My first trip to South Korea

I can now happily share that I, Faye from London have completed my Masters Degree (Art Law & Business) and have rewarded myself for all my hard work with a 6 week unforgettable stay in South Korea 😊 

I typed this post in the sky as I was making my way back to the UK. I felt a pang of nostalgia and sadness at the thought of leaving South Korea behind. I know that I’m going to miss the food, the language, the sounds of the metro, the weather, and the landscape….even the almost vertical hill I had to scale every evening in order to return to my cute little apartment. The last few weeks have been some of the best days of my life. South Korea is a wonderful country. It’s noisier and messier than the version you see in K-dramas but it is also 1000 times better.  The experience, even if only 42 days duration has been transformative for me. Visiting South Korea was something akin to coming home, especially in Busan. I fell completely in love with Busan. I also feel really grateful for the fantastic people I’ve met while I’ve been here. If you’re reading this: I’m so glad we met!  

That is not to say that every day of my trip was sunshine and roses. It’s been hard too. Especially the first week.  Originally, I had planned to share everything about my trip, make lots of reels etc as well as interview quite a few people… but after trying a few times with the videos, I realised that I was spending too much time observing myself rather than being present in the moment and really enjoying myself.  Since I’ve been saving, dreaming and waiting to be here for years, isn’t it a colossal waste to spend my first time here being over pre-occupied with  how I present the experience on social media rather than just enjoying it for what it is. I also found myself in real need of a proper break. I rarely get to be carefree these days. I’ve been working extremely hard for so long on what feels like a thousand different things, I really just wanted to take a break and be myself. I was able to enjoy myself much better after that “lightbulb moment”; it allowed me the space to explore Seoul offline, and as a result, I had a truly wonderful time. I’ll do better on the social media stakes next time! Spoiler: I’m planning on going back as soon as possible. 

They say the holiday starts with the flight, so let’s start there. I felt spoiled by the cute little comforts they offer (blanket, pillow, slippers, toothbrush). I made myself a little bit  too comfortable and slept for most of the flight – which was really wonderful at the time. However, I think with hindsight that might have made it harder for me to adjust to the South Korean time on arrival! Once I landed in Seoul on 2 September 2024, I was glad that I’d ordered a taxi to drop me to my flat, although the taxi driver had to stop halfway up the vertical hill as his car was struggling so we pushed my heavy suitcases up the hill. It was so hard in the heatwave/humidity and I kid you not, I nearly passed out from the experience. 

I was too excited after I arrived to sleep and ended up working instead. Great start for switching off, right? The next day (my first full day) was wonderful because I had nothing planned except for unpacking and meeting a friend (Sian) for dinner. I went for a walk and accidentally stumbled on the pub from Itaewon Class. We had a lovely time wandering around Myeongdong before heading to NamSan Tower where we talked for a few hours about books and films. As the weather was so delightfully warm we had ice lollies at 22:00. The child in me loved that! The next morning I found that I’d got over the initial rush and was starting to feel the jetlag catching up with me.  My first  -and totally unexpected problem was how strongly my UK hair reacted to the humidity so I was glad that I had booked a scalp/hair treatment on my first few days. My real physical struggles didn’t start until the aircon in my flat stopped working.

When I was planning my days before coming here I thought I would be able to do way more in a day than was possible in reality. I did try my best for the first 2-3 days and was rushing around. Which is really just a long-winded way of berating myself for not factoring in obvious things such as the heat and humidity, or the Korean Mosquitos (which are tenacious).  Solo travelling is liberating in some respects but going alone to a place where you don’t know anyone, nor do you speak the language fluently is really challenging, scary, lonely and confusing. I was over-complicating my own trip by putting unnecessary pressure on myself to have the perfect experience at all times. No matter where you go, it’s actually impossible to like everything. My feelings called for a few home comforts. I jest not but I had not realised how important my morning cornflakes were to my daily life!!  Having these things available to me allowed me to relax, and most importantly, leave my charming accommodation feeling ready for the day, because you do need your fuel for all the hills and stairs! 

While in Seoul  I have learned a different way of doing things; not so much that anything earlier was a  mistake, more just a  learning curve. Though I  had many Korean language lessons prior to my trip, nevertheless It was  hard at times, quite simply  because  Korean is not my native language.  I am not stupid, but I found everything was completely new and I had to figure everything out – the trains, the money, the buses, how to order food, what to do when your card stops working randomly (I’m grateful for proactive fraud prevention) but I’ve learned so much and now feel so much more confident about getting around next time. Aside from the initial struggles, which were really down to my expectations meeting reality rather than a criticism of the country, I adapted to the pace of life here relatively easily. There’s so much you find in South Korea that is designed and operates with convenience in mind and even though there is a sense of speed being important at times, it’s really for efficiency’s sake and that also left me feeling interestingly calm. Not once did I have to rush for the train or get stressed about missing the bus. The public transport system is incredible.   

