Not Everyone Can Afford to Travel

Last night over dinner, we were eating and drinking with our local Vietnamese guides, guys around the same age as me. They asked about my travels and the countries I’ve been to.

I asked them about their travels, too. My friend Vu told me they don’t even think about traveling, it’s just too expensive.

It made me reflect on something I wrote the other day, about comparing the cost of living in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world, to Vietnam, one of the most affordable. I’m lucky I can come here and splurge without thinking too much about it. But for many locals, even though things are cheap here, the cost of traveling abroad can feel impossibly out of reach.