I was told I should consider visiting Vietnam

You picked the best months to visit Vietnam. Although I have seen temperatures over 100 F in Saigon as early as March.
The bikes in Vietnam aren't quite motorcycles. I have a 900 CC Honda that I'll miss when I go next month. But I'm afraid that bike would just get me into trouble over there.
I think there are groups that play chess in the parks.

That's a great plan, visit a new country every year. Naturally you would prefer countries that are friendly to retired, American, male veterans. There are certainly some countries that are not.
Young and old Vietnamese generally like Americans, especially in the south. Don't worry about grudges held from the war 40+ years ago. There are various climates in VN, Dec/Jan nice in south, colder in north, Feb starts the hot-dry season.

@OkSmitty
You're welcome to Vietnam forum.

If you travel to VN spend some time exploring this beautiful country, especially the smaller cities, far from the madding crowds of Hanoi and Saigon.

Cheers!

VN has a lot of things to offer the tourist, no doubt.  For me, I love nothing more than roaming the countryside in south VN and rice fields are some of the most stunning and beautiful landscapes I have seen.  When we are in VN, I love waking up early 6am and going outside and drinking a cup of coffee and watch the sun rise and the dew evaporating.

However, I suggest you do some research on racism in Asian.  I found that most people in the USA have no clue about it.  I just want you to be prepared and not set high expectations.  If you would like some not PC truth on this matter, send me a PM.

Hey Smitty, thanks for your service.

I'm a fellow chess player also from the states. I've had quite a bit of trouble finding places to play chess, but I also havent extensively looked, I just played online mostly.

Hanoi is awesome, riding a motorbike here feels so free, and since you sound like you're good with motorbikes, you can make some great side money by fixing old honda's and flipping them for about $150 a bike.

People can tell you a million different opinions here.. if you haven't been here yet the best thing you can do is come for a little while and check it out. Make sure you spend long enough to not just visit the touristy areas, go to where the locals or expats live to get a better feel, as the tourist areas won't give you a clear idea.

Take Dec-April to do a Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Saigon, and maybe Cambodia trip if you haven't been to these countries. This will give you a clear idea of what you should do, and it's so easy and cheap to move around if you ever regret your decision.

Ty

Thanks Playstyle!, I am good at riding motorbikes, but not fixing them.  Can they be rented at each of these places and would it be expensive to do so?

OkSmitty wrote:

Thanks Playstyle!, I am good at riding motorbikes, but not fixing them.  Can they be rented at each of these places and would it be expensive to do so?

Yes you can rent but if you plan on spending months here, buying is definitely a better option! I'm a big fan of buying semi-new (under 2,000km, and 1-2 years old.) Expect to spend 1-2k for motorbikes in my range. Or $300-500 for trash. Or 2-4k for brand new nice bikes. Get a local or me to help you when you're here to buy bikes!

Remember if you don't speak the language, your white skin and age symbolizes nothing but money in most of southeast Asia, and you will most definitely be given a special price for it.

If you're planning on doing a shorter trip, I would only rent a motorbike in Da Nang and Hoi An (if you go there.) We have an app called Grab that can get you just about everywhere on the back of a motorbike for 40cents to $2 per ride or in a car for $1-4, it's much for feasible for travel.

"Remember if you don't speak the language, your white skin and age symbolizes nothing but money in most of southeast Asia, and you will most definitely be given a special price for it."

I doubt the OP is going to have any problems with white skin, lol.

Hello everyone,

Please note that some unwelcomed posts have been removed from this thread. As it is a bit too late now to move this post to the New Members thread, let us keep on sharing information on this one only.

All the best,
Bhavna

To  be fair to the Asians, I've noticed that they will skin you alive no matter what your skin colour is.

I went travelling with a Sierra Leonean girl a decade ago and it was very clear, she would get shafted on the price equally as my lily white self.

Philosophical question, is that still racist?

unless your yellow/brown, in which case, point and play dumb.

Maybe the ninja outfit for chicks...

colinoscapee wrote:

"Remember if you don't speak the language, your white skin and age symbolizes nothing but money in most of southeast Asia, and you will most definitely be given a special price for it."

I doubt the OP is going to have any problems with white skin, lol.

Whoops, missed that haha.

Anyways Smitty, if you're looking for a few rounds of chess when you're here shoot me a message. Good luck!

- Arman from Hanoi

OkSmitty wrote:

I am good at riding motorbikes, but not fixing them. Can they be rented at each of these places and would it be expensive to do so?

Automatic motorbike rentals in Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand are about $5 - $7 a day, $50 a month, something like that. Hotels can often arrange it. Wouldn't be a bad idea to come with a $35 international license.

OkSmitty wrote:

Can they be rented at each of these places and would it be expensive to do so?

Rent directly from the hotel / apartment building where you'll stay.  Almost all of them have one or two motorbikes for rent.  Most places charge 1M per month.  They take care of big repairs, if any.  You pay for maintenance.

IDL issued in the States is not accepted in Vietnam because the US was not one of the 85 members of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.  Here's a thread with more details on this subject:  Drive License

Ciambella wrote:

...
IDL issued in the States is not accepted in Vietnam because the US was not one of the 85 members of the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic.  Here's a thread with more details on this subject:  Drive License

Yeah my suggestion was a geographically more general answer based off of ...

Playstyle wrote:

Take Dec-April to do a Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Saigon, and maybe Cambodia trip if you haven't been to these countries.

.. in case he is venturing to other countries TBD that may honor it, and it lasts a year. 

gobot wrote:

Yeah my suggestion was a geographically more general answer based off of ...

Playstyle wrote:

Take Dec-April to do a Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi, Saigon, and maybe Cambodia trip if you haven't been to these countries.

.. in case he is venturing to other countries TBD that may honor it, and it lasts a year. 

Oh, it's a great idea then.   

gobot wrote:

.. in case he is venturing to other countries TBD that may honor it, and it lasts a year. 

IDL doesn't really matter, if you break the rules and have an IDL or don't have an IDL the result will be the same as a foreigner. If you don't speak Vietnamese it doesn't matter to begin with because 99% of police don't speak english.

Besides, if he's doing a 4-5 month trip between countries, buying a motorcycle is unfeasible.