After almost three months of nonstop tennis from Florida to Africa to Guam and lastly France, I decided that I could keep playing more tournaments or take some time away from the court to mentally and physically reset. Many people including some of my coaches did not agree with my decision and felt I was making a bad choice considering how well I was playing. However, I decided that I was going to do what I thought was best for me, which I have not always done.

I could not be happier with the choice I made because I wanted to travel to Asia my entire life! I had the opportunity to play several tournaments there, but decided I would travel as a tourist while still training in the gym and running to stay in shape.

I spent the month traveling all over Vietnam, Philippines, and Japan. My girlfriend came along with me too, which was a treat and we both had an amazing experience exploring Asia.

Vietnam:

Before highlighting how amazing I found Vietnam to be, I wanted to start by sharing a story at the airport, where I almost did not get allowed into the country because I did not have a visa… Coming from Sweden, I had no idea that I needed a visa, which is a mistake I have never made before, but the customs agent in Vietnam told me I had to go back to Qatar, but I quickly explained that I had no family there and that just was not an option. I politely asked if they could make some sort of exception and before I knew it they explained how a travel company in Vietnam could grant me a visa with permission from customs for “emergency circumstances”. The customs agent told me to go pull out $180 USD, which is a TON of money in relation to Vietnam’s currency and prices, but I had no choice and did that. Finally after waiting almost 90 minutes, I had a visa and was cleared to enter the country. Valuable lesson learned à always double and triple check if you need a visa before traveling!!! 

Once we arrived in Saigon, the first thing I noticed were how many motorbikes and scooters were on the road and lined up the sidewalks. I had no idea what to expect, but the roads were an absolute free for all with people crossing the street and cars / scooters passing around them as they slowly crossed. At first, it was almost paralyzing to walk across the street, but you quickly learn that if you do not make the fist move and walk across no one will ever stop for you!

Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) has a ton of amazing history, museums, and culture. We got the chance to visit the Independence Palace, Vietnam War Memorial Museum, several famous Pagodas and temples along with lots of local food and street markets. I must say that the Vietnam War Memorial was extremely impactful and almost brought me to tears reading about the destruction, death, and impact it has had on generations of Vietnamese people along with the soldiers on both sides. I expected Vietnam to not have the greatest opinion of Americans, but to my surprise the vast majority of people in the Southern part of Vietnam (where we were primarily) really loved Americans. They all talked about how much America did since the war in terms of providing infrastructure, money, and tourism and did not really talk about the war. Supposedly, the Northern part of Vietnam does not have as fond a view, but that is just what I heard…

A lot of people warned me to be extremely careful and avoid the street food and local places, but I decided that I was going to try a lot of things unless I really felt it was too sketchy. Some of the most interesting food and tastiest meals I had were those from local street vendors and side street alleys where it was only locals eating! If it was not for a few local tour guides and people who helped us find these hidden gems I would have missed out on one of the highlights of my time there.

All the locals would sit on these little stools or chairs that you would normally see in a preschool while eating. I looked totally out of place as my knees were basically up to my chin as I was eating sitting like that, but I could care less as I was having the best time immersing into the local culture.   

Vietnam is also famous for its incredible coffee. We tried probably almost 20 different coffee shops! It is amazing how strong and flavorful their coffee is. They mostly utilize a stronger espresso like drip style coffee, but they like things very sweet there, so they use condensed milk, which adds a really unique flavor. I highly recommend trying it!

Ho Chi Minh has various districts that are essentially the neighborhoods of the city. Many tourists tend to stay in district 1 through 3, but it was very interesting because once we ventured outside these areas we truly became the only non-Vietnamese people such as when we were in District 5 (Chinatown of Ho Chi Minh). I think it was really cool to both see the classic tourist areas, but also get outside of the “tourist traps” to get a real feel of the city. When visiting these less touristy spots, I could see the major socio-economic disparity and lesser infrastructure. I think this gave a more wholesome picture of the city that I appreciated.

