Seoul, South Korea

Looking around for a potential home base while you are holidaying through South Asia, Seoul Korea is about to be your new top choice. While this city is located in the northern end of the country, giving you prime access to ferries and planes to take you all over Asia – it also provides you with an expensive area of a home base to explore.

Yes, when you are spending time in your “holiday home base”, you would normally want to stay in and recover from your day or weekend of exploring. However, there will be times when you are here, where you will want nothing more than to stroll around familiar streets and see familiar faces.

If you are truly looking to completely unplug from the world around you, all you need to do is walk about five minutes to your local convenience store. They are on every corner. Here you will find a wealth of self-care products, from the easy and simple that local teens idolise, to fairly priced items that global celebrities swear by. One of the many luxuries of living in the beauty capital.

Let us say that it is mid-afternoon, and you have just gotten lost while exploring your neighbourhood – you can politely ask a stranger for directions. Not only is it 100% mandatory in all grade levels for Koreans to learn English, a vast majority understand Mandarin as well. All of this being said, Seoul is amazing towards tourists making it the perfect home base for your travels or a place to start your tour of South Asia.

Some places that you must check out during your rest days in Seoul:

• North Seoul Tower: An undisputed symbol of Seoul that offers breathtaking sights at its highest point.
• The Five Royal Palaces: A unique trait that Korea holds when it comes to their royal family, is that they have five royal palaces spread throughout Seoul. Each one was built for a specific reason, or specific person – the history and stories behind these are extremely interesting. I highly recommend that you look book walking tours to visit these locations.
• Gangnam: One of the richest districts in Seoul. This area is known for its underground shopping centres (think Tokyo train station type shops), malls, department stores and restaurants. This is a great area to shop, or walk around and people watch.

Something to keep in mind whenever you are visiting Seoul. If you are meeting a co-worker, or an acquaintance or even someone that you connected with in a friendly way. Bring a small gift with you, it can be something as small as a keychain from the airport that you took off from, or a small inexpensive bracelet that made you think of them. Gestures in this country go a long way, even the smallest and kindest of one leaves a memorable and lasting impression.