Published:  16:35 Tuesday - March 27, 2012

In one article with the title: “18 Best Places to Retire Oversea” published in the U.S. News & World Report, a famous American magazine, the journalist Kathleen Peddicord assessed Vietnam is one of the more and more favorite destinations for foreign people. In the coming few years, Vietnam will attract more attention of the world.

According to Kathleen Peddicord, cost of living is one of the important considerations to select a suitable place for retirement. The super-low cost of living is great, but more important is quality of life their retirement budget is buying them. When Vietnam is mentioned as one of the 18 best places to retire overseas, the journalist pays special attention to the coastal Nha trang city. Only 1000 foreigners live in this city of total 200 000 people.

The tourists will find no organized activities for foreigners such as expats clubs or softball leagues. This helps them easily interact with the locals. Under his estimate, the cost of living in Nha trang is just less than $1000/month for a couple of retirees.

This is not the first time the journalist Kathleen Peddicord appreciated Vietnam, especially Nha trang. In last October, in an article “One Retiree's New Life in Nha Trang”, he brimmed over with appraisals of the pleasant life in the coastal Nha trang.

The article told about an American woman retiree, and her daily life in Nha trang. She is Wendy Justice, who leaves America for vietnam in order to hear the rooster's sound in her neighborhood every morning she wakes up.

Ms Wendy Justice is really joyful to pay just $0.5 (10,000 dongs) for a fresh-baked baguette and only $1 (21,000 dongs) for 10 eggs. For a change, she might pick up a dragon fruit for nearly $0.5 (9000 dongs). It is a breakfast with very cheap ingredients she shops for in market. While in America, one Vietnamese Pho bowl costs from $8 to $9, one fresh cup of soy-milk cost $1.5.

Ms Wendy Justice said her monthly living cost in Vietnam is just $750, in which $350 is for rent for a furnished two bedrooms house with high-speed internet and cable TV. Talking to the journalist Kathleen Peddicord, Ms Wendy Justice said “I can't imagine a more enjoyable place to be retired or a more affordable one”.

In spite of the low living cost, Nha Trang's life quality is high. She just spends not over 40,000 dongs (less than $2) for one dish in a restaurant.

This US woman loves the friendly atmosphere and integrated culture in Vietnam. She likes the warm nights on new moon or full moon of the Vietnamese households who set out beautiful tables on the sidewalks filled with rice, fruits, cakes and candies and incense...for ancestors' offerings.

Over the recent few years, not only foreigners like Ms Wendy Justice love living in Vietnam, but many international organizations rank Vietnam as one of the happiest, the most friendly countries in the world, and many other titles. A report 2009 of the United Nations revealed that the per capita in Vietnam and Pakistan are equal. However, the Vietnam's life is much better because this income is applied to the education and health care.