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When I was 25 years old I made a sweeping declaration that I would never ride a motorcycle, dirt bike, quad, ATV, or any other two-wheeled or off road vehicle again. They scared the shit out of me… Well, four and half years later, who whoulda thunk it? I’m not only driving scooters all over Southeast Asia as a means of transportation but I drove a motorbike through the mountainous Ha Giang Loop in northern Vietnam! As cliche as the sang is, “never say never.”

Travel friendships are uniquely different than any other type of friendships. People who don’t travel, or who have never bonded with other travelers on the road, might not realize how fast and deep travel friendships develop.

Now, experienced with long haul buses in Vietnam, I convinced the Londoner to take the bus with me instead of flying- insisting it was something he had to experience! He agreed. The other guy was going to take a day longer than us to get there since he was traveling by motorcycle, so, before we left the island, we all pre-booked our hostel in Ho Chi Minh and made plans to meet up.

Not many of the travelers I meet make it to Phu Quoc Island. When I tell people I went, they give me a look of disappointment and ask… “was it good?” hoping I’ll say it was crappy so they feel better about skipping it. My response is always the same “Sooooooo good! You should definitely go if you have the time!” Then I watch as their look of disappointment turns to longing envy.

One night, I overheard guys in my dorm room talking about Starfish Beach. Having never heard of it before, I looked it up. I quickly discovered it was on Phu Quoc- a Vietnamese island I’d also never heard of before. Between the mystery of an unknown place and my longing to get out of the city again, I wanted to go.