Tran Hung John releases book on penniless cross-Vietnam trip

Vietnamese-American Tran Hung John is set to release his book on his trip, during which he walked and hitchhiked across Vietnam with no money at all, and meet with readers in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi on June 1 and 2.

Hung’s book, titled “John di tim Hung” (John goes looking for Hung), will be the much-awaited highlight at the book introduction and exchange, to be held at Fahasa Tan Dinh Bookstore, 389 Hai Ba Trung, District 3, HCMC at 9am on June 1, and at Fahasa Bookstore, 338 Xa Dan, Dong Da district, Hanoi at 9am on June 2.

The US-born Hung, 24, had a tough childhood. He worked different jobs to support himself after his parents’ divorce, and worked his way through university.

After graduating with a degree in psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, Hung studied in Vietnam on a cultural exchange program in August 2010, and served as an MC for some television programs.

Two months later, Hung set off on his cross-Vietnam trip, with no money on him at all, instead relying on the hope that the hospitality and kindness of complete strangers he met on the road could sustain him through the more than 2,000-kilometer journey.

“I just wanted to prove that in Vietnam one can survive just on total strangers’ generosity, explore my home country, and discover the Vietnamese part in me,” Hung shared.

Without a dime in his pocket, Hung had to beg for food, shelter and rides; some of the people he ran into had little, but gave him a lot.

“None of the people I asked for help rejected me. If they could not help, they introduced me to someone else who could,” Hung said.

According to Thanh Nien, the longest stretch he covered on foot was more than 50 kilometers from central Quang Tri province to Hue, which took him more than 12 hours.

Once, in central Binh Dinh province, he had a high fever and a local family tended to him as if he was their own son.

More than a few families and kids cried when they bid farewell to him, Hung recalled.

Hung also spent time working, both to assist the host families and to gain fresh, rewarding experiences, like tending fields, making items from sedge, and spending a night on the Ly Son seaside in central Quang Ngai province.

Hung’s 80-day cross-country journey, with a wide spectrum of emotions and experiences, is recounted vividly by himself in his 13-chapter book.