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Selling a house in Hanoi, a young couple go to the Central Highlands to work as a homestay

Wanting to change the business model and ready to move, in early 2020, Hung and his wife closed 3 stores, went to Mang Den (Kon Tum) to start a business.

In the days of complicated developments in Covid-19 in many provinces and cities across the country, the activities at Nang Homestay of husband and wife Hung and Thu also almost stopped. However, the whole family of 4 lives in a house with a large garden in the middle of the pine forest, cooking and gardening together every day. The climate in the town is cool, the air is fresh, especially the population density is sparse, separate from the city, so it is safe during epidemics. About his current life, Hung shared that he is very comfortable and has never regretted “leaving the city to the forest”.

Selling a house in Hanoi, a young couple go to the Central Highlands to work as a homestay
Hung and his wife plays the piano and read books in front of the homestay.

Anh Hung, from the 8x generation, is from Quang Ninh, went to Hanoi to study at university and worked for 16 years, until he moved to Kon Tum. He said that their decision and plan to move house stems from a chance meeting with a friend who has been established in Mang Den since 2017. The friend shared with him about the town located at a higher altitude. 1,200 m, is planned as a national eco-tourism area, cool climate all year round and very high density of forest cover; Especially, there are many pine forests, so it is considered the second Da Lat of the Central Highlands.

This is also the time when he and his wife realized that a new direction was needed when the 10-year-old fashion business was no longer as good as before. When they first set foot in Mang Den in October 2019, they were quickly “conquered” by the highland because of its beauty and, in his words, very potential. Ready to move, love to travel, explore nature, they decided to move to a new land more than 1,000 km from Hanoi.

Depositing more than 500 m2 of land near Mang Den square, they returned to Hanoi to sell the ground house they had acquired after many years of business, accumulated savings and borrowed more to make capital. Hung said, having absolutely no experience as a homestay, he still chooses this model because it can develop in Mang Den and is suitable for limited economic capacity.

Total construction area is 179 m2, the rest is landscape, garden. Graduating from university in interior design, all ideas, implementations, drawings, construction permits, construction supervision are designed and undertaken by Mr. The rooms are built separately, small area and interspersed under the pine canopy. In terms of design, the rooms are not the same to avoid boredom.

He said that he tries to keep almost all the pine trees in the land, so that guests and families can enjoy the peace in the natural forest. Homestay prioritizes privacy and coziness, directing customers to activities in the outside space such as taking pictures, relaxing, drinking coffee among trees and flowers.








During the construction process, he and his wife faced difficulties because all construction materials here were in short supply, had to move up from Kon Tum City, Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City. The second difficulty is the weather, here it rains a lot and the humidity is very high, making construction and living activities affected. Too much humidity also makes electronic equipment easy to damage, costly to repair and replace.

After 6 months of construction, the homestay came into operation and this is also the new house of Hung and his wife with 2 children. Hung also persuaded his parents to come here to stay close to his children and grandchildren, even though his father vehemently objected to the point of cutting off contact for a long time.

His two children are currently attending primary school at a school in the town, close to home. In the past, they were often allowed to go on a trip with their father, so the two easily adapted to the new environment. He said that although the town is newly developed, it has all the necessary amenities. However, the district health station and the provincial hospital are more than 50 km away. Last year, when his father was sick, it was difficult to visit the doctor because he had to go to the provincial hospital often, after his illness got worse, he had to go to Hanoi for treatment.

Due to the impact of the epidemic, the homestay business is also very affected, the number of visitors only comes in the middle of the epidemic, so the remaining debt is about 2 billion VND. However, Mr. Hung said he has never regretted his decision, because from the beginning he determined to settle down and work here, maintaining a stable life. There are worries, but compared to the city, the business premises have to be rented, the cost pressure is great, doing business in your house is still more comfortable for you.

Two children of Mr. Hung and Ms. Thu live in the middle of nature.

Mr. Hung confided that his departure from the city to the forest can be summed up in two words, “next time”, not following the trend. “This road has never been rosy, so the most need is determination, dare to think and work harder because starting a business is difficult. Young people starting a business have to anticipate the problems they face. may encounter, even be prepared to deal with the unforeseeable,” he said. Finally, he mentioned money, according to him, money is also very important, but without the above factors, it is difficult to succeed. Follow vnexpress/Photo: NVCC

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