Author Archives: Brandin Kreuder

I’ll start by saying Da Nang is a city I never imagined myself returning to, let alone pondering as a place to call home. But in late 2025 as my desire to leave America increased, I set my sights on this coastal city. In the last few years Da Nang has begun a transformation intoContinue reading “3.5 Weeks in Đà Nẵng — Vietnam”

It was a grey morning as my sleeper bus from Saigon rolled into a station in the far western extremities of Nha Trang. I hadn’t seen weather like this yet on my trip. Rain seemed imminent, but it held off. (This time of the year is typically quite clear in the south, but here approachingContinue reading “One Week in Nha Trang, Vietnam”

Following my New Year’s holiday in Mexico I made the long journey to Asia for a much anticipated return trip to Vietnam. People have asked why I have been so keen on Vietnam—well, it was the first country I traveled to on my 3-month South East Asia backpacking trip in 2022 and it left aContinue reading “One Week in Vũng Tàu — Vietnam”

My seventh annual New Year’s trip abroad was loosely planned for Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon, Vietnam (key word – loosely). I’d been plotting my return to the South East Asian country for a few months, keen to snowbird there for the winter. However, my attempt to travel there on standby (via LAX to Hong Kong)Continue reading “New Year’s 2026 – From Mérida to Hong Kong”

Manic, Gay, and Restless – these are the words that reflect my state of mind visiting the Taiwanese capital of Taipei last month. This introductory trip to East Asia came exactly a year after my overstimulating and jolting trip to India. Taipei came to feel like the antithesis to that India trip – it wasContinue reading “Taipei – My Introduction to East Asia”

Continuing on from Part I, the fourth day of the Huayhuash Trek put us through a strange mixture of sun, clouds, hail, and more sun before finally worrying us with a pretty heavy snow by dinner time. That night Michael – one of our three travelers from Quebec – had waited until his girlfriend SaraContinue reading “The Huayhuash Trek, Peru – Part II”

For several years I’d heard of a city called Huaraz, a base for trekking enthusiasts that is also known as the hiking capital of Peru (and no, this is not where Machu Picchu is, that would be much further south near Cusco). I had attempted to travel to Huaraz last summer, but weather and standbyContinue reading “The Huayhuash Trek, Peru – Part I”

It has been over six months since my last foreign trip, where in Buenos Aires on New Year’s Eve I had the horrifying experience of being violently attacked. It felt like the final straw in a year of turbulent travel moments, each begging me slow down and re-evaluate both what I was doing, and whereContinue reading “Rediscovering France: One Week in Angers”