(CC BY-ND) Photos credits — Marion Plisson

Here is the first post of a theme related to our expatriation to Vietnam, sharing memories while (I can remember :-) they are still fresh.

Partir c’est mourir un peu… [Leaving is dying a little]

Leave, change of life environment. After 5 years living in California, my wife and I were ready for a change. We struggled so much (and still are) to get a green card, which with my current visa, makes it forbidden for my wife to work (damn H4), that it was time to move. With the project of my company at the time, to expand into new offices, we had the opportunity to move to another country to open a new office and open our horizon. Which country? Vietnam! A great place to build offshore engineering team: many young educated people, high growth economy, …

Opportunity

Like the opportunity that brought us to California, it was a dream chance. So we worked together to make it happen. Marion, my fantastic wife, took charge of logistics and planning: moving with our 2 kids, 1 cat and all our stuff to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). Ready, set, go! Record breaking performance: in a few months (we had to move during the summer because of school year) it was a reality! Impressive, no?

My part was easier in retrospective: a lot of paperwork to establish a company office in Vietnam. My daily job stayed the same, I was working remotely already with my client on the East coast and the team in Bangalore.

April 2012, we get the visas for Vietnam!

July 2012, our container is on its way to Saigon. So are we!