What five months in Vietnam cost Andrea and Keith
Andrea and Keith of No Fly Zone Nomads are a Canadian couple who retired early, sold everything and now travel full-time without flying. In "What Traveling Vietnam for 5 Months ACTUALLY Cost Us: Full Summary & Daily Total," published on their YouTube channel on September 25, 2026, they total what 157 days in Vietnam cost them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjbTn043KjM
By their count, the bottom line was $22,667 Canadian, which they convert to US$16,374, for 157 days and 157 hotel nights. That works out, they say, to $144 Canadian a day on average, or US$104, for the two of them. The figure covers accommodation, food, overland transport and the incidentals of full-time travel.
The video runs 8 minutes 28 seconds. They go category by category: transport, then food, then accommodation, then the extras they chose not to itemize, and finish with their grand total and daily average. Everything below is their own account and their own figures, not a current budget. Play the video above for their full breakdown, and find more on their channel, No Fly Zone Nomads. Senior Travel Insider's earlier page follows the overland journey that began this stay: Bangkok to Vietnam Without Flying: No Fly Zone Nomads' Three Days Overland.
What you'll see in the video
- 0:37 Two trips, nine places. They made two separate trips to Vietnam: February, March and April, then China, then June, July and part of August. On those overland trips they visited Hanoi, Hai Phong, Lan Ha Bay, Vinh, Dong Hoi, Dong Ha, Hue, Da Nang and Hoi An.
- 1:14 Transport, all on the ground. Because they don't fly, there are no flights in their costs, only hired drivers, Grab taxis and trains. They recall train trips from $7 up to a $500 overnight luxury train and Grab rides across Da Nang for "a couple of dollars each way"; the currency isn't stated for either. They also describe three private car-and-driver trips from Hanoi, arranged on WhatsApp. Their transport total: $1,745 Canadian, or US$1,261, for nine train trips, three hired cars with drivers and near-daily Grab rides (2:34).
- 2:53 Food. Meals from a street-vendor bánh mì to what they call a "Michelin star rated restaurant," plus Mexican, Argentinian and Lebanese food, though Vietnamese food became their favorite. Their food line also covers groceries, coffee, snacks, fruit and the occasional bottle of wine. Their food total: $4,543 Canadian, or US$3,282 (4:31).
- 4:53 Accommodation. Beach resorts, "cool, funky, local boutique hotels" and larger chains, each with different amenities, including a Crowne Plaza with club-lounge access. Their accommodation total: $14,388 Canadian, or US$10,394, for 157 nights (5:47).
- 6:00 Subtotal and the extras. Transport, food and accommodation together came to $20,676 Canadian; their on-screen graphic gives US$14,937. They list what else they spent on without pricing it: two medical visits, two dental cleanings, medications, and replacement clothes and shoes.
- 6:36 Grand total and daily average. Everything together came to $22,667 Canadian, which their graphic gives as US$16,374. That is $144 Canadian, or US$104, a day on average, over 157 hotel nights.
What the video doesn't cover:
- the year of the trips;
- how long they stayed in each place;
- the names of their hotels other than the Crowne Plaza, or which city that hotel was in;
- their train routes, and whether the fares they mention were per person;
- what each hired car cost;
- how they paid for their hotels or got lounge access;
- how much the unitemized extras came to.
157 days, 157 hotel nights
Part of Andrea and Keith's Vietnam food budget went on breakfasts they bought themselves. They had no lounge access until their last 60 nights, which they spent in Da Nang. Before that, they say, many of their hotels didn't serve breakfast, so they bought breakfast food to keep in the room. Calling themselves "big coffee snobs," they also bought bags of Vietnamese coffee, ground or as beans to grind themselves, for a good cup each morning. They call it "totally worth it." The occasional bottle of red wine, they add, was "snuck into one of those bags, too," and snacks and fruit for the room are counted as well. All of it, they explain, is in their food total (3:41).
Their stay came in two parts: February to April, then, after time in China, June to part of August (0:37). They moved on the ground the whole time, by train, Grab and hired car. One of them calls food their favorite expense of the 157 days. They kept eating out even late in the stay, when they were in hotels in Da Nang.
For sleeping, they mixed beach resorts, boutique hotels and larger chains. Boutique hotels often included only breakfast, so they still went out for other meals. At a Crowne Plaza with club-lounge access, they say, the lounge fed them often, though not at every meal (5:19). They stayed in hotels for all 157 nights.
Senior Travel Insider's reading of their figures: of the three categories they itemized, accommodation was by far the largest, ahead of food and then transport.
They are careful about what the total means. "This is just what our total cost came to," they say, adding that they have met travelers who spend more and others who spend less (7:07). They loved their time in Vietnam and say they can't wait to come back. They don't give a date for a return (7:28).
What Andrea and Keith suggest
- They say you will very likely use Grab every day. They used it nearly daily and call it extremely affordable, especially in Da Nang. (1:45)
- They suggest a private car and driver for long distances. They call it economical in Vietnam and, they say, throughout Southeast Asia. (1:59)
- They found WhatsApp-booked drivers very convenient. The company sets up a private chat with the details and sends a photo of the car and its licence plate in advance, so you know whose car you're getting into. (2:17)
- They look for hotels with a gym and a pool. They say a lounge is nice too, even if it isn't a club lounge, as somewhere else to sit and do a bit of work. (5:34)
- They encourage everyone to visit Vietnam. They suggest it for "geo arbitrage," to save money on a full-time adventure, or for the people, the countryside, the food and the range of places to stay. (7:41)
These suggestions come from Andrea and Keith's video published September 25, 2026, and prices and rules can change.