Then there’s the mountains which I found good for my soul, and being near the river made me feel at peace. People who live in Seoul are gifted with a sense of being safe. An interesting sentence to type if you consider that the country is still technically at war with its sister to the North. Of course, it’s always important to be alert and not be reckless/stupid but generally speaking I’ve never felt scared about being here on my own, especially walking home late at night. Things like that are easy to get used to. I think in that regard I’ll be experiencing reverse culture shock when  I am back in the UK.  There have been so many moments where I’ve felt extremely fortunate but also in a state of mind such as “Wow. Am I really here?” and “I feel like I’m dreaming”. The greatest of those was watching the Seoul International Fireworks Festival on a balcony with an incredible view and being near to tears because I couldn’t believe I was finally experiencing it. Also, fireworks bring me such joy, and it was honestly one of the most spectacular evenings of my life. 

So, with the more emotional stuff out of the way: please allow me to share with you a little bit about some of the things I’ve been up to! The short answer is: Museums. Art Galleries. Long walks. 

Those who know me will not be surprised that I skipped most of the touristy things and instead opted to spend my free time largely just wandering around different areas. I went on weekly trips to Nam San Tower on Sunday afternoons to watch the sunset and eat pasta – allowing myself one western meal a week seemed a good compromise to encourage myself to try different foods. I’ve eaten a lot of incredible food. So much iced tea! My favourite moments have been in Cafes and restaurants just talking with the wonderful people I’ve met while I’ve been here. I’ve also been on a lot of long walks. Of course, this means that I’ve not done half the things I had planned to because if I had I would have overstretched myself. 

Frieze & KIAF 

I was really fortunate to get an invitation to come along to both Frieze and KIAF where I spent a really lovely two afternoons exploring and being impressed by art and artists. I enjoyed KIAF more I would say as I found it to be a little more relaxed and personal, with as the name suggests, featuring more Korean artists. I’m hoping to be able to share more about this with you over the coming months when I start interviewing again! 

Faye’s first Korean Hike 

Thanks to my new favourite app – NomadHer, which is an app that amongst other things allows female travellers to connect with other travellers at offline meetups – I was able to brave my first Korean mountain. The steps were ok. The heat was also ok but the two together made the experience really challenging. That being said, all of that was forgotten as soon as I reached the top. There was a man selling ice cream and seeing him felt almost like the same thing as seeing an angel in real life. I think if I lived there that would become a monthly tradition. 

It was here I met the wonderful Abigail (see left).

Gwangjang Market Tour 

I think one of my ‘must do’ recommendations would be this experience hosted by Goodmate Travel. Their whole ethos is based on authenticity and I really liked that. The tour guide was really nice, and you could just tell that he loved all the food he was introducing us to, which made the evening really special. The food was amazing! Even just thinking about it now makes me hungry. I would recommend doing something like this on the first few days of your trip if you visit South Korea. 

Dark Side of Seoul Tour 

I enjoyed this tour so much I went on it twice.   

https://www.darksideofseoul.com/

They’ve recently launched a third version which I’ll go on next time I’m there.

Mad Korean Class 

They start with a Korean class where you’re partnered with a native Korean speaker who wants to practice English and it’s a really great idea. Afterwards everyone goes for dinner and if you want, on to a few bars. I met some really nice people here, but three in particular being those I ate dinner with 🙂 

Instagram: @MadKoreanClass

Hanbok Photoshoot

I think this was the most special day while I was in Korea. Not only did I get to wear a beautiful hanbok, but one of the group proposed to his girlfriend as part of the photoshoot and it was so beautiful.

The palace is also such a wonderful and peaceful place to walk around. I loved it there so much.

I rented my hanbok from Daehan Hanbok who made the experience really fun. Side note, they make great reels!

I’ll share more about this when I’ve got the edited photographs 🙂

Suwon Hwaseong Cultural Festival 

This was so much fun and I’m so glad I booked it. The tour can be found via Klook. The festival I visited was on a Sunday and was to celebrate the birthday of Lady Hyegyeong. The history about this era is far to complicated for me to go into in a few sentences but being at the same place were real history happened, and these real people were is so exciting. The festival featured a traditional Korean musical based on the story of the 60th Birthday celebration (Jinchanyeong) for Lady Hyegyeong, the mother of King Jeongjo. It also touches on the controversies around Crown Prince Sado. There was also an immersive art performance at night time which features sounds, light and dance, which was pretty cool. The dancers were incredible. 

I had not realised when I booked it that I would be part of the parade but I’m so glad to have had that experience – it was really wonderful. 

