10 Travel Mistakes I Made in South Korea

I have been watching tons of travel videos lately since I am preparing for a trip these days. One of the most common types of videos I watch is ‘‘what to pack’’, ‘‘what do to’’, and ‘‘what to eat’’. They are helpful, to some extent. But I think I am learning more from my poor packing skills and other mistakes I made in Korea. So I decided to write those down to remember them in the future.

1-Not choosing a flight meal if you want a vegetarian option

Funny enough, I never had to choose my meal beforehand since I always fly with Turkish airline companies. But when I flew to Korea, I didn’t buy my tickets, a travel agency did for me. It never occurred to me that I needed to choose my airplane meal if I want to eat vegetarian on the plane. So when dinner was being served on the plane, the hostess asked me to choose between chicken and beef.

I asked for a vegetarian option and she replied, and I quote, ‘‘Pick it up the meats.’’ I will never forget her hand gestures as she explained to me how to pick the meats out of the meals. It was quite frustrating, and even more so since this happened at the beginning of 12 hours flight. If only I had known that I needed to inform the agency that will buy my tickets… For my upcoming trip, I informed the agency and now I have a vegetarian meal option on my ticket. Small things matter a lot.

2-Overpacking

People shop when they go abroad, period. It does not matter if you are a man or woman; there will always be interesting and worth buying stuff wherever you go. Hence, it is important to leave some extra space in your luggage. I remember I considered buying another luggage in Seoul which would not make much sense. Because I was already struggling to carry my big suitcase around. Plus, you will have access to laundry service wherever you go. So, packing for just one week and doing laundry seems the best option now. By the way, in Korea, on top of overpacking, I also did laundry a few days before coming to the UK. I guess I just wanted my clothes to travel back clean, lol.

3-Not packing according to weather.

This was something new to me since I had never traveled to Asia before. Before I went to Korea, the academy was kind enough to send us the weather forecast during our stay, which predicted over 20 degrees Celsius, and yet I packed mostly winter clothes. It was literally t-shirt weather in Yeosu, but I was wearing turtleneck jumpers and blazer jackets. It is not an easy concept to comprehend for those who have never traveled to the other end of the world, but it’s a fun fact that some countries are always warm. This time I’m packing mostly summer stuff. If only I could make my coat and scarf vanish upon my arrival since I am sure it will be a burden to carry.

4-Personal care products

I took some hygiene products with me to Korea, but it was not enough. For some reason, these kinds of products were expensive there. I remember paying almost £4 for a lousy hand soap on the very first day, which you can find under £1 in the UK. It might sound crazy to carry a bottle of soap to the far end of the world, but it becomes expensive when it adds up. And it makes more sense than packing clothes. 

5-Eating out

I am a picky eater, and I was even picky about my mom’s delicious and healthy meals when I was growing up. It is hard not to be picky when the culture is completely different. In Korea, the food was always spicy and even non-spicy dishes were too spicy for me. I didn’t know how to use chopsticks, and there were very few vegetarian options at shops and restaurants. I was not well-informed about the general eating culture, which was due to my lack of research on the topic. I believe my tolerance for spicy food has increased a little since my time in Korea, but this time around, I am doing my homework to find the best foods that suit my taste.

6-Communication

It is bizarre to expect every person out there to speak English, but even as a non-native speaker, I expected everyone in Korea to speak English. However, some people did not, and it upset me because communication is the most important thing in the world. On my second day, I discovered to use of the voice translation feature of Google Translate, which was a lifesaver in many situations. However, I wish I had learned a few basic phrases before going to Korea to speak with the people. This shows good intentions and effort, which is always appreciated anywhere. I ended up learning how to say hello and thank you in a few days, but obviously, it was not enough.

7-Access the internet

I cannot stress enough how important it is to buy a SIM card at the airport as soon as you arrive. Going online has become more important than anything in today’s world, especially if you don’t know how to speak the language or where to go. I didn’t have the internet for the first two weeks of my trip to Korea, which was a big mistake. In my defence, I thought I would have access to the internet at the hotel, academy, and in some public places and that would be enough. But it certainly was not enough. When I realised this, I tried to buy an e-SIM, but my phone was not suitable for that. I needed a physical SIM for two weeks or so, but I just couldn’t explain this to the staff in the store, which is funny because I wouldn’t encounter this problem if I had the data from the beginning.   

8-Using proper apps

Before going to Korea, I did my research on which apps were being used there, as I heard that Google Maps doesn’t work there. So, I downloaded Kakao Taxi, Kakao Map, and other Kakao-related applications. But even then, I had problems from time to time using the apps. I guess I thought of downloading the apps but didn’t think of how to use them properly. Looking back, I think our biggest struggle was finding our way because we couldn’t make Kakao Map work properly and it delayed a lot of things.

9-Bringing enough cash

This goes hand in hand with buying a SIM card at the airport. Again, we had zero cash and couldn’t withdraw any money from airport ATMs. The machine to get our train tickets simply didn’t accept credit cards and it was a true misery. Luckily, one of our friends had brought enough cash to cover all of our train tickets and we managed to get to the hotel. But every time we tried to withdraw money from the ATM, it cut around £2.5, which is a lot when you repeat the same thing a few times in a week. Also, exchange offices do not give you money when you show up the day before your trip. Been there, done that. Apparently, you have to order in advance.  I’ve been through the same process before I came to the UK, but it feels like ages ago now. So, I had to remember this.

This time I decide to exchange money in one of the travel money offices. On my way there, I bumped into a friend, and he asked where I was heading. When I told him, he said, ‘‘Oh, they’re gonna rip you off.’’ I didn’t care that much because didn’t think it would be more expensive than withdrawing money in a foreign country. But apparently, it could be. They indeed charged me a lot of money for a small amount of money exchange. Well, lesson learned. Next time, I am going to use an online bank credit card like Monzo or Revolut, which allows you to withdraw money in foreign currency without losing much money. I feel like the more I do research on certain things, the more I mess up. But that's okay, we’re always learning.

10- Making a detailed travel itinerary

This might be the most important one. It is completely fine if you want to travel casually, without any plan whatsoever. But if you want to make the most of your trip, you might wanna do more than just wander around. We had a few places in mind that we wanted to visit before we went to Korea, but having a few places in mind certainly was not enough. I think I would have preferred making a day-to-day itinerary where I check every place's entrance fee, booking availability, and walking distance to the hostel. Otherwise, you might find yourself scrolling through TripAdvisor in a random coffee shop looking for tourist attractions, which is also fine, but not very ideal. 

Last words

I wrote this piece a while ago, just before the horrendous earthquake in southeast Turkey. I didn’t have time to edit it then and didn’t have any energy or motivation to do so afterwards either. These ten days have been tough. Now, as I read this, it seems to make so little sense, knowing that millions of people are still in distress. But I suppose this is one way to calm the mind. Next week, I’m going on my previously mentioned trip to Thailand. It is supposed to be a business trip with some leisure time, but now I have mixed feelings, of course. Anyhow, bon voyage!