I planned on mainly shopping, eating, and hiking in Seoul.
Shopping consisted of souvenirs, stationery, and socks. I tell everyone that goes to Seoul: get the socks because they're amazing quality for ~$1 CAD each. The ones I got in 2015 are still holding strong!
Gukje Market
I had a lot of street food because it was cheap, delicious, and also convenient so I could spend more time exploring: soondae, so many rice cakes, egg bread, cheesy corn dogs, mandu! I also discovered that the lines for these food carts seem to be pretty arbitrary. I usually decided to take a risk and go to a stall that didn’t have anyone, and by the end, there was usually a huge line-up after me. It just takes one.
Finally tried Blue Bottle Coffee… in Seoul of all places. It was expensive.
Seoul has the best cafes. I went to so many that eventually I told myself I have to have something other than coffee. Sometimes hours would go by and I would realized that all I had so far was coffee (for breakfast) and another coffee (for lunch). Such is the dangers of solo travel. But the cafes I went to were fantastic. I got to try a cafe I’d been following on Instagram for years (more on that later) and I visited as many cat cafes as I liked.
Jangchundan Park
I had planned to do a bit of hiking - nothing too strenuous, nothing too isolated. I ended up mainly walking along the Fortress Wall. It was great because I could basically drop by and spend some time at major areas along the way before resuming: Naksan, Ihwa Mural Village, Dongdaemun, Jangchundan Park, Namsan Mountain. I was exhausted at the end.
I also revisited Namsan Seoul Tower. It was a lot better since I wasn’t severely dehydrated. This time, I decided to fork over the small fortune to purchase a lock since I actually had a boyfriend this time. But then my change got stuck in the vending machine which ended up attracting a small crowd of people trying to help me. Eventually one guy starting mashing the change return button and I got my money and then some. I gave the extra change to the kind soul that helped me get it back. :')
The best time was always sunset. Everything had a lovely haze as the sun peaked through one last time. And usually once it got dark, I’d head over to Myeongdong or Hongdae to do some more shopping and more eating, along with everyone else.
I also ending up revisiting Bukchon Hanok Village and Insadong because it’s just a nice place for a stroll.
Honestly, winter time was really nice because it wasn’t that cold but there were a lot less tourists. This meant me, another tourist, could enjoy each area with minimal crowds. Also, I met so many nice people during this trip. Happy to say that I clicked with a girl at my hostel because we had a startling amount of similarities that freaked us both out. We actually had so any similarities so exploring around with her felt very natural!
I didn't know what to expect from Seoul. I didn't know how I would fare on my first real trip alone. But solo travel is actually a lot of fun because you can tailor your entire itinerary to exactly what you want, and because it pushes you outside your comfort zone. At least a little bit.
