The Journal — Marti Kim Robin

Culture-first travel stories, practical guides, personal essays, and honest recommendations from Marti Kim Robin.

• My Tho and the Mekong Delta: A Day on the River: A family day trip from Ho Chi Minh City took us down the Mekong River on a boat that wouldn't stop rocking, and left me thinking about how much of Vietnam actually depends on that river.
• Living in Ho Chi Minh City: What Southeast Asia's Cities Taught Me About Kindness: Different cities, different cultures — but the same quiet kindness kept showing up everywhere I went across Southeast Asia.
• Đà Lạt: Vietnam's Cool-Weather Escape: A sleeper bus out of Hồ Chí Minh City's heat dropped us into somewhere that felt like a completely different country — cold, foggy, and slow in a way I didn't know I needed.
• Thailand for First-Time Visitors: What Surprised Me Most: I crossed into Thailand expecting a foreign country. I left thinking about how much it reminded me of home, one slow train ride at a time.
• The Joy of Slow Mornings While Traveling: I used to wake up traveling with a checklist in my head. Vietnam taught me to start with coffee, presence, and one gentle plan, and somehow the whole day opened up.
• My First Time in Malaysia: A Birthday Solo Trip to Kuala Lumpur: I gave myself a birthday gift in August 2017: a solo trip to Kuala Lumpur. I came for the skyline and the food, but I left with a deeper respect for how many cultures can share one city with harmony.
• A Day of Street Food in Bangkok: What Locals Actually Eat: I went looking for pad thai. I left with a city that fed me everywhere I turned. A queue of locals, a night market, and one last curry I couldn't finish saying goodbye to.
• What I Learned From Angkor Wat Beyond Its Beauty: I went to Angkor Wat expecting beauty. I left thinking about time, convenience, and the kind of respect a place like this asks from you.
• The Beauty of Ordinary Days While Traveling: Not every travel day is a big plan. Sometimes it is the slow rhythm: coffee, familiar streets, and the quiet relief of not rushing anywhere.
• My First Solo Trip to Cambodia from Vietnam: I left Vietnam by bus because I had to. I came back with something I didn’t expect: a quieter mind, a clearer instinct, and the first real spark of my travel blogging dream.
• What Teaching English in Vietnam Taught Me About Community: After I got my TESOL certificate and started teaching in Ho Chi Minh City, I was culture-shocked by how fast Vietnam was growing, and how essential English had become. But what stayed with me most wasn’t the pace. It was the people: my students, my co-teachers, and the everyday life that slowly made me feel like I belonged.
• Why Vietnam Will Always Feel Like a Second Home: I arrived in Ho Chi Minh City on March 2016 with more hope than certainty. I didn’t have the full plan. I just had a quiet yes in my chest, and a city that would eventually feel like home.
• The Cubicle Years in Cebu: How I Built a Life I Could Carry: In 2012, I worked the graveyard shift in Cebu. I was grateful, but I felt empty. This is the story of that practical chapter, and the simple system that helped me stay steady when life felt like paycheck to paycheck.
• What Singapore Taught Me About Time, Work, and Meaningful Travel: Singapore was the first place that showed me how big life could get, and how fast it could move. This is the story of my 2010 internship at InterContinental Singapore, and the mindset reset I wish every first-time international traveler had.
• Travel With Meaning: 5 Questions Before You Go: If you want to travel but you also need to work, you are not doing it wrong. This is my Soft, Grounded, Culture-first travel manifesto, plus a 5-question compass to help you travel with intention and come home changed.