Vietnam also has amazing hand made clothing and suits for a fraction of the cost compared to the United States and Europe. Many people recommended I try a local tailor and get a custom made suit, so I decided that I would because I know down the road I would definitely use it in the corporate world. I never knew what went into making a custom suit, but the whole process was a really fun experience!

We then got to spend time in Hoi An and Hue, which are both much smaller towns compared to Ho Chi Minh. We got to bike through rice fields, explore the Mekong Delta and walk throughout both of these towns. It was amazing because while in Hue I felt like I hardly saw any tourists during our stay and we got a chance to really interact with all the locals! The contrast of big city to smaller towns was also great because I gained a better sense of Vietnam and the vast differences between the bustling cities versus these towns.

Philippines:

We first had a few days in Manila where we got to explore the city with the help of some great family friends. Manila truly has all the potential to become the next major city in Asia like Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong etc.… It has incredible development, huge central business district, and infrastructure to be a big international hub in my opinion. Also, I am not big into shopping malls personally, but the malls here were massive, extremely clean, and seemed to be a central point for people to eat, socialize, and shop obviously. Lastly, I got a chance to play at the famous Polo Club in Manila, which was my first experience hitting on a surface made of crushed up Sea Shell!

The highlight of the Philippines for me was the Palawan Islands! This group of Islands has breathtaking views, natural scenery, amazing sunsets, and some of the clearest water I have ever seen. We first spent a few nights in El Nido and got to do some incredible snorkeling and island hopping.

Then we took a high-speed four-hour ferry to Coron, which is another island that is part of Palawan. From there we would drive to our hotel, which was in Busuanga, a quieter more natural part of these islands where we would spend a few nights.  Our time in Busuanga was probably the quietest most peaceful part of the trip, but we did have quite the eventful experience out at sea on one of our day trips through the resort. We were supposed to go island hopping to various spots including Black Island, which is famous for its white sand beaches and caves. Once we left the resort inlet area and got into the ocean, I started becoming concerned with the massive swells considering we were in a pontoon style boat with bamboo sticks on each side for balance.

We kept hitting these swells and I could tell Caroline was starting to look quite seasick, which she has never been before… on top of that I saw the captain and first mate looking a bit panicked as we were a couple hundred yards from Black Island. Our rutter broke and they were rushing to throw the anchor in the water behind the boat to help steer us to shore. Once we got to shore, I thought this fiasco would soon be over, but it turned out that not only did neither of them have a working phone or radio, but that the few people on the island had no more data preloaded on their phones, so NO ONE HAD A WORKING FORM OF COMMUNICATION! I felt as if this was going to turn into an episode of Survivor…

If I had not brought my phone and paid for an international data plan, we could have been there all night until the resort realized something was seriously wrong… I could not seem to get service, but finally found a weak signal and got ahold of the hotel who sent another pontoon style boat for us. I figured we would be taken back right away, but they actually towed the broken boat back behind us. As we are in the middle of the ocean, the rope breaks and the other boat starts to drift away! At this point I was just speechless and luckily we were able to reconnect the boats with a new rope, but that was definitely quite the morning and day out at sea!

Outside of that eventful sea outing, the rest of the trip was smooth sailing and tons of fun!

Japan:

Our final stop on this amazing journey was Tokyo, Japan. Originally we were supposed to make it to Kyoto, but unfortunately did not have time to get there.

Tokyo was an incredible city with so much to see, but it just was not possible in four days. First, I should mention that they have an amazing public transportation system, but it was one of the most complicated for a foreigner to understand as the vast majority of things were in Japanese along with the fact that there are so many different companies and various underground routes. I found that we were spending a lot of time underground trying to navigate which subway to take the first couple days, but once we got the hang of it I started to enjoy it a lot more!

We got to see some beautiful temples and sights, but I was most excited to try all of the fresh sushi and Japanese cuisine as that is my favorite food by far!

I thought it would be fun to share a workout video while in Tokyo as I wanted to still stay in shape for tennis!