Chuseok 2012


This Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving, we spent the evening with our friends, Gina and Emilio. Emilio is a good friend of ours and we hang out at least once a month. We met his lovely girlfriend, Gina, last December. She found a teaching job at a hagwon and flew in the day before Chuseok. We haven't had another couple to hang out with since James and Ari moved back to England. We were very excited to hear Gina was moving to Busan.

In the early evening, we met at Gwangalli Beach and hung out for a bit. We spent most of the time catching up with Gina and people watching. We took some couple photos and as soon as the sun set, we went for dinner. We chose the Korean staple of fried chicken and beer. After dinner, we spent the rest of the night wandering about the streets of Busan.


Emilio took us to this amazing outdoor bar that he visited before. It's situated amongst the food stalls in Seomyeon. It was quite surreal sitting on a bar stool in the middle of downtown drinking a cocktail. Another one of the many reasons why I love Korea.
After the outdoor bar, we went to our favorite dart bar also in Seomyeon, Division 9, but I always call it District 9. Every time we go play darts, I tend to kick beat everyone. Chuseok was no exception. I really beat em' good.
We ended the night dancing. District 9 is usually very relaxed. Since it was a holiday, it was an occasion for strobe lights and the fog machine. It was a very different atmosphere. They even let these two girls get on the bar and "dance" on this pole. I say "dance" because rocking your hips back and forth is definitely not what I think of when I hear dancing. Overall, Chuseok was lovely. We spent it with wonderful friends eating delicious food and having a good time.

Derwentwater │ Lake District, England




It's always been my dream to see the English countryside. I've seen the rolling hills, pristine lakes and green fields in so many movies and television shows. I've read about it in my favorite books, but what I've always imagined and pictured in my mind was nothing like actually seeing it. It was like stepping into a painting.

Our friends suggested that we go to The Lakes because it is known for its natural beauty and being one of the most picturesque places in England. The mountains of The Lakes were unlike any mountains I'd seen before. From afar they marbled the horizon with greens, purples, browns and blues. The weather couldn't have been better. The sun shone brightly and big white fluffy clouds filled the blue sky. It was cool and breezy, an absolutely idyllic day.

After spending time at The Lakes, I understand why it inspired many writers and poets,  such as William Wordsworth and Beatrix Potter. I'll leave you with Wordsworth description of the mountains. He describes the mountains of The Lakes much better than I ever could.

"in the combinations which they make, towering above each other, or lifting themselves in ridges like the waves of a tumultuous sea, and in the beauty and variety of their surfaces and colours, they are surpassed by none" - William Wordsworth


Wandering Wednesdays │ Prague, Czech Republic 2007 | 1 of 2


In November of 2007, Markus and I spent 13 glorious days in Prague in the Czech Republic. I don't remember how we chose Prague. It was never one of the places that I was dying to visit, but I think it was our destiny to go to Prague. Thirteen days may sound like a long time for one city, but it was perfect. By the end of our vacation, we knew that city inside and out.
Prague is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to, probably top three. I've never seen anything like it. Edinburgh is probably the closest, but it still had a different feeling. I kept telling Markus that I felt like I was in a fairy tale because the architecture looked just like one of my fairy tale books from childhood.  

The Czechs are very kind and warm. This was our first trip to a non-English speaking country and I was worried that we would be lost and confused the entire trip. I spent a few weeks learning rudimentary Czech. With my very limited knowledge of their language, the people still welcomed us warmly and many people were actually quite fluent in English. I've come to realize as a traveler, if you attempt to speak their language, they will go above and beyond to help you. 

Since we had such so many days to spend in Prague, we weren't too busy rushing from one place to the other. We weren't trying to fit in five places in one day. We soaked everything in. We had the time to spend hours at bookstores reading books or sitting in cafes writing. To this day, Markus and I still talk about how peaceful and relaxed we felt in Prague. We haven't had a trip like it since. It truly was a dream vacation.


 Prague 2 of 2

Baekyang Mountain




Markus and I are very lucky to have a mountain in our backyard. We walk outside our front door and we can see Baekyang Mountain. Since I grew up in Florida, there has been a complete lack of hills and mountains in my life. The first time I ever hiked a mountain was in 2009. We hiked a small portion of the Appalachian Trail. We hiked for maybe three hours, but I thought I was dying. My body didn't understand what was happening.

Now that we live in Busan, we have heaps of mountains and trails waiting to be explored. We've been in Korea for over 13 months now and we've only gone a handful of times. We decided that this year, our final year in Korea, would be the year of mountain exploration. We even bought hiking shoes.

Korea is very much an outdoor city and the older generation and elderly love to hike. There are endless amounts of stores that cater to this specific need. I can't tell you how many people I see dressed in hiking clothes. Every time I've gone up a mountain in this country, there are heaps of older people passing me by. The energy that some of these elderly people have amazes me. It's probably why Asians look younger and live so long. Markus and I are striving for that kind of lifestyle, a healthier lifestyle. We decided that any chance we get, we're going to go hiking.

Recently the weather has gone from hot, humid and unbearable to cool, breezy and delightful. One Saturday afternoon, it was the perfect day for a hike and picnic. While we were going up the mountain, I started to think, why didn't we do this sooner? I realized that there was something that I had in my backyard, quite literally, and never thought to explore. I wondered how many other opportunities did I miss. It was then that I promised myself that I would take every opportunity to explore and not let things pass me by.


We knew that we would be out for a while, so we decided to pack a picnic. We brought a One Piece pizza (Markus is obsessed with these One Piece treats), almonds with little dried fish, triangle kimbaps, Korean Doritos and an apple.  

On every mountain I've been on there's always a little station where you can stop and replenish with natural spring water. Korea is always thinking ahead.