Vuong Truong has recently marked his 15th year leading Intrepid adventures through his home country of Vietnam<\/a>. But rather than celebrate his milestone with cake (the obvious choice), he turned to his local community and set a goal to give back in a bigger way than ever before.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n When I sit down with Vuong during his recent visit to Melbourne, right away he tells me in a soft-spoken demeanour to simply call him V.\u00a0<\/p>\n He keeps up this gentle tone throughout our 20-minute conversation, wrapped up in an optimistic disposition and a breezy\u00a0confidence around who he is and how he chooses to live his life.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n I realise he\u2019s somehow captured an ease of existing in the world in a way that I\u2019ve only ever read about in books about gratitude and happiness. And even though he wasn\u2019t trying to be profound, V opened my eyes to what some of those dust-covered paperbacks on my bookshelf had tried really hard to make me believe. That happiness, or at least moments of happiness, are simple to find if you know how to look for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n V has been leading Intrepid trips for an impressive 15 years, but his enthusiasm for getting out and about has been around even longer.\u00a0<\/p>\n He tells me that before he was born, his father drove a truck along the Ho Chi Minh trail during the Vietnam War. After the war, he bought an old bus and worked as a bus driver while V was young, taking people all over Vietnam. This meant he didn\u2019t see his dad often, but whenever summer holidays rolled around, V would join him on trips across the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n I travelled on my father\u2019s bus when I was very little and saw beautiful views along the road, and I said to myself: yeah, I want to see all of them<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n \u2018I travelled on my father\u2019s bus when I was very little and saw beautiful views along the road, and I said to myself: yeah, I want to see all of them,\u2019 he tells me, with a touch of child-like excitement still recognisable in his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Young V decided the easiest way to do just that would be to work in tourism. He\u2019d get to do what he loved most and <\/em>get paid for it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But, as he grew up, he realised his childhood dream wouldn\u2019t be that easy to attain.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018In Vietnam, you need a bachelor\u2019s degree to work in tourism. So, I had to study very hard in high school [to get into university]. It was all about just sleeping and studying,\u2019 he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I was successful and I got into university, and when I left I started work as a tour guide straight away. I didn\u2019t waste any time.\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n After about a year leading travellers around northern Vietnam<\/a>, he saw an opportunity to work with Intrepid and went for it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, over a decade and a half later he says, \u2018I really feel working for Intrepid has helped me to be a better version of myself, to be a better person to society.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018Intrepid actually care for the local communities and that\u2019s very meaningful to me,\u2019 he continues.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leading Intrepid trips fulfils his desire to get out there and see his home country, but V says he also appreciates Intrepid\u2019s commitment to making a positive mark on the places they go.\u00a0<\/p>\n Intrepid trips support community-led experiences around the world. And The Intrepid Foundation<\/a> gives travellers the opportunity to learn about and give back to impact partners who are championing important causes in more than 35 countries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n I said to myself: it\u2019s time to do something more; it\u2019s time to give something back.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n In Vietnam, a number of trips visit Vun Art<\/a>, an Intrepid Foundation partner that provides job training and employment opportunities to people with disabilities. It\u2019s estimated that more than 1.4 million people with disabilities are unemployed across Vietnam due to social stigmas and a lack of suitable jobs. Vun Art are on a mission to change that.\u00a0<\/p>\n They teach people to make handicrafts and apparel using discarded fragments of local silk. If you find yourself on a Tailor-Made trip<\/a> in Vietnam, take note of the special Intrepid tote bag<\/a> you receive, which have all been created by the team at Vun Art.\u00a0<\/p>\n V says spending time at Vun Art \u2013 whether taking travellers to visit or volunteering with the Intrepid team \u2013 paired with his impending work anniversary inspired him to want to do even more.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018I said to myself: it\u2019s time to do something more; it\u2019s time to give something back.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n So when he heard about The Intrepid Foundation\u2019s 2023 Global Leader Challenge, which encouraged Intrepid leaders around the world to celebrate and share more about the non-profit and their impact partners, he was all in. He set out to \u2018do something more\u2019 for his local foundation partners, Vun Art<\/a> and Wild Act,<\/a>\u00a0another impact partner in Vietnam which runs educational programs and works with local communities to encourage bird conservation.\u00a0<\/p>\n He passionately shared their messages about equality and conservation with his travellers and raised significant funds for both causes. But V stands by his outlook. \u2018It\u2019s not about the money; it\u2019s about the meaning.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n V ultimately won the global challenge and was prized with a trip to Intrepid\u2019s headquarters in Melbourne, Australia. He was in town for Intrepid\u2019s Global Summit, a week-long celebration for Intrepid staff that looks back on everything the team achieved in the previous year and where they\u2019re going in the year ahead.\u00a0<\/p>\n I help people to enjoy their trip in my country. I help the local community to get support. That\u2019s what life is about, right?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n As we sat together in Melbourne, I asked V what he loved most about his job as an Intrepid leader. He simply responded, \u2018I help people to enjoy their trip in my country. I help the local community to get support. That\u2019s what life is about, right?\u2019\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n V wasn\u2019t wrong \u2013 research published by the Greater Good Science Center at UC Berkeley shows links between giving back and increased overall health, mental health and wellbeing, along with a greater level of happiness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n In a classic case of chicken or egg, I don\u2019t know what came first for V \u2013 whether his commitment to giving back to the local community charges his optimistic outlook or whether being such a positive person is the reason he likes to help others in his community. But I do know that whatever it is, he could write a book about it.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Check out The Intrepid Foundation\u2019s recent Impact Report<\/a>, which dives into how the foundation helps travellers give back and shares insider stories from their impact partners. To hear more from V, explore Intrepid\u2019s list of Vietnam adventures <\/a>and you might be lucky enough to land yourself on one of his trips.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Vuong Truong has recently marked his 15th year leading Intrepid adventures through his home country of Vietnam. But rather than celebrate his milestone with cake (the obvious choice), he turned to his local community and set a goal to give back in a bigger way than ever before.\u00a0 When I sit down with Vuong during […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":153669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11760],"tags":[11659,36324,17672,5156,4980],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-153668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure","tag-giving","tag-intrepid","tag-leader","tag-meet","tag-vietnam"],"yoast_head":"\nGoing after it<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Vietnam-leader-Vuong-juggling-travellers-cameras-for-photos.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/Intrepid-Travel-vietnam_hoi-an_049A1448-1080x1350-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>Doing something more<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Intrepid-Foundation-Vietnam_Vun-Art-group-1080x1350-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.intrepidtravel.com\/adventures\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/The-Intrepid-Foundation-Vietnam_WildAct-students-protect-migratory-birds-1080x1350-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>That\u2019s what life\u2019s about, right?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/h2>\n
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