Seoul, South Korea

Roughly 2 years ago, my wife and I were spending our Sunday morning having breakfast and enjoying our ritual morning coffee. This day we had decided to browse some flights - we’re both addicted travellers.

We came across, what we felt like, was a great deal. A flight from Vancouver to Seoul for a week. Seoul to Tokyo for a week, then back home.

Hindsight, it wasn’t a good deal but we jumped on it as both of us are always up for a new adventure!

Fast forward 8 months later and we’re both of to Asia for the first time.

Here is a view from the plane as we fly over Alaska, then to Russia.

I had no idea what to expect when we arrived in Seoul, other than to understand absolutely nothing. It was a fantastic experience though. Seoul was very clean city. I don’t recall seeing homelessness, graffiti, dirtied streets, etc…

The friendly locals, public art, millions of cafe’s, efficient transit, and incredible shopping are things that stand out when I first think of Seoul.

I recall having strangers walk up to us offering directions (speaking to us English), which was very kind and unexpected. I’ve never been under the expectation for people to speak English when I travel abroad when that is not a dominant language in the land. I don’t really understand how someone could ever expect that, but I hear people complain about it often. Im under the opinion that if I’m travelling to your country, I should be doing what I can to speak your language and adhere to your customs (within reason).

The public art and landscape architecture in Seoul was pretty fantastic. I was in awe quite often just wandering through the city, exploring different streets and constantly running into something visually fun. The city of Seoul turned their viaducts that ran through the city into a beautiful walkway that was a pleasure to stroll down - we loved it!

There was also some pretty fantastic cafes, one that stands out is the poop emoji cafe (not the actually name).

Some of my favourite sights though was exploring the DDP - a famous architectural marvel, designed by the late Zara Hadid. This beauty of a building is breathtaking. Seoul fashion week is often held here but there are many shops inside worth exploring.

But if you’re already here, I suggest you also explore the grounds at night. The electric garden comes to lift and is a visual treat:

Naturally, there is a lot of history to this country. The older part of Seoul is a great way to spend a day walking about, exploring the beauty of this ancient architecture/design and checking out cute cafe’s and shops.

Last but not least, we also explored the area called: Gyeonbokgung - this palace is worthy of attention. With massive grounds for exploring, this is a place you’ll want to check out and spend some time at. Some of the buildings seem to blend together after a while, thats when you know you should probably take your leave.

I hope you all enjoyed this brief review of one of my favourite cities. Seoul is a gem, the people are so friendly and kind and I would travel back in a heartbeat.