Dublin teenager Nhat Nguyen has spent the last four months travelling the globe, meeting new people, taking his first steps into the real world, while at the same time, planning for the future.
Pretty standard fare for most Irish teenagers these days, in that liberating and most memorable post-Leaving Certificate summer.
But for this Irish Badminton prospect, the experiences, the life-lessons, the foreign destinations and taxing travels are all just stops along the road that have brought Nguyen to Argentina this week, to compete in the prestigious Youth Olympic Games.
Nguyen completed his school exams in June and within weeks was winging his way to China, facing off against the former world number one at the badminton world championships.
Kidambi Srikanth proved too experienced for the young Irish hopeful - the Indian now ranked sixth in the world - and despite losing that first round encounter, the 18-year-old put in a very respectable performance, losing 21-15 21-16 to one of the top players in the game.
Next up for Nguyen was another couple of trips east, firstly for an international tournament in Bulgaria, before stopping off in the capital city of Estonia for the European Junior Championships.
A bronze medal would be procured in Tallinn as Nguyen made history, winning Ireland's first ever singles medal at the European Juniors.
The Dubliner actually went there as top seed, and while he returned with a bronze medal around his neck, Nguyen readily admits that the pressure and expectation that he had put on himself ahead of the tournament proved too much in the final stages of the competition.
"At the Europeans, I was number one seed and was favourite to win, but I was not able to cope with the pressure as well as the others," said Nguyen, speaking to RTÉ Sport.
"I put too much pressure on myself leading up to it because I was number one seed and obviously I felt like I was the best player there.
"But on the day, I wasn’t the best and I have to accept that and move on to the Youth Olympics."
A rite of passage for all aspiring athletes, you might expect that everything would be put on hold in the build-up to something as iconic and important as the Youth Olympic Games.
Yet Nguyen was only home for less than a fortnight from the Europeans before it was time to pack his bags again for his latest adventure on what is becoming quite the extraordinary "gap-year" for the teenager.
The Clarehall native even missed out on the Team Ireland orientation day ahead of the grand depart to South America, as it took place while competing in Estonia.
But Nhat wasted little time during that 10-day stop-over back home, training hard, while also making real progress on the mental side of his game by attending sessions with a sports psychologist.
"I was in Estonia when we had a huge team meeting to talk about everything at the Youth Olympics.
"I have only had ten days to prepare for this. But it has been ten days of really good training so I am feeling ready.
"And I have been seeing a sports psychologist to find different ways to cope with pressure and find a different way of thinking when you are in those situations.
"So I’m mentally and physically prepared for the Youth Olympic Games."
Ireland sent a team of 16 athletes to the Buenos Aires Games, which start on Saturday with the opening ceremony, before the competition proper kicks in on Sunday.
Nguyen is straight into the action on day one, as the badminton singles begin, and while he knows that the competition will be another level up from the European tournament, he is confident of, once again, taking his place on the podium.
"Standing on the podium in Estonia, it wasn’t the spot I wanted, but it was a nice feeling, so I definitely want to be on the podium in Buenos Aires, that’s the main goal," said Nguyen who is seeded third for the Youth Olympics.
"The standard is higher, but my aim and my goal is to get a medal and I definitely believe I can do that.
"I’m third seed, so no pressure," he joked.
Excitement building in Buenos Aires 🇦🇷 as @Nhat_Nguyen007 is set to represent Ireland 🇮🇪 in the Youth Olympics. 💪☘️ pic.twitter.com/vU5BVnnAri
— Daniel Magee (@coachdmagee) October 4, 2018
Nhat Nguyen was six years old when his family moved to Ireland.
The youngster arrived in Dublin from Vietnam, along with his mother, father and sister, while not being able to speak the local language.
"Moving over, the first year or two was hard because I had no English and I had to start a year back in school, I had to start in first class," recalls Nhat.
"But when I adapted, I started speaking English, it was fine. Everyone has been nice and everyone has been sound really.
"My uncle and auntie moved here first and they said the quality of living was a lot better than back in Vietnam, so we followed them, and here we are."
Nhat neither came from nor arrived at a powerhouse badminton nation, but the youngster began playing the game at an early age, as he followed his father down to the local badminton club on Dublin’s northside.
"I actually started playing badminton here in Ireland," explained Nhat. "My Dad wouldn’t be a top-level player but he just loved the sport and he played every Wednesday night.
"The standard of badminton is probably just a little bit better in Vietnam than it is in Ireland, but not that much better."
A natural at the sport, Nhat was beating his father by the time he was 11 or 12, and while the youngster faced little competition throughout his own age group, before long he was training in esteemed company, alongside European champions Sam and Chloe Magee at the badminton institute in Marino.
As it transpired, Nguyen believes that the lack of suitable opponents of similar age has actually worked to his advantage as competed with the older players.
I have been training with the Magees, Sam and Chloe, since I was 13 or 14, and I think it has been a real advantage. Training with better players at the time was a huge push for me to move forward and it really helped me.
"But the problem in Ireland is that there is only really the Magees, myself and Paul Reynolds, so we’re looking to find some solution to bring more players in."
Following the Youth Olympics, Nguyen will round off his underage career at the world juniors in November, before all his energies will be focused on qualifying for badminton's blue riband event, the 2020 Olympics.
The qualification process for Tokyo kick-starts in April of next year and then the following 12 months will determine those who qualify for the Games, based on world rankings.
Nguyen is currently ranked 94th in the world, but he is confident that he will move up through the standings once he starts playing more relevant tournaments.
"After the major junior tournaments, I will focus on qualifying for Tokyo 2020," said Nhat.
"It starts next April and it is the same route as everyone else; you play tournaments and the more consistent you are, the better your ranking is.
"I haven’t played as many tournaments as the other players, but I am definitely optimistic of qualifying for 2020."
And Nhat believes that all his recent experiences, most notably at the world championships, will give him the belief to compete at the top level of the sport.
"It was a really good experience, just to see the players that I watch on television, right in front of me. And I actually played quite well against the number four or five seed.
"I had my chances and it was a really good learning curve. It gave me confidence knowing that I can compete with the best in the world.
"I was winning at one stage but I guess his experience overall took it away from me, but I learned from it and will move forward with it."
Nguyen is hopeful that this gap-year of sorts will evolve into his full-time career up to Tokyo and beyond, and he is already thinking about future Games in 2024 and 2028 when he will only be hitting his peak in the sport.
The funding will be in place for the Olympic year, which means that the young Dubliner can treat the sport as his full-time job throughout 2019.
"I get funding form the Olympic Council and Badminton Ireland and next year I will get it from Sports Ireland, so at the moment, everything is in place and looking good for Tokyo 2020.
"I just have to start building my rankings up after the world juniors in November. So after that, I will just play senior tournaments.
"Hopefully, in a couple of years’ time, I will be playing in all the world events at the highest level – that’s the plan.
"Peaking in badminton is probably 24 to 28 so definitely 2024 and 2028 will be on my mind.
"It seems like a long way away but you still have to plan for these things now."
