I left Austin to teach in Vietnam. I feel safer here and have no plans to move back to Texas.

• Casey Rochester is from Texas and started teaching in Vietnam five years ago.
• He found the lockdown preparation drills in Texas unnerving and feels much safer as a teacher in Vietnam.
• Rochester prefers his quality of life in Ho Chi Minh City to life in Austin and has no plans to return.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Casey Rochester, a 32-year-old special needs teacher based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider verified his income and employment.

I started dreaming about teaching English abroad in high school. A book about a guy who taught English in Japan sparked the idea and made me want to see the world beyond my small town.

Instead, after graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish, I accepted a teaching job in Austin, my hometown. Two years later, I decided life in Texas was not for me and that it was time to move and leave my old life behind.

When I was teaching in Austin, it was unnerving having to go through lockdown preparation drills and actual lockdowns when gunfire was heard in a different part of the city.

After a year in China, I relocated to Vietnam. I’ve spent the last five years in Ho Chi Minh City, where I started teaching in a public school, switched to private, and now lead the special needs department at an international school.

Despite Ho Chi Minh City’s humid weather and the culture shock I faced, I prefer my life here to my life back in Texas.

Those looking for an easy time teaching in Asia often experience culture shock.

When I started teaching in Asia, I encountered many people who showed up with no qualifications. They expected the experience would be comparable to an extended holiday.

These folks faced a big wake-up call when they realized they were expected to start teaching kids in huge class sizes, and would not be given much support.

Because foreigners are brought over as “experts,” there’s no further training and you’re expected to know how to interact with kids and plan lessons. At a minimum, one needs a TEFL — teaching english as a foreign language — certificate to teach here.

Many foreign teachers I’ve spoken to have been shocked when they started working at public schools in Vietnam. They’re not expecting a classroom with 40 kids, no technology, and no air conditioning — which is typically the case.

Unlike my classroom in Texas, where I wore T-shirts and sneakers, teachers in Vietnam are expected to dress formally, often with a tie and dress shoes.

I found handling 40 kids while covered in sweat and armed with only a piece of chalk challenging, and I eventually made the switch to work in a private school where air conditioning is used. That alone was reason enough for me to make the switch.

I much prefer life in Saigon to life in Texas

While teaching in Austin, I made about $45,000 a year. As a special needs teacher in Ho Chi Minh City, I make slightly less than that.

The cost of living is much lower and the quality of life I get here has lived up to my expectations.

I pay about 12 million Vietnamese Dong — just under $500 — for rent and utilities for my two-bedroom apartment in the seventh district of Ho Chi Minh City. It’s a quiet and family-friendly neighborhood where many Japanese and Korean expats choose to reside.

And there’s such an ease to life here.

I’ve never felt a need to drive or have a car because of how prevalent and affordable ride-hailing apps are. A 30-minute motorbike ride — the city’s favorite mode of transport — costs between $1 to $3.

I’m not a big cook, so I love that on my way to work, there are over 30 delicious roadside places to grab breakfasts — I switch between Vietnamese dishes like banh mi or phở, and baked goods from Western cafés.

The main thing I miss about Texas is Mexican food, because it’s the only cuisine I’ve struggled to find in Ho Chi Minh City.

There’s a world of difference between my teaching experience in Texas and Vietnam. I feel much safer here, and it’s been rewarding to build my career in a place where I love my quality of life so much more.

Got a personal essay about living abroad or parenting that you want to share? Get in touch with the editor: akarplus@businessinsider.com.