I arrived in Vietnam a little over a year ago with my husband. To be honest, after three years of travelling, Vietnam didn’t seem quite as exciting at first as I had become used to.
It was a new country where we didn’t know anything or anyone. We had no friends, no familiar surroundings, nothing that felt like home. Then the rainy season started, and we immersed ourselves in work.
We both work online now, without leaving the house. Before we started travelling, I used to work in a big company and later in a gym, where it was always noisy and there were always people around. And suddenly, there was silence.
My entire social life was limited to video calls with my clients.
We spent four months like that. And I felt lonely.
My husband plays basketball, and sometimes I would go with him and run at the nearby stadium. A few times, I noticed a group of people who looked incredibly happy and friendly. But they were all speaking English.
I thought it would be great to join them, but it was difficult for me for two reasons. First, I had already gotten used to being on my own. And second, at that time, speaking English was really hard for me. I could barely understand what people were saying.
Joining them felt like a huge step outside my comfort zone.
Then, once again, I came across the group on Instagram and decided to message the person who ran it. I still remember how nervous I was because I hardly spoke English at all. But Elliot told me that after a couple of training sessions, I would be fine.
So I joined.
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It was my first experience of being part of an international community, and I was genuinely surprised by all these kind people around me who supported me from my very first run.
More than that, these were people who shared my passion for all kinds of physical activities, and that was such a match with what I believe in. I’m a personal fitness coach, and my job is to inspire people to move more and become healthier.
Three months later, I ran my first half marathon.
I became much more confident speaking English. Together with Tag, I held my first stretching class for a group of more than 30 people as part of the preparation for an international half marathon. I did it in a language that wasn’t my own, and it eventually became a tradition.
We ran together. We celebrated together. I made friends who were heading in the same direction as me.
And if you travel, you know how important that is: having that feeling that you are not alone.
Eventually, I found the courage to organize my own stretching class, with a lot of support from Tag.
My husband joined us too. And after 12 years together, during which we had never ran together, we somehow found another thing we could share. Now we can run together and enjoy that.
I have always felt a great deal of support from this community, and for me, it is equally important to give something back and contribute in my own way.
Vietnam opened up to us from a completely unexpected and beautiful side, and I don’t think that would have been possible without the support of Tag.
Tag brings people together, and being part of it has been an incredible experience.
