I'd highly recommend reading Wide Sargasso Sea which is kind of a novelized prequel to Jane Eyre about the wife in the attic!
Vic couldn't go to Vietnam! She had a 6-day diary to launch! Also, whenever they do travel together, they never actually do anything. They go to a beach and she wears inappropriate footwear, films herself getting ready, and Alex takes her picture. Kudos to him for getting out of her shadow to explore and do the things he wants to do. Plus, she'd probably starve because the food is cooked in seed oils and restaurants would laugh at her for asking if they sell veggie pulp muffins.
Exactly. She doesn’t leave hotel rooms and eats nothing but avocado toast no matter where in the world she is. She doesn’t believe in checking the weather so is always either over or underdressed. And like she’s going to walk around the non luxury parts of Vietnam. In full glam, taking obnoxious selfies and pics of the food she won’t eat. Please. I’ve traveled to some gnarly parts of the world, and you have to be respectful and at least attempt to blend in if you want to experience the actual culture. I’d love to see Vic attempt to walk around some of the rough parts of New Delhi and stay in a 2 star hotel where no luxury car takes you anywhere; you get on the back of a tuk tuk motorcycle, or even get out and *gasp* walk if you want to experience the spice market. The poverty in cities like that, in countries where the caste system still very much exists, is awful. It’s hard to see. I went for a work trip years ago and my father came to meet me because he always wanted to see India and the Taj Mahal. It is even more incredible in person, but it’s not for the faint of heart. You have super luxurious tourist attractions literally next to alleys where people will cling to you out of sheer desperation. My dad would take out money every day just to give to people begging because the USD is worth so much there. We have it so good; people literally sleep in the streets with women and children starving and flies all around them. It’s horrific. Then you turn down another street and it’s like Hollywood mansions. The dichotomy is disturbing. You do what you can. Point being, I’m sure Alex is just fine with a bed and running water. He’s more interested in exploring and the experience, as one who travels should be. Why go somewhere far away to stay in the same hotel you could find in any country? And forget about good bathroom lighting or fancy dinners.
To be clear, these countries have plenty of luxury areas and hotels. But if you just stay in them, you’re not experiencing the actual culture. You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable and just go with it. You should learn basic phrases in that language. And leave all your fancy
tit behind. Try and wear what the locals do, especially when visiting religious places. Vic wouldn’t last a day.