Pondering My Thoughts on Cat Ba Island and Reminding Myself of The Importance of Slowing Down.

"Slow down and enjoy life. It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast — you also miss the sense of where you are going and why" -Eddie Cantor

I'm currently sitting on a sleeper bus after spending the last five days on Cat Ba Island, Vietnam, and I found the perfect space to start writing about what's been happening here in Southeast Asia! I contemplated a lot about how I would write about my time here in Vietnam. Would I write posts for all the cities I've been traveling to or attempt to condense this wild ride down? After some much-needed escape and moments of calm to collect myself a bit, I found myself sitting in a small coffee shop after a few days on the island, pouring out my thoughts into my journal, finally catching up and trying to process everything that has been happening the last few weeks here.

After journaling and seeing my thoughts pour onto the paper, I enjoyed a chocolate croissant accompanied by a matcha latte (it’s hard not to come to a conclusion when you have comfort food). Each city, each small journey, and each detail I've crossed paths with in the last two weeks has shown me a lesson. There’s still so much for me to process about my travels across this stunning country, but for now, Cat Ba is fresh on my mind and has cleared my thoughts a bit to share my time on this small island off the coast of North/East Vietnam.

A week ago, I started going back south after spending a week in the Northern Highlands. Waking up and falling ill the morning I was meant to travel, needless to say, a 12+ hour bus ride through the night was the absolute last thing I was jumping toward with excitement. The highlands dropped in temperature greatly the last few days I was there. All things aside, no matter if I was perfectly healthy or feeling my absolute worst, there was no doubt in my mind that I would get on that bus and set off to seek the sunshine!

What was this new feeling I had for the first time traveling in the last year and a half? Had I finally met my match?

One thing I couldn’t shake for the last few weeks was the weight on my mind—as if I couldn’t settle the thoughts running about and relax. As travel has become more normal for me, it’s been typical not to get as excited as most about heading to a destination because it’s just become part of my regular life. I’m just always “onto the next.” (It's not the best way to look at things; part of my discovery was shifting my mind to be more excited no matter my feelings of regularity.)

Since the excitement of travel has subsided a bit for me, I often take a couple of days to adjust to a new place and feel like I’ve got my feet on the ground, learning the ways of a new culture. Sometimes, throwing yourself into situations where you must put yourself out there and make many new friends quickly can be a challenge for some, even if you’re open and social. Getting into the swing of things can take a couple of days.

Although this time, a few days passed, a week passed, and yet I was still finding myself caught up in my mind, trying to solve what this feeling was and why I couldn’t seem to snap out of it! Here’s where I sat down and deciphered my thoughts on paper, realizing that Vietnam has taught me an incredible amount. Showing me the importance of my independence during this trip and the beauty of spending time with myself.

What a beautiful, empowering thing to be able to say: “I love myself enough to enjoy my own company, and I don’t need to rely on others for that comfort.” I’ve slowly realized this more over time, but if it wasn’t for traveling—especially in Vietnam—I’m not sure I would have taken a step back to think about it as much as I did the last few days.

Hello, and welcome to Cát Bà Island

Arriving in Ha Long Bay on my overnight bus, I arrived around 9 a.m. after riding through the night for about 12 hours. I woke to the yells of “Cát Bà!” and “Cát Bà off.” I guess this was my sign to start moving. We all loaded our things and retrieved our luggage from beneath the bus onto a new sleeper bus. Most travelers on the bus were Westerners or tourists from other Asian countries traveling with friends or family members. The new bus was smaller and had half the beds, so most people piled into a bunk with their travel partners. As for me, I picked a nice spot on the floor in the aisle because of the lack of space and enjoyed the rest of my 2-hour journey on the floor.

Welcome to backpacking!

After loading the bus onto the barge to take us from Ha Long to the island, we were dropped off at the center on the main road. My hostel was a short 5-minute walk, so getting a taxi was unnecessary, and it's always nice saving a bit of money! I strapped on my backpacks and arrived at the Oversleep Cát Bà for the next four nights. This was such a great hostel, located in the main part of the island and within walking distance to restaurants, beaches, tour companies, and everything you could need. For a backpacker, it was heaven not to spend money on taxis to get around the whole time.

