A lot of major things has happened this year. Most of them are travel related. It was the first time since I was a child that I spent at most of my holidays traveling somewhere to see something new! Most of my travels have been in South Korea, but there is so much to see here. And I figured since I live and work here, I can actually take my time seeing all the major spots.
We can start right before I left my home in Washington State. I had a list of places I wanted to see before I left.
After touring a local university with my bestie and her daughter, we check out Museum of Pop Culture. I think the touring exhibit at the moment was Superheros and comics. I love this place.
The next time I went down to Seattle was to hit up some local spots that had been on my list for a long time. Again, my bestie and I spent a whole day traveling around Seattle. We first hit up the Jimmy Hendrix Memorial down in Renton. Then found the Kurt Cobain benches before paying respect to Bruce Lee and his son. (See my post about that visit here).
My first plane trip of the year was my flight to South Korea. The big move to become a ESL teacher. I landed and once I got to my hotel and looked outside the window, I couldn’t believe that I was finally here. A dream that I thought would never come true!
My first trip to Seoul was literally a week after teaching my first week. I met up with several EPIK friends and we got a taste of the city by visiting Itaewon-ro and Hongdae.
The next time I went up to Seoul, I went by myself on a long three-day weekend. Several of my friends went off to Japan, but I wanted to visit that country during my summer vacation. Solo traveling is a bit daunting for a newbie, but I think I’ve grown to like doing things on my own.
During that trip I visiting Gyeongbuk Palace, hiked up to Namsan Tower and did my first shopping trip to Myeongdong.
It was watching the Lantern Parade that I really hit me that I was in Seoul. Like really hit me to the point I started crying. Thank god it was dark out and the parade was so distracting so not a lot of people saw me crying there on the street.
I also wandered around the Bukchon-ro Hanok Village.
My first time in Busan was another 3 day weekend before my actual summer vacation. It was during the rainy season, but I was still able to get to see the Gamcheon Cultural Village.
My summer vacation was spent in Japan. And even though it was a last minute decision, I do not regret spending nearly 5 days there. Even in the hot Japanese summer.
I wrote a couple of post of my trip to Japan. They are here, here and here! I actually spent 5 days in Japan, but the first and last day were mostly travel days. On my way back, I spent a couple of days up in Seoul before heading back home.
September and Chuseok sent me back to Seoul since I heard that most of the culture building and museum were going to be free to visit. Why not go up again and visit all the palaces you haven’t visit yet for free!
I vlogged a bit about my trip. You can see it here.
My last major trip was back to Busan just before fall. I finally got to see Haeundae Beach! Check out my vlog about my short trip!
The next year, I have so many other travel plans. I want to use my holiday wisely now I’ve a bit more comfortable doing it alone. So many places in Korea are on my list like Jeju-do and the North & South Korean Boarder. Japan is also in the future but I’m looking forward to visiting some new countries during my long holidays like in the summer and during Chuseok!
What are your travel highlights of 2019?
Until next time…안녕히 가세요, jane*
There Goes Jane 