There is a small Korean island located between South Korea and Japan, known as Jeju. After two weeks in the big cities of Busan and Seoul, I had planned a more pastoral experience on Jeju and had rented a car to explore from two different AirBnbs on the East and West sides of the island. Unfortunately, upon arrival at Jeju Airport from Seoul, I was unable to take possession of the rental car without an international driver’s license. This piece of paper is a bureaucratic requirement, apparently facilitated by a request to a US governing authority, along with a US driver’s license. South Korea, along with Japan, appears to be one of the few countries that require this. My US driver’s license, which has always been accepted in the other countries where I have rented cars (many), doesn’t work in South Korea. However, I can use my US driver’s license to obtain an international driver’s license. I got the impression, for the first time, that there were likely other things about South Korea I would find annoying as I became more familiar with how things actually work. That’s actually a fun part of learning about a foreign country, a sort […]
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Seoul feels safe, organized, clean, and efficient every time I visit. I think it must be because there are so few foreigners like me around. Every country has its challenges and discomforts, but as a short-term visitor, it really feels like this is a place I can stay and be entirely insulated from nagging annoyances that plague daily life; this isn’t typically achievable in many of the countries I visit. I suppose one risk of staying in South Korea for an extended period would be feeling isolated. I would guess it could take five years before a local approaches you to say hello. It isn’t that people here are rude or inconsiderate; quite the opposite, it’s just that you could live anonymously in Seoul without anyone ever noticing. No new surprises this time in Seoul, which was just fine for me. I was relishing revisiting my favorite neighborhoods and eating as much Korean food as I could find. I met my local friend Justin and his wife, Laura, who moved from Bogotá to Seoul while her US visa is being processed. They had met in Bogotá and then obtained a one-year visa in South Korea along with a rental apartment […]
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My body was severely deficient in Korean BBQ: it had been six years since I last traveled to South Korea. This trip, I entered the country through Busan, a coastal city and the country’s second-largest, which I hadn’t yet visited (Busan had been on my travel list since my first visit to Seoul in 2015). I stayed for 10 days and thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city, which was quite different from Seoul, as it is a coastal city, smaller, and with accessible nature on its outskirts. I was fortunate because my workload was especially low, and so I mostly avoided late-night meetings with my USA-based clients and colleagues. Busan is an ideal destination for anyone seeking to explore South Korea. It felt larger than I had anticipated, but I was never in a crowded or noisy place. Instead, the city streets and roadways seemed orderly, clean, and relaxed. You could spend weeks here without talking to anyone, owing to the local, seemingly introverted culture, which, while respectful of foreign tourists, does not seem concerned with them. Coming from Italy, it was a refreshing break not having to dodge street vendors or tourist traps. Despite obviously being a foreigner, I felt […]
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I’m grateful I had the chance to visit Ukraine in 2019—before Russia’s invasion changed everything. I’ve had similar feelings about Taiwan. It feels like a place living on borrowed time, quietly awaiting a potential Chinese invasion. One of the central themes of my experience in Taiwan was the striking convergence of Japanese and Chinese cultural and historical influences. I was surprised to hear some locals express openness to the idea of Chinese rule, believing it might bring improvements to infrastructure, governance, and quality of life. Of course, not everyone shares that view. Like anywhere else, Taiwan has its own political factions, each with distinct perspectives and interests. Hearing those views firsthand was eye-opening. Taiwanese cuisine reflects the island’s cultural hybridity—rooted in its own traditions while clearly shaped by both Chinese and Japanese elements. Traditional Mandarin is still spoken here, making Taiwan one of the few places where simplified characters aren’t the norm. While some people spoke English—especially in cosmopolitan Taipei—English menus weren’t common. That said, locals were consistently kind and patient as I fumbled my way through conversations in Mandarin. In one surreal moment, I walked into a 7-Eleven and ran into Kevin, an old friend I hadn’t seen since […]
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It had been eight years since I was last in Thailand. When I left, I wasn’t in any rush to return. I had been living on the island of Koh Phangan, known for its wild parties, 20-something international travelers, bootleg moonshine that sometimes kills foreigners, and psychedelic mushroom shakes. I mostly kept out of trouble by crossing the island each day on my scooter, training on Haad Rin Beach, and swimming in the ocean. It wasn’t until I got to the departure airport that I realized I had overstayed my 30-day tourist visa by two days. As luck would have it, the local currency in my pocket covered the fine. When I was warned that the overstay might affect my ability to enter the country again in the future, I simply said, “Thank goodness,” and left without much desire to return. At the time, I knew there was much more to see, explore, and eat in Thailand—but it would be years before I felt any real pull to come back. You can only neglect a continent for so long (excluding Australia—highly neglectable, in my opinion). And when it comes to flying over a place en route to somewhere else, I’ve […]
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I chose Bangkok for a few days to cushion the entry and time-zone adjustment while re-acclimatizing Asia. It had been three years since I was in Asia and I needed to eat copious amounts of Thai food to back-fill my deficiencies upon re-entry. It was my first time in Bangkok, and I coasted by for a few days by working and walking around looking at Asian stuff in the streets. I did a food tour through the Chinatown district which is known for its variety and mix of cuisines.
