Tips for Travelling in South Korea

1. Flying. I took two flights to get to South Korea. The first flight I took was through the airline Hainan and it was from Toronto to Beijing, approximately 12 hours. Then I had a three hour layover at the Beijing airport and flew to Incheon on Korean Air. I had lots of time to go through customs in Beijing since they are very quick. Because I took two different airlines I had to pick up my luggage in Beijing and go through check in again for my flight to Incheon. I was really stressed that I would be short on time but it was totally ok and I even had time to get a snack and nap for an hour. I took a direct flight on the way home, which was much less stressful, but more expensive. Lots of in-flight meals and snacks are provided so don't worry about food!

2. Book a SIM card ahead of time. I used a site called Trazy to pre-book my SIM card and I chose the 30 day unlimited data option because I didn't need calling or texting. I just use FaceTime and I-Message to contact people since it works through wifi or data. Make sure your phone is unlocked if you are going to use a Korean SIM card! I brought two phones with me. One phone was unlocked so I could use the Korean SIM card and the other had my SIM card from Canada in case of emergencies and so I could keep my Canadian phone number. There is also something called a wifi egg that is an alternative to a SIM card. I ended up choosing the SIM card because it seemed to be a less expensive option for long-term visits and it didn't add another item for me to charge at night. The carrier I chose was KT. Supposedly SK is the best, but it is more expensive. I had no problems with KT or the SIM card! I turned on the hotspot of the Korean SIM Card phone and just connected my other phone to it so I could get messages and face-time calls to my Canadian number. It also gave me a battery life of two phones, which really helped when I went wandering for 9+ hours in areas that I wasn't familiar with.

3. Use KakaoMap to figure out the subway system. Google maps is pretty useless in Korea but KakaoMap is great and it shows you all the bus and subway routes with names in English and Hangul. The subway can be challenging to figure out at first, but it gets easier. Follow the line number and make sure it is going in the right direction! Each line is on a different 'floor' underground and there are two subways on each side. Above the doors you can see which direction the subway is going so make sure you get on the right one (there were many times that I screwed this up). It is much easier to use the subway and KakaoMap if you can read Hangul, but you can get by without knowing it.

4. T Money cards are amazing. You can buy it, load it, and reload it at any convenience store and it can be used on buses, subways, and some taxis. You tap the card when you get on the subway or bus and tap when you get off at your final destination. You don't need to worry about exiting the subway and tapping if you are just transferring lines. It is super convenient and very easy to work with.

5. Communication. If you are looking for a messaging app, Kakao Talk is very popular in Korea. It also comes with cute sticker packs!

6. Learn to read Hangul before you go to Korea! It isn't hard to learn but it is very helpful to know. You don't even have to understand what you are reading as long as you can read it and identify the characters. It is also really useful to learn some basic phrases like 'thank you' and 'hello'. On that note, it's also good to do some quick research about their customs and culture before going (this applies to any travel). For example, hand-shakes are not a way of greeting in Korea. There is also a lot more importance placed on age and hierarchy that is good to know.

7. Bring a portable charger (or buy one there!). It is a lot harder to find outlets at cafes in Korea then it is in Canada. Starbucks was a place that I consistently noticed outlets, but a lot of other cafes didn't have any. You can buy a portable charger at most, if not all, convenience stores.

8. Housing. I used AirBNB to book all of the places that I stayed at except for one hotel in Busan. Booking was easy and it had additional payment security and guarantees.

9. Google Trips. This app was so awesome when it came to figuring out what places I wanted to see, especially when I went to Jeju. You can download the app and then search the area that you are travelling to, for example Jeju or Seoul. It will then provide you with an extensive list of recommended places to visit in and around the area you have specified. When I travelled to Jeju I looked through the entire list and saved all the places that I thought looked interesting. You can then view all your saved spots on a map within the app. I planned each of my days based on different clusters of places on the map. This made my trip planning so much easier, especially since I had a limited number of days there. You can also change the tag/label on a place. I did this after I visited each location so I could remember where I had gone.

10. Move Around. I changed where I was staying every week or so for the first two months. It's a bit of a hassle to pack and unpack and then drag your luggage around the subway station, but it's worth it. I got to meet new people at several of the locations and it was a great way to get a feel for each district because I had no idea what to expect. Seoul is huge and it is a lot easier to stay in different parts of it and explore that area while you're there than to stay in one place and try to experience every part of it. Moving around also allows you to figure out what parts you like the best so you can pick what area you want to stay in longer. I loved the convenience and modern, city feel of Gangnam as a place to come home to at night so I ended up booking one room there for the last month of my trip. It is definitely more expensive to move around a lot if you are doing AirBNB, but I don't regret it at all (you get discounts the longer you stay at some places when you book through AirBNB). I stayed in Yongsan-gu, Sinchon, Hannam, and several different places Gangnam (I think that was it). The upper part of Seoul is generally older neighbourhoods that are more traditional and quiet so great for a day trip, but not where I wanted to stay. I personally found Gangnam was a great place to room as a first time traveller to Seoul because there were lots of food options and it's pretty busy which made me feel a bit more at home and safe. It's also within walking distance of the Han River, which was one of my favourite places. It was still very easy to get from Gangnam to any part of Seoul using the subway system so staying here didn't eliminate other opportunities.

11. Wander. I typically need to have everything planned out ahead of time and I love schedules, but that was not how I ended up travelling for a decent amount of my stay. When I went to places where I had a limited amount of time (like Jeju and Japan) I absolutely had every day planned out with all the places that I wanted to see. However, some of my favourite pictures and memories came from the walks in between those locations. After I had been in Seoul, for a while I started doing days where I would pick an area, bus there, and then just walk and see what I could find. It was so relaxing and I was able to discover places that I would not have found otherwise. This method obviously wouldn't work if you're on a tight schedule and only visiting for a short amount period, but if you are there for a long period of time then wander. Walking between places can also accomplish this. While I was in Japan I walked everywhere once I made it to my city-of-the-day. Sometimes that meant walking for upwards of an hour between spots, but it was amazing!