

“It's so luxurious to be able to just sit there and think about life and write it down. I never felt like I really had the time or had my mind empty enough to do it ” she said.

Not only did Vu's return to Vietnam give him a sense of freedom to slow down, it also gave him the mental capacity and airspace to unpack and make sense of his family's history and his own legacy.

“One of the biggest things I'm trying to solve here is feeling a lot closer to my family, even though I'm further away,” she said. “I just understand my parents a lot more [by] seeing how they lived here,” she said.

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