Seoul, South Korea 5/12/2025

I’m tired of not being able to sleep effectively. Theres a lot of reasons I’ve been waking up nonstop and early in the mornings, but I am frankly over it. The one pleasant part is it provides me the opportunity to lay around in the morning watching Netflix with no guilt. So that is how I started my day.

I had an appointment at 10:30, which gave me just enough time to go to a cafe I have been dying to try before hand. I got my suitcase all packed up since I am switching lodging today, and left my bags at the hotel before hopping on a train to make it to the 9 am opening of Soha Salt Pond. The line here is consistently long and wrapped around the building, so I knew to avoid this I wanted to be in line before they even opened. That being said, I arrived at 8:45 and was still about the 10th person in line. Luckily it was speedy. Soha Salt Pond is known for their salt bread crossiants. When you walk up to the cafe you’re greeted by the wafting spells of freshly baked bread and the beautiful scenery of the location. They have lovely blue salt ponds and piles outside that is aesthetic as all get out. I decided to get their classic salt bread crossiant, as well as their chocolate dipped, because I know one won’t be enough and I am a glutton for new flavors. I also got their wormwood milk coffee, which I had no idea what it was but it had a fun name and was a seasonal special. It ended up being a drip coffee with a thick layer of whipped milk on top and it was astounding. This place lives up to the hype. It is beautiful inside and speedy service, especially if you get there early. This however, is where my day started to take a downward spiral into chaos.

NAVER is the google maps of this area. If you try to use google maps it is pretty much dysfunctional. So everyone says to utilize NAVER. Before I came out here, I saved a boatload of locations as well as the places where I had pre-booked appointments at. However, I am real bad at saving the correct place. So while I got to what I assumed was the location on time for a gorgeous facial I had booked, I spent a solid 30 minutes wandering around a construction site only to realize I am at the wrong branch location. The spa I was supposed to be at was about a 25 minute bus ride away and at this point I was already 15 minutes late. With everything going on in life right now, this caused a quick mental breakdown as I was at my wits end. I emailed the site asking them how to get in because of the construction where they quickly informed me I was at the wrong place, and if I didn’t get to the location within 30 minutes they would have to cancel my non-refundable booking. So, I panicked and found a bus and sprinted to the location, making it there with 2 minutes to spare. I came in huffing and puffing and crying because I am just generally overwhelmed with life with how the past 24 hours have gone, and they were able to get me in. They did have to shorten my treatment by 25 minutes but whatever. I got a gorgeous facial with lots of ginsing Korean skin care products and by the time I walked out you could barely tell I came in in tears. Look people, solo travel isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and I am not going to pretend it is. It can be tough to utilize public transport in a country where you don’t speak the language and the maps app is not cooperating.

After this endeavor, I decided I needed more relaxing so I found a walk-in place where I could get a massage to attempt to regain my peace and composure. I was not going to make an appointment because I do not trust my capabilities to get somewhere on time. Which if you know me, being late causes me immense amounts of stress, especially when I know others are waiting on me. So I got a great hour long massage and spent some time roaming around the neighborhoods listening to my audiobook.

At this point, I went back to my hotel to grab my bags and go check into my stay for the next two nights. This will be an authentic Hanok stay. This is a Korean homestay which would probably give the more luxiourous travelers in my life anxiety, but I love finding authentic and local lodging when I have the chance. I am quickly regretting bringing my carry on suitcase instead of my usual backpack, because dragging the suitcase up and down stairs for public transport and across the brick roads in the Bukchon village is not the easist thing in the world. I pushed my suitcase up the hill, getting atrouciously sweaty, but I made it to the homestay. It is as quaint and real as I was hoping it would be. I got settled in my new stay and laid down on my floor bed and just breathed for a solid 30 minutes after the workout I got in.

I knew I wanted to head to the Gwangjang market for dinner tonight. On the plane here, I watched a Netflix episode about street food in Seoul, and I wanted to check out the mung bean pancakes and knife cut noodles that were featured on the show. When I got to the market however, the places I wanted to eat at were already closed down for the day which was a bummer. So I wandered and saw what else was around before making the decision to come back tomorrow earlier in the day. I went for Korean BBQ because it will always be good, and took a moment to reset. When I finished dinner I came back and spent some time exploring the Bukchon village that will be my home the next two days before the work part of my trip begins. Lots of places were already shut down for the night but I was able to peek into windows so I know where to check out when I once again wake up early tomorrow. I try to collect some local art whenever I travel, and I noticed some shops that will meet this standard. Tomorrow I will go back and buy it. Tomorow is my last full day of fun before I head down to Daegu for work. So I want to make the most of it because there is still SO much of Seoul I haven’t seen.

I have two appointments tomorrow, one at 4:00 and one at 7:30. So the mission before that is to try my hardest to cross of the last few things I really want to see before leaving this city. Today was a reminder that not every day of travel is sunshine and rainbows. You’ll make mistakes when you travel, you’ll get frustrated and real life may sneak in. However, that doesn’t discount the fact I still made some really great memories today. 50 years from now I wont sit there ranting about the fact I was 30 minutes late to a facial, I’ll remember the positive parts of this trip. The moments that remind me that seeing another culture and immersing yourself can be scary and frustrating and maddening, but it is also a beautiful adventure and a learning experience every single day. I am so lucky to get to be on this side of the world and to see places that many people in my life never will. So I will take the good, and ignore the bad. Because the bad will always be less.