Step(h) Two, Destination: Hanoi

Four continents, ten days (or was it actually nine days? — time zones). Having spent four days in Portugal and four days in Boston after being in Morocco for about two weeks, I arrived at Logan Airport early on the morning of June 8th, 2022, feeling scared, anxious, and a little sad, but looking forward to the adventure ahead. Tears came as I hugged Kyle in front of the American Airlines departures area, and I tried to be brave walking away.

I walked up to the check-in desk, and told the agent I was checking my trusty Osprey Farpoint 65 to Hanoi, Vietnam (it’s a convertible rolling bag/backpack…was I “cheating” with this whole backpacker thing? Maybe. Did I care? Nope.). “Seems like you’re headed to a hot location.” “And rainy,” I said. The agent was puzzled as to why I would do that. “Through JFK and Narita, on Japan Airlines, right?” He instructed me that I would have to check-in with Japan Airlines at JFK, but that my bag would be transferred for me. Before I headed to security he asked, “Do you speak Vietnamese?” “…No.”

It was an easy 45 minute flight from Boston to New York, and then I had to change terminals. Checking in with Japan Airlines was a treat. When I got up to the counter, the gate agent informed me that because the flight was quite full, I would be getting an upgrade to Premium Economy…on a 14.5 hour flight, no less. While I have access to some lounges through a credit card anyway, this upgrade also got me access to the AirFrance lounge just beside my gate where I had an early lunch with a glass of champagne, of course, and stocked up on snacks for my journey.

I boarded the plane, and to my delight, I had a seat that nearly laid flat with plenty of leg room. To my further delight, when the flight attendants announced boarding was complete, I had no seat-mate in the aisle seat next to me. Win, win.

I’ve never been to Japan, but it’s on my list, and what a Japanese experience this was! The safety video looked like anime, and the dinner menu was served bento box-style.

During the flight, I got some work done, and then tried to sleep. I must have looked ridiculous in my KN-95 with my neck pillows (yes, plural) and eye mask, but I completely passed out for a good five hours (!!), even missing breakfast and having to quickly ask for it before we landed in Tokyo.

Narita Airport was a bit underwhelming. Kyle is an anime fan, and I had hoped to pick up some figurines for him at the large anime store in Narita (and also sample some of the ramen they sell). I was disappointed to learn that it’s located before security. Since I was just transiting through and Japan wasn’t welcoming tourists at that time due to continued COVID restrictions, I couldn’t leave the terminal. So I wandered around to what I could reach (and got to experience a true Japanese toilet!) during my ~3 hour layover before another 5.5 hour flight to Hanoi (yep, it’s that far!).

I wasn’t quite so lucky on this flight. No upgrade, and my seatmate was a taller man who thought it was okay to invade my window seat space. Finally, I landed in Hanoi around 10/10:15pm local time. Deplaning, customs, and exchanging a little bit of cash were pretty uneventful. Then I stepped outside and was immediately hit with the most humid air I had ever experienced to that point in my life…all at about 11pm. I found the driver I had pre-booked and made it to my hostel in Hanoi’s Old Quarter.

I chose a hostel to start with as I reasoned it would be great to meet people with whom to share experiences. My general rule for hostels is that since I have no patience for dorms anymore at my ripe old age of 35, I instead opt for a private rooms, but in certain cases, I’ll make exceptions. This was one of them — I intended to start my trip somewhere where I could potentially find some friends, and based on my research, this would be the best place, but there were no private rooms. Sure enough, the hostel was packed, but I was in a 4-bed female-only room, so it wasn’t too bad. Once I showered and settled in, I fell asleep easily after the ~30-hour journey, probably around 2am or so, still questioning my sanity, but excited to explore.

Side note: I know I mentioned trips to Morocco and Portugal in my first post and at the beginning of this one too. I hope to write about those and other destinations soon, but my initial focus for this blog is going to be my solo journey through Southeast Asia. In addition, this blog is now more of a retrospective as I’m back stateside and have been for a few months. While I don’t know how long it will take me to get through my Southeast Asia trip (right now I have at least 11 posts dedicated to Vietnam alone!), please stay tuned if you’re interested in my take on other destinations and relatively recent trips (Australia, Hawaii, Brazil, Jamaica, Canada, Mexico, Barbados, Philadelphia, Chicago, New York City, Washington DC, upstate New York, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire…and don’t get me started on my Belize and Guatemala trip — I fantasize about repeating that one a whole lot!).

What are your favorite destinations? What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home? Alone? Any crazy stories about back-to-back-to-back travel?

Step(h)