In early September, Danny Haberer was riding his motorbike back to Long Binh Commune in the former Go Cong area of the Mekong Delta province after a short business trip to Ho Chi Minh City.
As the high-rise buildings and traffic gradually gave way to rice fields, the 54-year-old stopped to breathe in the smell of young rice plants. “One of the best scents in the world,” he gushes. “Saigon is a lot of fun, but as soon as I smell the rice plants, I know I’m on my way home.”
He lives amid a garden with mango, banana, pomelo, and jackfruit trees, a fishpond and 24 chickens.
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Danny Haberer shows off a jackfruit in his garden in Go Cong in August 2026. Photo courtesy of the subject. |
He was born and raised in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Owning a software company allowed him to work as he traveled the world. He had lived in India, Thailand, and the Philippines before arriving in Vietnam in July 2024.
A year later, his company went bankrupt. He chose to stay in Vietnam, working remotely to pay off his debts and make a fresh start in business.
After spending time in Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Lat, a relationship with a Vietnamese woman brought him to Go Cong in mid-2026.
The place offered the conveniences he needed, but life moved at a gentler pace. The small city’s streets came alive in the evenings, and fields lay just a short distance from its center.
On the road, strangers would greet him. He had long wanted to live close to nature and says he appreciates the friendliness he has found in Go Cong. He has remained there even after his relationship ended. “This place gives me hope, peace, and new opportunities. Above all, being surrounded by nature gives me a quiet space to reconnect with myself,” he says.
The garden had been a mess when he arrived. Banana trunks left from earlier seasons lay scattered across the ground, and weeds grew under the mango trees. Many bananas were ripe and yellow; some had already spoiled.
Habererhad never farmed before, but tackled the cleanup himself. He cleared the weeds, gathered decaying vegetation and brought order to the plot, learning as he worked.
When he needed help, he turned to Facebook. He would post photos and ask for advice on everything from incubating chicken eggs to eating his way through all the bananas ripening at once.
He also wanted to learn to catch and cook fish himself so that he could understand how food made its way from pond and garden to his plate.
In the Netherlands, he had rarely experienced that connection. The garden taught him simpler ways to solve everyday problems, too. He could use banana leaves to tie things up or prop them temporarily in place, rather than buy cord at a store. “Things don’t need to be perfect, as long as they work,” he says.
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Danny Haberer asks the community for advice on what to do with too many ripe bananas in his garden in June 2026. Photo courtesy of Danny |
But there were practical problems. For a time, he kept his garbage in the garden because he did not know how to sign up for collection and did not want to burn plastic waste.
When Ngan, a neighbor living 500 meters away, learned about it, she stepped helped him register. Whenever work took him away, she and her husband would come over to feed the fish and chickens.
He often asks about Go Cong’s culture, history and local life, Ngan says. “He’s funny and easy to talk to. We don’t often see foreigners in the countryside, so people are curious; and he loves all the greetings.”
That curiosity helped shape Danny’s social media posts. He had started livestreaming about Vietnam while living in Da Nang.
In Go Cong, he shifted his focus to the garden under the theme “Danny from the West, in the West” (a westerner living in the Mekong Delta).
He films himself clearing the garden, feeding the chickens, and riding through rice fields on his motorbike, adding commentary. Occasionally, he uses phrases learned from people in the Mekong Delta, such as Dad, look (take a look, folks) and I'm on the way home (I’m on my way home).
His posts have gradually made him a familiar face for locals. Some greet him and strike up a conversation when they met him on the road, helping him feel increasingly part of the community.
He wants his videos to show people all over the world an authentic Vietnam. For him, the Mekong Delta is a world of its own, where fields, ponds, gardens, and people’s lives are woven together.
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Chickens in Danny’s garden. Photo courtesy of Danny |
Go Cong’s slower pace has also changed how he thinks about happiness. The Netherlands often ranks among the world’s happiest countries, yet joy comes more easily to him in Vietnam.
Just the rent for a similar piece of land in the Dutch countryside will pay for two months of expenses in Vietnam, but he is not looking for cheaper living, he says.
The Philippines, where he lived before Vietnam, was inexpensive too, he points out, saying he stays for the way of life he has found here. “Quality of life isn’t about how much money you have.”
For now, he plans to keep improving the garden and grow vegetables.
He also wants to finish his outdoor kitchen and learn to produce some of his own food. Farther ahead, he wants to install solar panels and turn the garden into a place where he can share farm life with others.
After more than a year moving between Vietnamese cities, Danny is no longer thinking about his next stop: a change for a man long accustomed to life on the move. “Vietnam is my home,” he said.