My first “aha” moment happened today during our trip to the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam. Until now, most of our time has been spent in the bustling city of Ho Chi Minh, with little interaction outside of its urban core. Today was the first real opportunity to see how people live in other parts of the country, and it truly opened my eyes. As we drove the two hours to Bến Tre Province, I saw wide stretches of land with just a few people, two to five at a time, working in rice fields. In the U.S., we have farmland too, especially in rural Tennessee, but I’ve never actually seen people out in the fields working on them. That visual alone was powerful! Then, when we boarded a boat to navigate the Mekong, I was struck by how many boats were on the water. For many people here and in even more rural areas, that’s their main form of transportation, besides motorbikes. On the island we visited, there weren’t many cars, just narrow paths and horse-drawn carts, which we used to get around.

This moment taught me that the best way to understand a culture is to step beyond its major cities. By visiting the Mekong Delta, I gained a deeper appreciation for the diversity of life across Vietnam. It reminded me to stay curious and explore beyond the typical tourist stops, because that’s where you find the real stories.