"Retired but forever part of Intrepid"
Sharing some memories from my farewell party at Intrepid’s Hanoi office on Friday June 6.
THANK YOU! & FAREWELL!
On June 30, 2025, my employment with Intrepid in Vietnam officially ends after more than 27 impactful years. Intrepid in Vietnam has always been so much more than just a job to me. It has been my life, my purpose, my ‘family in Vietnam’ for more than half my adult life. Sadly, all things must come to an end. However, I am at least comforted by the words on the Intrepid Service Award, and the icing on the cake at the Hanoi office farewell party on June 6: “Retired but forever part of Intrepid”.
I am not saying “Goodbye”. But I do want to say a huge “THANK YOU!” to everyone, all my friends who have been part of my incredible journey with Intrepid in Vietnam. Thank you to management team for your support, office staff working behind the scenes so trips run smoothly, on-the-road colleagues, tour leaders and local guides, local operators and bus drivers who drive us safely from A to B. Everyone! Although they may not all see this email, I also thank our hotel staff, local people on my travels, the RT and Purpose projects, and the thousands of diverse Intrepid travellers from around the world who travelled together with me, some of whom remain good friends.
Intrepid Travel first came to Vietnam in 1995. I first came to Vietnam in 1996, as a first-time Intrepid traveller on the 22-day Vietnam Adventure. My wonderful holiday unexpectedly became a life-changing experience. In 1997, less than a year after I’d left, I was excitedly back here to work as an Intrepid tour leader in Vietnam. Just for a few years, I thought, but those years flew by and became decades. As they say, time flies when you’re having fun. Or, as a frog might say, time’s fun when you’re having flies!
Intrepid in Vietnam has certainly come a long way since those humble beginnings. I remember when I first started there were only 12 expat tour leaders, an Australian female ground manager/tour leader, a few local guides, no office, no laptops, no mobile phones, and often no internet. Communications locally and to Melbourne were by word of mouth, hotel phones, fax machines at $12 a handwritten page, and maybe guidebooks!
Over the years, Intrepid Travel evolved and grew into Intrepid Indochina, PEAK Vietnam and Intrepid Vietnam. Along the way, Intrepid in Vietnam has been a trend-setter for the Intrepid world, including being the first Intrepid DMC, and the first to trial the change from expat tour leaders to local leaders (Vietnamese and Khmer). I have been fortunate to live here and see Vietnam and Intrepid grow and prosper in this time.
For me, this has been an extraordinary 27-year journey, filled with uncountable memories, emotions, ‘real life’ experiences, highs and lows, ambitious adventures and many enduring friendships. It has been a great privilege to lead 3,963 Intrepid travellers on 378 Intrepid trips up and down Vietnam, and occasionally Cambodia.
It is often said that being a tour leader is the best job in the world, and sometimes the worst, all in the same day! You have to take the good with the bad. For me, it was mostly all good, and the most ideal lifestyle which I never imagined ending. Perhaps foolishly, I had no plan for the future or ‘retirement’. Although as the John Lennon lyric wisely says: “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
I want to say a special “Thank you!” to Intrepid Vietnam management and staff for the friendship and support given to me in this emotionally-difficult transition time between leading my last trip last year and the expiry of my Work Permit on June 30 this year. This really shows that Intrepid Vietnam has been a very special and "great place to work". It has also been my "family" in Vietnam. I hope this feeling will continue in the future.
As always, the future is uncertain, but I have no plan to leave Vietnam yet. So I hope to see you again somewhere, sometime, on the road or in the office. I will watch with satisfaction as Intrepid Vietnam continues to grow and flourish, leading the way in responsible tourism. And I hope to be “…forever part of Intrepid”.
I am not saying “Goodbye”,
but “Farewell” and “Hẹn gặp lại”.
Cheers from “Lemon Juice” Bruce.
Bruce McPhie.
Email: June 25, 2025
