My family really enjoys travelling. Part of that probably has to do with the dispersion of family members across the globe, but I'd been to Europe and multiple cities in China before I could even really process and understand the places I was going to. Many of my international trips have been to places where I have some grasp of the local language - China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Ireland, even Peru. This summer, I got to spend time fully immersed in unfamiliar places with near zero language understanding. We spent about ten days in Vietnam, visiting Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi, and Halong Bay. Another ten days were spent in Thailand for Bangkok, Ayuthaya, and Chiang Mai. In addition to the language factor, this was the first foreign trip I've taken since gaining an interest in anthropology and cultural understanding. More than any other trip I've taken, I found myself striving to understand the local cultures, and constantly checking my thoughts and impact as an Asian-American tourist. Full immersion was quite difficult, given the fact that we did stand out as obvious tourists, but we strived for an authentic experience whenever possible (mostly with food). Being vegan in Vietnam actually led the way to a more local experience. Many vegan/vegetarian restaurants in the cities in Vietnam that we went to are run by Buddhists, and did not attempt to cater to tourists. They were often small, very low cost, family run, and off the beaten path. Ordering and paying involved a lot of pointing and writing, but many sincere moments were found here, where bright smiles and little head nods spoke more than the languages we didn't know how to speak. These tiny moments were the highlights of my trip. In my experience, being vegan in a foreign country often does provide more opportunities for exploration and local interaction than I think I would've had if food was more widely available to me.