On my bus, a group of British girls had been traveling for a bit and were also staying at the same hostel. We were all in the same dorm room and explored the island's beauty during my first day and a half there.

Is this real life?

Have you ever had a moment where you stop and think, "I feel like I'm in a movie right now...."? I thought I had this moment before, but now I have officially felt like I was standing in a scene from the James Cameron Avatar movie. Awestruck, I stood on a three-story boat looking into the beautiful Lan Ha Bay. Crystal blue waters stood still in the distance and cascaded close by as the boat passed through what looked like floating mountains made up of limestone towering about and topped with small little forests. The sunshine was finally hitting me, and I couldn't have picked a better moment to rest myself against the railing on the second floor of the boat. With the cool breeze rushing through me, I took a deep breath and thought, "How incredible to experience this moment in my lifetime."

Soaking in every bit of sunshine along the way, passing small floating fishing villages not far from the mainland. The floating village is known as one of Vietnam's oldest. The Cai Beo Village is home to over 300 homes. The families that live in the homes all have dogs that run about on the pathways between the fish pools for security. It was so fun seeing them all playing and running about on the platforms, weaving their way between the pools. For the children occupying the villages, a water taxi runs through the bays to all the small homes to take the children to the mainland for school and the others for various necessities. These small villages have gained their place as one of Vietnam's important archeological sites in the coastal islands of Northern Vietnam.

The people working on these small fish farms are of great importance. They provide massive economic benefits to Vietnam and generate a great seafood supply for the country and its export business. The floating villages farm several different fish breeds, including Barramundi, Tilapia, Cobia, and Grouper; even oyster farming is very popular in these waters! This was a special little discovery to stumble upon with a deep-rooted history of the country, and it was incredible to see that it is still thriving greatly. It was really interesting for me to see how this was done and learn more insight into how some aquatic farming is done in a country outside of my own. Getting to enjoy seafood on the island, I had more appreciation for the work that had gone into my dinner instead of just the cooking!

I found myself walking one morning to a small cafe not far from where I was staying called Tit and Mit. It was time to start letting the scrambled chaos in my mind out on paper. Before starting, I reached out to friends I met earlier in my travels to see how everyone was doing since going our separate ways. It wasn't long before I got a response: "Hey! I just got to Cat Ba". Hannah's party of one now turned to two!

I had been on the island for a few days and started learning my way around. Before coming to Cat Ba, I knew some construction was being done, and when I say construction, I don't mean your typical American road work, filling a few potholes. No, the entire beachfront is a construction zone. Of course, I can only speak for myself, but who doesn't want to take a few uninterrupted days to lay in the sand and sip on some pineapple juice while enjoying the sunshine? If you're heading to Cat Ba anytime soon, don't expect to enjoy the gorgeous beachfront at any cafes or restaurants on the main road. The construction is planned to last for quite a bit, but I'm hoping one day to return after a few of the locals mentioned the plan is to turn this quaint little spot into the "Vietnamese Maldives"!

Although you couldn't enjoy the beach by just walking down the street, it wasn't far that you had to go to find a few small beach access points to enjoy lying out and some swimming. I'm unsure if many knew about these little spots nestled behind some of the larger hotels or if Cat Ba was such a short stop for most travelers that they didn't have the time. I'm not complaining because as my friend and I walked down behind the rocks, there lay the beautiful beach. Quiet and not overcrowded, fresh open air, and the sound of waves meeting the shoreline. For me, there are two places where I find myself the calmest. The beach and the mountains. While I sat with sand beneath me, sunshine, and a breeze from above, I took a deep breath and thought, how incredible. I was lucky enough to have the beach and the mountains in one small little place.

