Korea: Week 1
Some snapshots of Busan.
One of the downsides of being a travel writer is that the concept of a “dream/bucket list destination” loses its allure. Like anything, do a lot of it and the novelty wears off. But there is one place I’m always fantasizing about—South Korea. When I can’t sleep, I scroll through flights, hoping I might stumble on a deal (it’s annoyingly one of the few destinations where the flight prices are consistent year-round). I went back in the fall of 2024, and before that, for the first time on my own at age 19.
I haven’t taken a significant personal, non-work trip in over a decade, so this feels very luxurious, not in the experience itself (I do miss the five-star accommodations), but in that I get to be on my own schedule.
After 10 days here, I thought I’d share a handful of photos, very early 2010s-blogger-era of me I know. I spent a week in Busan, a coastal city that was truly one of a kind. Most seaside cities I’ve visited have a similar vibe/geography—Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco, Cape Town. But Busan was something else entirely—incredibly cosmopolitan (upwards of 4M people, and so many areas to explore), fast-paced yet laidback, a sleepy mornings/night-favoring schedule. And the food, wow the food. I’ll have to dedicate a whole post (or several) to the cuisine here.
I made a big mistake upon arrival after 30 hours of travel from JFK — I reserved a different hotel than I thought I was booking (they had the exact same name). So I ended up in a neighborhood I didn’t plan to stay in, which added 1-2 hours travel time to anywhere I wanted to see. The upside? I had a reason to extend my stay. Silver linings.
Best,
Anna
