Vietnam: Do take a second look

I’ve often heard people come back from a holiday or a long trip and proclaim that they are done with that country. Not out of despondency but because they feel they have seen enough of the country.

I used to say that often too, but now I’m not so sure. Having spent most of my life in Johannesburg I can’t really claim I’m done with it.

New places and spaces come and go all the time. What was hip at one point becomes derelict within the space of years. Technology allows us to change the entire make-up of a place in a matter of months.

This is especially the case with developing countries.

I recently had the opportunity to revisit Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, a place I called home just two years ago – and I was flabbergasted by the changes that had taken place since I left.

There are new skyrises dotted throughout the city.

Many of my favourites spots no longer exist.

The motorbikes and scooters that were the pulse of the city are being replaced by motorcars. This is a city moving at a breakneck pace.

Every time I go home something has changed too – things like Uber, new restaurants and new shopping malls … much to my chagrin.

While progress is good, I tend to hold on to a romantic notion of what a place was like when I was there and when I revisit it, I find myself excited, yet disappointed, with all the changes.

The place you left behind is not the same place you return to.

There is no giant pause button that you can press so everyone stays the same until you return.

Just like Vietnam, the changes in travellers and expats are different. We have to change at a breakneck pace to adapt to our new surroundings while those at home can do it at a more leisurely pace. There are changes in personalities, interests and careers.

Relationships are formed and many fizzle out. While some friendships stand the test of time, others turn out to be just a phase.

It often explains that awkwardness with some friends and family when you see them again and you really have no common frame of reference anymore. You struggle to make conversation because your experience has changed you so much.

Countries, places and people are not like Instagram pictures or the album of holiday photos on your Facebook profile.

They change and we often are guilty of wanting these snapshots in time to stay like that forever.

This is why you can never really say you are done with a country after a visit.

Who knows what that country will be like in a year or ten? History has shown us that things can change rapidly.

The place you remember can be very different when you visit it the second, third or fifteenth time around. I used to think that people that visited the same place on holiday each year were absurd.

Maybe they just prefer the familiarity, instead of being jolted by a new place every time.

This is why repeat visits, if you have the luxury of undertaking them, are worth it.