A couple years back, 8 of us sat crammed around a small dining room table – as we always do – when one of our friends mentioned taking us around his home country of Vietnam.

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A few hours later, #NamJam2016 was born. In 2016 we would head out to Vietnam together with our friend, Trien, as our local guide.

Since we had a whole 2 years before the trip, we created the “Nam jar”: a reused jar to collect money for all our misdoings over a two year period. A few dollars here and there would go a long way in Vietnam!

Example charges:

Party foul: $2-5
Racist comments: $2
Making currency (Vietnamese “Dong”) jokes: $2
Showing up late: $10
Getting pregnant before the trip: $1000 (more on this later)

On the upside, we collected a total of $907.40! On the other hand, our hangouts turned into the most proper, swear-free, and on time visits ever. Trying to avoid paying into the jar made us the most civilized group of friends.

So off we go! In two weeks we’re heading south to north, from Saigon to Hanoi, with adventures on motorcycles, boats and sleeper trains.