Leah Lewis Instagram – I spoke to a local here who was kind enough to share some of the thinking brought over here through tourism. “Your country is so beautiful, you are so lucky,” “Life moves so slowly here,” “You live in paradise!” While this country is rich with natural beauty, yes, her opinions were honest and from the heart as she explained that life is far from slow. As a native Vietnamese woman that grew up in the country side with the world of responsibility and expectation on her back and her back only, she still said “Actually, no”. Things were not always “beautiful” to her as she struggled to make ends meet until she was able to get to a place in life where food, shelter and taking care of her loved ones around her was accessible. She said this with a very matter of fact tone as well, not insulted, but plainly accounting for reality. As a visitor, there are many things things I consider when going to certain places, especially rural ones, and getting to know people, standing in a position of privilege to even be there as a visitor to begin with. The things we take for granted sometimes don’t even come as a second thought to us, but they also don’t come as a second thought for many people who don’t have resources to see or achieve things beyond their situation. That doesn’t change either or situation when you compare one another, but the addition of perspective sure provides a godly amount of gratitude for the things you have, curiosity around what you can do with those things too to give back to those around you, and how to respect those with different ways of life by choosing to understand why and where they are before you think you just “know”. We don’t know. And how interesting is it to just ask? Here’s some film photos from all around with a couple iPhone photos smushed in. This was just one experience when visiting the Northern countryside and i can’t speak for other places where I didn’t get to chat as much ❤️🇻🇳