Day 12: In Nha Trang, Vietnam. People have a problem here in Vietnam. They are too friendly! I can’t believe how nice and carefree people seem. They work double as hard as we do in the US but they’re still happier than we are. They mix a lot more with family and their diets includes some of the tastiest tropical fruits I have ever had. No wonder they stay thin and jolly all the time.

People are genuinely happy here. Just today we found throngs of people picnicing on the beach eating rice and chicken for 50 cents and poking jokes with friends laughing from the tonsols of their throats. Are they happy? These people have absolutely nothing – no iPods, no cars, and no fancy clothes. They’re just roughing it and it seems from their outlook on life, they’re living a “good” life with friends, work, and family.

In America, we want more, more, more. Here, they have less, less, less and it’s working for them. All I remember from America is stress from work, stress from bills at home, stress from traffic, and stress struggling against the wake of mainstream being a Muslim. For me it’s truly more relaxing living here in Southeast Asia where you can be yourself and live a simpler life within a more wholistic society that possesses a balanced and blended value system.

I will upload past journal entries since the beginning of January along with pictures as soon as I get proper www in this country. Facebook is banned in Vietnam by the Viet Kong. Yes, they still exist and they stole my lunch money! Just kidding man.