Tammy Burns Story: When Life Hands You Vietnam

When a simple invite to Toronto Travel Massive turns into a 5 year friendship and then sends you off to Vietnam on a once in a lifetime trip. This is Tammy Burns story.

I joined the Toronto branch of Travel Massive with a healthy dose of self-doubt. I was working as a legal editor at the time, spending my free moments writing travel narratives based on trips I had taken. I was fortunate to get a few of my narratives published in some of those very publications I admired, but I still didn’t consider myself a “travel writer.” That was a title that belonged to the greats: the Iyers and Brysons and Hemingways of the world. Not a wannabe like me.

I got an invite from Mariellen Ward (aka BreatheDreamGo) to come out to Travel Massive. We knew one another through the Professional Writers’ Association of Canada, and she suggested I come one evening to meet the group and, more importantly, to pursue my dreams of travel writing.

One evening turned into five years. Maybe more now. I’ve lost count, to be honest.

Over those years, I’ve met travel writers, editors, bloggers, photographers, and videographers, I’ve met tourism operators and tourism boards, I’ve been given writing assignments, I’ve landed full-time jobs, I’ve won a trip and I’ve discovered heartwarming, tear-jerking, soul-searching generosity.

I’d like to say I accepted it graciously, but what I remember most is the crying. Ugly crying — you know the kind, all sniffles and snorts and gasping for air. It was the second anniversary party for Toronto Travel Massive, and I had just won the grand prize of the evening: a tour to Vietnam with Intrepid Travel. Well, actually, I hadn’t quite won; after a tie-breaking question between me and another regular, Meredith Howard, I came in second, but she gave me her first-place prize. I responded the only way I could: by crying into my wine.

At the time, I was working as the online editor for a travel publication that would end up folding a few short weeks after I returned from my prize trip. But then, in one of those weird life twists, a few months later I found myself working for a division of the very company that had shown me Vietnam (specifically, Intrepid’s Urban Adventures).

Meredith’s generosity also changed me personally, because Vietnam is the kind of place that makes you re-evaluate how you are as a traveller. It messes with your head and leaves you feeling disoriented most of the time. It’s loud and crazy and chaotic, but also beautiful and delicious and soothing.

I adored Hoi An and its old city so much that it felt painful to leave. I grew comfortable with navigating street crossings, with riding on the back of a motorbike and leaning into the turns. I loved the small moments that pulled me in, like the elderly man who helped me to cross the street in Ho Chi Minh, or the men who invited me to join their game of golf-meets-horseshoes-meets-badminton in Hanoi.

That’s what Vietnam is. There’s a magic there, if you’re patient enough to find it. Just like there’s a bit of magic in putting your wish out into the universe. Because I realized that sometimes, if you ask nicely, the universe will give back — with kindness, community, generosity, and a path that you never even knew you were meant to follow.

Are you a Travel Massive member who would like to share an inspirational story on how your business or travels have created change in travel? We’re interested in hearing from you. Send us an e-mail!