Markeiz Ryan, 36, had quite a childhood growing up in Maryland, but the 2008 financial crisis changed things.
“It wiped out my mother’s job and it really made it difficult for us when I graduated from high school,” says Ryan, who says CNBC will make it. “I didn’t have much of a financial security blanket. The best thing for me was to join the military, so I didn’t need to put my family into debt any more. I think that was the right decision.”
Ryan joined the US Air Force in 2010 and was stationed in various countries around the world, including South Korea, Germany and across Africa. In 2016, while living in Korea, Ryan got into trouble to break the curfew. He lost on a salary of several months, was restricted to military bases and demoted from Staff Sergeant to a senior airline.
“After this I was very depressed and very sad,” Ryan said. “But that depression and sadness make you think about where your life is heading and redirect your life in the right direction.”
In Vietnam, Ryan lives from around $4,000 a month.
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During that period when Ryan was restricted to military bases, he planned a trip to visit a friend in Vietnam.
“It looked like it was a lot of fun and I really endured all the hype,” he said. “I’m going to have the best time of my life and that depression (just) went away.”
Ryan says he didn’t want to let go of the feelings after that first trip to Vietnam, seeing how happy he was. He began planning a return to the country.
The veteran returned to his life in the Air Force, completing his service at a military base in Wyoming in 2019 during his honorary discharge.
Ryan lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Ho Chi Minh City.
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Shortly afterwards, Ryan moved to Vietnam, where he lives for around $4,000 a month, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make.
Ryan suffers from spondyloarthritis, respiratory problems, hearing pain, and mental health challenges from the military era. He has been disabled due to veteran issues.
His monthly salary comes from several sources, including around $1,500 from a VA disability, $1,000 from the GI bill when he is earning a master’s degree, and $900-1,300 from teaching English. Ryan is also an avid day trading fan, with his salary in the range of $200 to $600 a month, and is an avid day trading fan, about $300 a month.
“This may sound a lot in America, but trust me. This is more than enough than the middle class in Vietnam,” he says.
When Ryan moved to Vietnam, he bought a bike and went around.
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Ryan lives in Ho Chi Minh City, with a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in one of the tallest residential towers in the country. He pays $850 a month rent, and his utility closes down to about $130, which includes electricity, water and a housekeeper.
In addition to these costs, Ryan pays gas $1,000 a year for health insurance and $3 a week for his bike. What he spends on groceries ranges from $100 to $400 a month. Because in many cases he alternates between cooking his food or eating out frequently.
“Vietnam is the safest place I’ve ever lived in. You don’t need to look over your shoulder. I’ve noticed this incredible level of calm,” says Ryan. “People are focused on their daily lives and not so much on what’s going on politically. That’s a much more calm feeling.”
Ryan loves to live in Vietnam, but one of the things that bothers him is noise pollution.
“A lot of cries, street cellars, and sometimes karaoke is really loud, so if you’re very intolerant of noise, this may not be the place for you,” he says.
Ryan says Vietnam is currently home and he has no plans to leave.
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Since moving to Vietnam, Ryan has been trying to learn the language, but he still admits that he is not the best in it.
“I can’t claim to be fluent in Vietnam, but I’m far better than most of my peers here,” he says.
Ryan has lived in Vietnam for six years and says he has no plans to leave.
“If I leave, that’s because Vietnam told me to leave. In America, I felt very unmotivated. No matter how hard you work, you are still in poverty. You’re always following standards that you really can’t achieve,” he says. “There’s daily financial pressure here in Vietnam. You’ll focus on who you want to be, who you want to be and how you get there.”
He says this experience is the exact opposite of his life returning to the US.
“Every day, you wake up with a long list of things you want to do, not something you want to do, and it’s a completely different way of life. Even if you need to work here for 40 hours a week, you’re doing it as an investment in the future.
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