You can always take photos and share videos during your travels to give an idea of what you're seeing in person to the ones you wish you could share some moments with but can't be there with you. Not all things can be captured, and sometimes, they cannot always be explained. What you see firsthand and the excitement and feelings you have while experiencing something in the moment cannot always be described. That is the beauty in it all, right? This is the importance of travel. You will never know what's out there unless you take some leaps into the unknown. I didn't plan to have this experience, and it was one that I couldn't capture. My attempt at explaining this incredible sight probably doesn't come close to what it was like living it.

During sunset, I set out to enjoy some beers with my friend as we rode back into Lan Ha Bay. After an hour's ride and a bit of dinner, we loaded into kayaks and paddled our way into the dark, with only a sliver of moonlight guiding us through the limestone mountains. We aimed to see these special little creatures found mainly in Lan Ha Bay: bioluminescent plankton. These little creatures can only be seen during certain times of the year (mostly dry seasons), and if you want the best experience, low moonlight is the best condition to see their beautiful neon blue glow.

Paddling out (hoping this wasn't a giant scam we just paid for) row after row, we seemed to be doing just some ordinary kayaking at night, but then, there it was. The water began to have bits of blue sparkle each time we dug our paddles into the water. As we continued on, the sparkles became waves of blue as we pushed ourselves further away from the light between the mountains. The darker it got, the kayaks glowed blue underneath as they glided through the water. This was yet another moment that made me feel that I was a part of Avatar. Blue little glowing creatures, what was next, a dragon?

I know this sounds so simple. You're probably wondering why I'm awestruck by these little marine organisms, but that was my learning lesson or maybe a reminder. Just allow life to flow where it's meant to go. I had heard about these little guys in other countries, even the United States. Maybe they aren't all that special, or maybe some of us had seen them before and thought it wasn't that great. On this night, the conditions for the plankton aligned to see their glow shine bright, and if I hadn't taken the leap without a plan in mind, I would have missed what is probably on my list of the coolest moments while traveling the world.

My last few days in Cat Ba, without even realizing it, I began waking up with ease. As I mentioned before, a large part of traveling is putting yourself out there. Relying on other travelers for help and locals who don't always speak English. I enjoy slow travel. I think it's so important to discover what places are truly like, and also help gain comfortability in places when you take the time to learn your way around towns. Vietnam was the first country I've been to where there are SO MANY cities to see! So many towns nestled in with abundant things to do in each place. I'm honestly not sure what an adequate amount of time would be to explore this country because I've been here almost a month and haven't even come close to seeing half of it!

This said, many travelers spend only a night or two in cities before they board a bus to the next spot. I found it harder to make friends while I've been here and, at the time, felt alone. Writing about my experiences in my journal made me realize that I wasn't feeling lonely, but I was missing connections with people because we are all moving about so quickly. This was my first encounter not making friends as quickly to explore with. Even though parts of my travel were slow, others had their own plan. I wondered why, earlier in my trip, all of my thoughts and feelings disappeared and then crept back. That was when I thought deeply about the fact that I was with a group during the start of Vietnam, traveling for days with each other and spending every waking moment together. We all became a family quickly. After that, It was a bit of a struggle again.

This was the biggest lesson and turning point for me. The reality is that travel isn't glamorous; it's sometimes not easy, exhausting, and mentally draining. Now, I don't mean sitting in resorts and having waiters serve me cocktails type of travel. I mean getting down to the nitty gritty side of it all, carrying your life on your back. Traveling consumes you; it takes you on one of the wildest rides of your life, and life isn't always rainbows and sunshine. Remembering that I'm human and it was okay to be sitting on a beach in Vietnam, confused if I was sad, burnt out, or maybe even homesick. I didn't need to tell myself I should be grateful because I'm here, and some people wish they could be doing the same. Social media, including mine, doesn't always show the exhausting part of the cultural differences you're faced with and the daily obstacles you navigate. Cat Ba gave me the time to recharge myself while soaking up some of the most breathtaking landscapes, which seem unrealistic in photos. I know these feelings are going to find me again at some point, and I'm always going to think back to Cat Ba and how it has shaped me as a person.

Vietnam has shown me so many new sides to being a backpacker. From here, I'm going to keep on pushing, processing, and cherishing this wild ride so that I can continue to share more about this incredible place!