Hunting in Hanoi
How the right café can turn digital nomad life into a dream come true
📍Hanoi, Vietnam
One day in Hanoi, I found myself wandering between coffee shops and suddenly realized something strange - here it's better to eat out than to buy groceries. The prices are so cheap that a street meal costs only about $1.50. Oh, and maybe it's also because I don't have a microwave, oven, or a decent pan to make eggs in 💔
I understood that I simply needed to leave the house to get food. Literally go hunting.
I sometimes think about life in ancient times, how people had to go out and hunt for their food to survive. How did they do it? How did they survive?
My hunting day is a tour between pleasant coffee shops. So pleasant that they completely changed my perception of how a coffee shop should feel.
When I visited El Nido, Philippines, I tried to work from coffee shops for a day, and it was a complete failure. It was too hot, too noisy, the WiFi decided to take a vacation, everything was too expensive, and I felt pressured to order more and more as the waiters' eyes bored into me every three minutes.
But here in Hanoi, I discovered a completely different culture. Here they embrace digital nomads, as if they're a natural part of the landscape. Working from coffee shops is truly amazing - you just need to choose the right place.
I started my morning at a lovely coffee shop located a 7-minute walk from my apartment. I found excellent iced coffee and an egg sandwich exactly how I like it! Ah, how wonderful to find these little things that feel like home even when you're not home at all.
I sat there for about an hour and decided to keep moving. The next coffee shop was one I'd researched online, and the videos showed stunning views from a high floor. People sitting with laptops in a room that looked polished like an office, and most importantly - air conditioning.
I arrived there and after ordering coffee on the first floor, I took the elevator and reached the perfect office! Quiet, almost empty of people, well air-conditioned, amazing views of the lake, and no staring waiters. The ultimate work environment! It's as if someone asked me, "What does your ideal coffee shop look like in your imagination?" and then built it. I realized I need laboratory conditions to concentrate, and that includes a comfortable temperature - so air conditioning isn't a luxury, it's essential.
Because of this, I happily spent a 4-hour shift there, feeling like a startup CEO in a meeting with myself.
I continued my tour only because I was looking for a good meal, and that coffee shop only serves desserts. This is very common here - most coffee shops only serve sweets with coffee and don't maintain a full kitchen. So different from Western coffee shops, where the menu looks like a culinary encyclopedia.
On the same street, I saw a variety of local restaurants until I reached one with people inside. If there's something I've learned in my travels, especially in developing countries, it's that you should eat where there's a turnover of people. This rule ensures that the food served is actually fit for consumption, and doesn't end with a trip to the emergency room.
Sometimes, when I pass a street food stall that smells amazing, I have to resist if there's no one around. Maybe that's the true courage challenge in nomadic life - not bungee jumping or traveling solo, but knowing when to pass up the tempting smell of mysterious food.
I wanted to sit at the first table I saw, but then the waitress guided me with a smile: "We have an area inside, come see."
I entered curiously, only to discover a breathtaking terrace with a view of the lake. Wow. This is how Vietnam looked in my imagination. Such pastoral beauty, so much green, tranquility. As if someone took a postcard image of "tropical paradise" and turned it into reality.
I sat down and browsed the menu until I found beef noodle soup for about $1.50. If I'm going to do this, I might as well go fully local, I thought.
The waitress came to take my order and didn't really speak English. When I pointed to the salad bowl of the woman sitting next to me, because I didn't see it on the menu, she nodded "yes, yes" with an enthusiasm that made me feel like my choice was an act of culinary genius.
The soup arrived quickly, along with the salad. So apparently the waitress thought I wanted the same soup as the woman next door and gave me fish soup instead of beef. That's okay, it was excellent. I enjoyed every bite, the flavors in Vietnamese cuisine are rich and sharp like a chef's knife. The soup was perfect, the view was magical, the atmosphere was wonderful. Is this what paradise feels like? I think it's even better.
I remained alone on the terrace, and the waitress came and gave me the bill. Interesting, usually they do this when closing the register, according to my hospitality experience, but maybe here it's different, I thought as I paid.
I sat to finish my soup at leisure, and only on my way out did I see that there really wasn't anyone in the restaurant, the lights were off, and someone was lying asleep on the floor, covered with a blanket. Oh. Oops. They must have actually closed. But it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. Is this some kind of Vietnamese siesta? Or was I simply the last customer and didn't catch the hint?
I left and thanked the waitress with a quiet "thank you" so as not to wake the sleepers, and continued on my way to the next coffee shop. This time I came across a coffee shop that looked decorated in gold with an inviting modern design. I entered and descended stairs into a sort of magical rabbit hole, as if Alice in Wonderland had opened her own place.
I found another oasis for nomads. Young guys sitting with laptops, comfortable-looking chairs, WiFi without a password! That was the ultimate seal of approval. I ordered coconut iced coffee - another famous Vietnamese symbol, and it was excellent! I like my coffee sweet, so I knew I'd get along well in Vietnam.
I spent a few more hours there until it was time to go home. Feeling full, satisfied, and with a growing list of places to return to.
This day, the second in number, that I spent working from coffee shops, was wonderful and pleasant! It made me want to do it again and again, and I realized that this is how my days here are going to look.
Hanoi's coffee shop culture has changed my worldview. Maybe it's not fish soup or coconut coffee I came looking for, but this feeling - of a place that accepts you exactly as you are, gives you the space to work, create, and simply be. And this, I found in abundance.
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