A foreign couple who came to Hanoi meaning to stay \"just a year\" now receive as many as 8,600 travel inquiries every week. Vietnam's English-language outlet VnExpress International profiled Liam Gordon (30) from the UK and Sarah James (25) from Canada. What the two tell inquirers again and again is a yardstick for picking places: \"if about 40 of the diners are Vietnamese and only one is a foreigner, it's a winner.\" This \"40:1 rule,\" found in no guidebook or review site, is exactly the kind of thinking that helps Japanese travelers who are too afraid of getting overcharged to step into a local eatery. This article introduces the couple's journey and then translates the rule into practical tips for Japanese travelers.<\/p>\n
According to VnExpress, in 2017 Gordon was drawn to Hanoi during a three-week trip to Vietnam, but at the time he prioritized his career as a software developer and stayed in the UK. He later met James, and in 2023 the two moved together on a plan to \"live in Hanoi for a year, then return to the UK or Canada.\"<\/p>\n
The turning point was the day their motorbike broke down in a Hanoi downpour. A passing man helped push the bike all the way to a repair shop, and even used a translation app to explain the details of the repair. James recalls, \u201cthat sense of community turned all our plans upside down.\u201d Their plan to leave after a year was scrapped, and the two still live in Hanoi\u2019s Cau Giay district.<\/p>\n
Instagram travel posts that started for friends and family eventually drew questions from strangers like 'Could you plan my itinerary?' and 'How's the safety there?' Putting his developer skills to use, Gordon built his own tools to automatically sort inquiries and a feature that generates an itinerary and destinations when you paste a video link. The inbox of the couple's platform, 'Two Peas Abroad,' grew to receive about 8,600 inquiries a week. Gordon says, 'Those messages are the greatest reward for us.'<\/p>\n
The couple's headline piece of advice is the one from the opening,The 40:1 rule<\/strong>Gordon puts it this way: \u201cThe place is packed with local Vietnamese customers, and foreigners are about one in 40. That\u2019s a good sign.\u201d He says it is a rule of thumb he has tested himself in Da Nang and Hanoi.<\/p>\n Why can this ratio be used to judge a good shop? Breaking it down in my own way, there are three reasons.<\/p>\n Flip it around, and a place where \u201cnearly all the customers are foreigners\u201d is likely one whose taste and prices are optimized for tourists. At the long-established Michelin-recognized steamed rice crepe shop in Ho Chi Minh City, too, the ones in line were mainly local regulars (A veteran steamed rice crepe shop earns a Michelin nod, a smart pick for a Saigon breakfast<\/a>). The ratings of an authoritative guide and the 40:1 rule line up cleanly in their conclusions.<\/p>\n That said, you can't just stand in front of a shop counting customers. To make this usable on an actual trip for Japanese travelers, we'll break it into steps.<\/p>\n\n
Five steps to put the \"40:1 rule\" into practice for Japanese travelers<\/h2>\n