Accepting to return to their hometown and only go to Hanoi to work is the choice of many young people when the travel distance is not too far.
Ms. Pham Thuy Linh in Ha Nam - now Ninh Binh province, after many years of working in the capital Hanoi, most of her time working at an agency has led her to decide to stop her rental contract and return to her hometown.
"The distance from Hanoi to my hometown is quite short, taking about 1:30 am, so I decided to travel to get closer to my family. I travel a lot so I have a monthly bus ticket, which only costs 90,000 VND/overnight" - Ms. Linh said.
Ms. Linh shared that there are also many people traveling by bus in her hometown, going to work in Hanoi in the morning and returning at night, some have maintained it as a habit for 7 years, so she tried to study it to see if it was suitable for her or not.
"Rental prices in Hanoi are getting more and more expensive. A 25m2 room also has a rental price of 4 million VND/month. If choosing a low-cost rental place, one is far from the center, the other is a dilapidated room with insufficient amenities. It is worth mentioning that most of the time a day I am at work, not at home much, so I feel that the money spent on renting a room is not worth it" - Ms. Linh said.
Ms. Linh shared that she has also considered buying an apartment in Hanoi, but the apartment price is currently too high, realizing that owning an apartment in Hanoi is a distant dream, Ms. Linh thinks that the current option is suitable for her.
"Apartment projects that we can borrow and pay for are often located in the suburbs of Hanoi. Thinking about traveling for many hours on the road to work is a big barrier for me, because of traffic jams. For apartment projects near offices, the prices are sky-high, I cannot afford to pay" - Ms. Linh expressed.
Similar to Ms. Linh, Mr. Viet Dung - a Bank employee, from Phu Xuyen, Hanoi - also shared that he has left the city to return to his hometown to live for 2 years now. Mr. Dung also considers Hanoi as just a place to work, not a place worth living for salaried workers like him.
"I work in Hai Ba Trung area, in the first year when I left my rented house to return to my hometown, I often drove myself between my house and my workplace. However, when I discovered that there was a bus service from Phu Xuyen to Hanoi's inner city every hour, I decided to take a bus" - Mr. Dung shared.
Mr. Dung added that these bus routes run from his place to Hanoi in just 40 minutes. Every morning starting at 7:00, only at about 7:40, or no later than 8:00, he was present at Ly Thuong Kiet.
"I have just got married, my wife is currently working in the countryside. After returning to my hometown, I saved more money and bought land, built a house in my hometown, both to be close to my parents and to reduce many expenses because in my hometown, the cost is always cheaper than in Hanoi" - Mr. Dung said and proudly talked about his most correct decision.
Similarly, Mr. Tran Van Nghia, from Bac Ninh, about 30km from Hanoi, also chose to return to his hometown every day to regenerate energy and save on rent.
As an office worker at a technology company in the center of Hanoi, Mr. Tuan used to rent a room or buy an apartment in the city, but the escalating price forced Mr. Nghia to give up the idea.
"Renting a room around the work area has expensive costs, plus living expenses in Hanoi, while I have never dared to think about buying an apartment. Traveling from Bac Ninh to Hanoi takes nearly 1 hour during rush hour, so I choose to take a bus and use a monthly ticket, a reasonable cost" - Mr. Nghia shared.
Mr. Nghia added that although traveling continuously for a long time is quite inconvenient, living close to family, having time to rest with relatives in the evening and on weekends helps him feel much more comfortable than staying for rent in Hanoi.
