I have always lived my life frugally (at the cost of QoL) in all of my adventures both domestically and internationally, with that said, in VN to have a more "w

I have always lived my life frugally (at the cost of QoL) in all of my adventures both domestically and internationally, with that said, in VN to have a more "western" level of comfort, the costs equal or surpass the costs in a western country. Quality of goods, services, and properties are measurably lower and you need to spend more to keep the life style you want. There are things that we get in the USA insanely cheaply, but over there its really expensive. Items like Motrin, cars, electronics, and good mattresses are difficult to find or measurably more expensive. Just to throw a few examples, there are no Apple stores in Vietnam and the Apple products sold in official apple stores in Thailand or Singapore are measurably more expensive due to import taxes and higher prices. The home construction was low quality and always had pests and mold. Even the new apartments were rushed together and often never completed. I loved my time there and look forward to returning, but you have to compromise in both career development and life style.