Still want the adventure?
Just not the hassle?
We spent three weeks travelling through Vietnam — from Hanoi and Ha Giang to boats, trains, tiny restaurants, beaches, and lantern-lit streets.
We came home with hundreds of photographs and a growing obsession with Vietnam.
We wish we'd known a few things before we went.
So we turned it into a guide.
20 things we wish we'd known before we went to Vietnam
Plus the bits we'd do again.
Real places. Practical advice. Things we'd do differently. A route through Vietnam for people who still want to feel like they're travelling — not being processed through a holiday.
This is the guide we'd give a friend.
Where we'd spend money. Where we'd save it.
Why we'd slow down in Lan Ha Bay.
Why Ha Giang was extraordinary.
Why we'd happily sit on a plastic stool eating something brilliant — and pay more for a decent hotel and a good night's sleep.
When we'd arrange a driver.
When we'd take the train.
And when we'd stop planning and see what happened.
Hassle isn't.
That's the idea behind Detour + Discover.
Vietnam, with the useful bits kept in.
Hanoi
How to stop trying to understand it and start enjoying it.
Ha Giang
The mountain journey we'd cross half the world to do again.
Lan Ha Bay
Why slowing down mattered.
Ninh Binh
Boats, bikes, limestone mountains — and why we'd give Ninh Binh more time.
Eating Vietnam
Bánh mì, tiny restaurants, cold beer — and why some of the cheapest meals were the best.
Da Nang + Hoi An
Beach, food, lanterns, crowds, and why popular doesn't automatically mean avoid.
The Detail
Money, Grab, getting around, luggage, weather, hotels and the small decisions that remove friction.
Plus
What we'd do differently, what we'd repeat, and the two-week route we'd recommend.
We thought we were going on holiday.
We weren't researching a travel company.
No business plan, no clipboard, no scoring system for hotels.
It was just the two of us travelling through Vietnam.
But somewhere between a mountain road in Ha Giang, a boat in Ninh Binh and another conversation about whether something was brilliantly authentic or a massive pain in the arse, an idea formed.
We realised we weren't backpackers.
But we weren't luxury travellers either.
We still wanted to get lost, get dirty, eat things we couldn't pronounce and wake up somewhere we'd never been.
We just wanted a decent bed at the end.And we wondered why travel wasn't designed this way more often.
That became Detour + Discover.
The energy and spontaneity of independent travel, with somebody quietly handling the parts that eat your time or cause stress.
This little guide is where it starts.
Vietnam is where the idea began. It will be our first journey.
Ewan + Kez
Detour + Discover
Vietnam with the useful bits left in.
Twenty things we'd wish we'd known. The things we'd do again. And none of the generic travel-guide filler.