For the most part, I’ve always gotten my haircut every single week, even when I lived in America. Now that I’m here in Vietnam, nothing has changed.

I remember the first time I tried to give my barber a tip. He took it reluctantly, and he was so thankful.

The more you get out and experience the culture, the more you start to realize that this is normal. There’s no established tipping culture here!

You know, back home in America, tipping is almost everywhere. Entire industries have become accustomed to tip culture, and many service workers depend on tips to supplement their income. But that’s not the same here in Vietnam.

And I can tell you what’s amazing to me as an entrepreneur.

There’s this place we go to get pho, and I’ve noticed that many of these businesses are family-owned. I LOVE THAT!

One day, I was leaving a coffee shop and passed by this little spot because the food in the window looked amazing. One of the family members spoke really good English, so we started talking.

She asked me where I was from, and I asked her if they accepted Apple Pay.

She said no, but then she told me not to worry about it. She said I could take what I needed and come back to pay her when I had cash.

I WAS LIKE, WOW! THAT IS AMAZING!

When I returned a few days later with the money, all they wanted was exactly what the food cost. Nothing extra.

And as somebody who has been an entrepreneur, I appreciate seeing that kind of trust and personal connection between a business owner and a customer.

Now, there are a few exceptions to the tipping norm here. I’ve heard that tipping is more common for things like massages and tour guides, especially in tourist-oriented settings. We haven’t done any of those things yet, so we’ll see how that goes, and I’ll update you when we do.

But it’s still wild to me that tipping isn’t built into everyday life here the way it is back home.

I’M STILL TRYING TO GET MY MIND AROUND IT! 😂

Have you ever experienced a culture where tipping wasn’t the norm?