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Certain travel destinations attract us more than others. When I was a kid, New Zealand's remote location, geographic isolation and diversity, endemic wildlife and a friend's Kiwi lineage necessitated my interest; I visited in 2008. Similarly in college, Tierra del Fuego, the southern tip of South America, attracted my interest as a mysterious, adventurous place that I longed to visit (and did in 2005). Five years ago I wondered what Seoul, South Korea, must be like, seemingly so different from the United States. Sri Lanka though, was never a place that was on my radar.
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Seoul is a great city to explore owing to the beautiful architecture, temples and endemic culture that is preserved amidst a modern, economic boom. The food is my world-wide favorite (sorry Lima now you and ceviche are now #2) — spicy, savory barbeque and lots of fermented vegetables — it is as if someone calibrated my palate to be magnetized specifically toward traditional Korean cuisine. I’ve been trying to return to Seoul for the past four years after visiting in 2015. It took a while because of all of the other places in queue (at least thirty, I think) — this time around I squeezed two weeks in before returning to the USA for Thanksgiving. It was long enough to sate my cravings for Korean food but not long enough to be ready to leave Seoul again. I secured a well-located Airbnb in the district of Songa-pu which besides being conveniently located via hyper-accessible transportation to nearby Gangnam had a lot to experience and explore in its own right. I joined a gym that I absolutely loved and the people were very kind and friendly. One of my favorite parts was the exercise uniforms they provided each visit; absolving my […]
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Back in January I left my cellphone in the back of a taxi on the way to a karaoke bar. My friend, Yoshinori Nishiki visited the police and called taxi agency — insisting the if my phone was found, it would be returned. After a week it hadn’t turned up and I told Yoshi thanks for the help but it was most likely gone forever. The phone was insured and I replaced it by paying $150; two weeks later it was in my hand. I wasn’t as upset with the money as I was with losing the photos I had taken of the Fushimi Inari Shrine and Nagoya Castle (which I absolutely fell in love with) that I was unable to upload before my phone was lost. Fast forward six weeks — I was in Argentina and Yoshi messaged me on Facebook to tell me that my phone had been located by the taxi company! Another month later, after it was ransomed by Argentinian customs, returned to Yoshi in Kyoto and sent to me in Uruguay, I received it. Yoshi is a true friend for doing all of the leg work – thanks buddy. Last month I had the opportunity to return a favor to […]
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Japan was the destination I have been most excited for over the past year. I’ve never been and from this American’s perspective everything about it seemed modern, unique and interesting. Kyoto contradicted my expectations. This city is hundreds of years older than the United States of America and based more on tradition more than the glitzy, crazy and humorous depictions publicized by western media. In fact I’ll go so far as to say things here in Kyoto are sort of Vanilla but I’ll stipulate that vanilla is one of my favorite flavors. The culture here is subdued, passive and extremely introverted. The city itself is far from the hyper-modern society I had (unfairly) expected (in ironic contrast to Seoul) — and really hangs its hat on the impressive array of historic monuments, temples, gardens and sites surrounding it. They are certainly wonderful to behold. I have never been to a place whose architecture is so strikingly, naturally beautiful, distinct and also unique within its style. This is a place where OCD can be at peace — the historical styles are classic and beautifully aesthetic. It is easily the most photogenic of destinations I have ever visited. I can stand or sit and simply stare at […]
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