Dear Mom,
(Real Mom, I'm hoping and continuing to Hope that your healing progresses with blessing, and that you'll be able to come as planned in December.) Other Moms, some of you have said you're also hoping to come for a visit and we are so excited!
So here's all the things some of the many things to think about:
First of all, you can get your e-visa up to 6 months ahead of time, so the time is already now: https://vietnamchases.blogspot.com/2025/07/vietnam-e-visa.html
When you're arranging your flights, check flights to DAD from your originating airport, but don't be alarmed if the cost is super high. Next check flights from SEA/SFO/LAX to DAD, because usually if you get a domestic flight to that outgoing city (keep several hours of bumper time to allow for luggage retrieval and checking in for the international flight) it's a lot cheaper to just do your international flight from one of those three.
While you're still home using your own phone (and you do have a phone that is provider-unlocked for international travel, right?) please download these two apps and then create a login and authenticate your phone # for both of them: Zalo and Grab. Allow/authorize them both to send you notifications, and ultimately you will give Grab your credit card info, too.
Credit cards! You'll want to verify that you're carrying a primary credit card that charges no international use fees. Most debit cards (only use them in ATMs--nothing else) will hit you with an international use fee from home as well as a 2% fee charged by the local machine, but if you get a checking account at Charles Schwab they 1) don't charge an international use fee and 2) they repay the fee charged by the ATM here. So it's a double win, and if international travel is something you'll do a lot, I can heartily recommend Schwab. If you bring cash, bring the most pristine, unmarked, crisp, clean, new-style $100 bills you can find.
You'll usually be flying through Korea or Taiwan. I haven't developed a preference for either option, and I'm able to recommend nice ways to spend long layovers in either place. Let me know about your flights.
Our airplane-sleeping strategy: We boarded the plane Stateside and each watched half of a movie and took a sleeping pill before they came by with an airplane meal, and then we put on eye masks and dropped off for something like 6 hours of sleep. When we woke up, we only had 3-4 more hours of flying to do before landing. Then we slept a little on the final flight to Da Nang. Basically, sleep as much as you can, with help from a sleeping pill, while you are flying.
Customs in Da Nang airport is straightforward. Follow the throng through the halls and finally down the escalator. Stand in any long line as long as it doesn't say "Vietnamese Citizens." The word ASEAN has a meaning but you can stand in any of those other lines, including an ASEAN line. You won't need your eVisa (I think)--just your passport. By the way, please send me a good picture of your passport page ahead of time, because we'll need to submit that to the hotel and various police authorities depending on where you stay.
After customs, get your luggage. After luggage and before exiting the airport, it is wickedly important that you get your phone working with local cellular data. Just sidle up to the friendly people at the SIM card counter and offer them a $100 bill to make your phone(s) happy. Get your change in local VND, even though the exchange rate is slightly less than optimal--you're only missing out on a couple of dollars (theoretically, there's a money-changing counter you can go to before the SIM card counter, but they're never open when I come through, and there's no ATM inside the airport). Once you leave the airport, it's a headache to get your phone working, and YES you need your phone working here.
After you've got your luggage and a working cell phone, notify me via Facebook, Zalo, or WhatsApp that you've ARRIVED. Wheel your luggage out the exit doors near the SIM card counter and don't expect anyone to want to check your baggage. It's almost awkward how they 100% wave people through and don't want to see in anyone's bag. We'll be nearby but not actively watching the exit doors, and I'll be glad to get your message and come help get you into one of the waiting taxis and whisk you away into this traveler's paradise.
Love,
Tim/Janet