Hey ya! It's Yennie here, thank you for your interst in getting to know our family's story.

It took us a few years until we have finally had the time to sit down and reflect on the very first days when we built the home.

But now as we're here, looking back on the past, it's been a few amazing years, especially the two biggest milestones: 2015 and 2019.

In 2015,

In 2015, I made it to the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, specializing in Tourism and Hospitality. It was the best choice – I got to tour Saigon as a student and met so many great friends from across the globe. They gave me the passion of keeping it up and introducing the best of Vietnam to travelers worldwide.

My guests made me proud of my country's culture and history, and I never got tired of reading and learning more about this extensive coastal S-shaped country.

Then I started taking them back to my hometown Vinh Long, as a brief getaway from Saigon for an overnight stay rather than hopping aboard a tour bus for a day-trip and returning to the busy city on the same day. These tours are great – but way too short and rushing for some.

On a chilly random afternoon after in 2016, a Romanian couple entered my mom's coffee shop asking for wifi.

Yeah, they were in a desperate need of an accommodation to rest their tired legs on their walking trip.

They got the right help – but beyond that, I asked my mother if that's was okay to host them for a night – simply because we walked for 20 minutes to the nearest guest house only to realize they couldn't host foreigners. So, we walked back to our home and we set up the guest room for this lovely couple.

We're glad they had a soulful sleep – and a delicious lunch waiting on them after they woke up the next day.

We had so much fun chatting about lives and dreams – and that's when they told us: "You should open an Airbnb!".

I threw my head back feeling surprised, inspired, and scared at the same time.

I didn't think it would work out. We simply didn't have much money, no one in our family had any experience hosting. And let's face it – I was 20, young and dumb – basically terrified of the future. My mind was flushed with dreams and hopes but nothing seemed clear at the moment.

And yay, quarter life crisis kicked in finally – in the winter of 2017!

"Now what's next?" – asked myself.

Not sure whether or not I should stay in Saigon to pursue my tour guide career or switching to be a content writer (which was also an option).

I cried almost everyday. Mom told me we could host people with an Airbnb thing. I didn't believe in her – or in myself!

So I decided to run away to Dalat for a week. In case you're wondering where it is, Dalat is a top tourist destination in central Vietnam, about 7 hours drive from Saigon, blanketed with pine forests and a super chilly weather.

Dalat was not an ideal place to cure anxiety and depression.

My accommodation is nestled in a pine forest, with glass walls facing trees and hills. It's dreamy, beautiful, but also mystic and depressing to look at.

I cried to bed everynight, closing the curtains so no one could see me struggling.

From then on, every day started with waking up at 11:00 am, staying in bed for a couple of hours more, reading Mark Manson's Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**k, and wandering on the streets of Dalat with headphones on, and crying – again – by the lake of Xuan Huong.

But little did I know that the very last day before I decided to come home, it was a leap of faith – I realized what I wanted to do with my life!

"Mom, I made up my mind. I wanna be a host. So, let's build something together, I wanna take care of people" – written on a message sent to mom while was drinking boba tea.

"Kay, deal!" – she briefly said.

Deep down in my heart, I wanna be a helpful person. I wanted a slow living style, a cottage house wrapped by greenery where people come in and feel like home.

We didn't really have a place like that yet, either money or space.

December 2019.

So I used up all of my savings, a few from my parents' savings, we built two little rooms with basic amenities. That was in December 2019.

We were so happy with that. Then I brought Tommy the Dog home when he was three months old, and we went from there.

The very first guests were a German couple. Yeah, in the middle of the night when I got a notification from Airbnb, I bursted into tears, waking up my mom when she was fast asleep (shouldn't have done that!) – she was happy and partially skeptical.

"Really, oh that's nice!" – she said.

… and the rest is history.

And now we are here, five-ish years in and we've met you. I never really thought we would be able to go this far. But we put our hearts and souls into this place. We kept learning, overcoming doubts, reading reports, training oursevles, and learning from our guests.

"Be better every day" – we live by the motto.

Thank you for coming, really, we feel so lucky to be part of your Vietnam adventure. You may have plenty of choices out there, but you still spend some time at our home sweet home and get to know our story.

That's our goal!

Enjoy your stay