Busan 

Ah, Busan. Visiting Busan felt like coming home and I just loved everything about being there. If I had the chance, I’d move there tomorrow.

NomadHer Festival 

 NomadHer is the number one female solo travel app and its mission is to empower women through solo travelling. They believe that every woman can start their solo trip when we are together and since 2019 has held various festivals to connect for female travellers. The festival in Busan was a celebration dedicated to empowering the attendees through travel, adventure, self-love and community. The 3 days were packed with panel talks, workshops, music, and surfing at sunset.

It was brilliant and I met so many incredible women! Abigail was there too and she joked that it was really nice of the organisers to arrange something so we could hang out for a few days!

Shilla Hotel 

Past me had a few glasses of wine too many on her birthday and decided to treat herself to a two night stay in the Shilla hotel before coming back to England. She made the right decision. That place is perfect! I honestly couldn’t fault anything from my time there. 

Note though: I had to pay a deposit against any room service/mini bar purchases which is refundable later. You can say no I believe but I didn’t feel confident enough. It’d be nice to know this in advance in case you are on a tight budget like I was. I’ve not stayed in many hotels but have never had to do that in England so I wasn’t expecting it. 

Seoul Fireworks Festival 

This evening was magic, and one of my favourite evenings. I’ve always loved fireworks and being able to watch the Seoul Fireworks in real life was a dream come true. I got a bit overwhelmed about the notion of actually being there to experience something that I cried when I thought it was ending. Thank you for inviting me Abigail – you’re the absolute best! 

Korea House 

One of my last cultural things was a Royal Dinner at Korea House. The food was incredible. The building is beautiful, and generally I had a great time but the people on reception made a mess of our reservation which would have ben fine if they hadn’t been unpleasant about it – they weren’t rude openly but the undercurrent was very much ‘you stupid foreigners’ and they didn’t apologise for the issue which ruined the experience for me and was a shame.   

Personal Colour Analysis 

For this I visited the lovely people at Color Palace – I picked this place out of all the many options (and I’m sure equally great places) because Shinee’s Key has visited. That was the full extent of my research, with apologies. It was an interesting experience and one I would recommend for curiosity’s sake, but I think you have to view this consultation as guidance rather than fact and do with it what you please. My best colour type was identified as Summer light. I was told that red and bold colours don’t suit me but I am not so sure that I agree. The make-up advice was more beneficial to me, as someone who rarely wears makeup I got a lot out of that. The colours they recommended, especially for the lip colours, were spot on, and they made me look and feel so much better. I purchased some of the lipsticks they recommended.  They give you a really great service and the staff are really kind. 

Scalp Treatment 

I watched Deema talking about her treatment at Eco Jardin so I wanted try it out for myself. Her hair looked beautiful after she finished and since I was battling the aforementioned humidity hair crisis of 2024, I really wanted that for myself too. This was also an experience that was both interesting and humbling. Starting with the scan of my scalp at the beginning. As someone who has always thought she has taken good care of herself, I felt a little embarrassed at the state of my scalp as per the scan but actually, with hindsight, I guess that’s kind of the point and the people that do the treatment are so used to seeing the state of people’s scalps so if you are reading this and planning to go, just forgo that embarrassment. The treatment itself was great and they talk you through each step and what they’re doing, which was nice. The whole thing was really relaxing and took about an hour and a half I think. I left and with my scalp looking and feeling so much fresher. I would recommend the treatment but I’ve never had one before so have nothing to compare it to.

Skincare treatment 

My third humbling experience. I went to Vands Clinic in Gangnam and had a treatment to completely clean out my pores, a collagen-boosting treatment and a laser treatment. It hurt a little bit but it’s not unbearable and they do give you numbing cream. I thought it was a face mask when they first put it on so the unexpected tingling was a shock! The staff are really welcoming and friendly. Translation services are available. They talked me through a lot of options after a rather humbling skincare analysis but didn’t put any pressure on me in terms of what I should get, which was welcome. They have a translator who talks you through the process. The main problem I felt was after it was over they pretty much leave you to yourself and I would have benefitted with someone explaining how soon my face was going to go back to normal, and maybe a glass of water. 

Museums / other notable places I visited

 War Memorial of Korea
Leeum Samsung Museum of Art
Namsan outdoor Botanical Garden
Seondaemun Prison History Museum
Seoul Botanical Garden
Seoul Hall of Urbanism & Architecture
National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art
Changdeokgung (including the secret garden)
National Folk Museum of Korea
War & Women’s Human Rights Museum
National Hangeul Museum
Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Transitioning from ‘I can’t wait to be in Korea’ to ‘I can’t believe I’m finally here’ was easy. It’s been much harder transitioning to ‘I can’t believe it’s all over’.