Around this time last year some friends and I took a Saturday to visit the country side of Korea and attend an apple festival. This would be the third apple festival we’d visited in two years, searching for a taste of home, and we finally found it in this one.
As our bus dropped us off at the orchard we walked through countless rows of beautifully ripe red apples. In a scene that it rare in Korea, we were immediately surrounded by westerners, all of whom were decked out in their best fall plaids. It was as if we stepped out of Korea and into small-town Americana.
Our first stop after arriving at the festival was to join in a pie baking class. The ingredients were set out and we were ready to get to baking. There was an instructor who was trying to lead the class, however it seemed that they seemed to neglect the fact that most of the people in the room had made many an apple pie in seasons past. We rolled the dough, filled our pies, cut shapes into the tops, and pinched the sides like pros. When we were finished we put our names on the dish so they could be distinguished when they were ready to be picked up.
While the pies baked in the ovens we got to go apple picking. It was so fun getting to wander the rows of apples in search of the best ones to take home. Once we’d filled our baskets, we went back to pick up our pies and listen to music. The lead singer of the band that was playing happened to be from Chicago as well. It was the first time I’d met a fellow Chicagoan since the Cubs had won the World Series, and it was wonderful to finally be around someone who understood and shared the same excitement and pride for our home team.
The apple orchard we were visiting also happened to be a winery and offered tours showing us how the apples were processed and stored before giving us a tasting of the sweet wine. We all bought a bottle and went back outside to where the band was, listening to music, drinking wine, and eating apple pie until it was time to go back home to Incheon. It was the perfect fall day.
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Any quick Pinterest search of South Korea brings floods of images of bright green rolling hills filled with perfectly manicured green tea hedges, specifically those belonging to the Daehan Dawon Tea Plantation. That said, upon my arrival in Korea it didn’t take long to hear about the unbelievable tea fields that lay within the sleepy town of Boseong. Once discovering the fields were on the southern edge of Korea, I immediately made it a goal to visit on the first long weekend once the weather got warmer.
The park is actually much bigger than I had anticipated and is more than just tea fields. We wandered through fields to find cedar lined trails, water falls, and even some late blooming azaleas. After exploring the grounds we decided it was time for some green tea ice cream.
Following our 
After a couple of subway transfers we got to our stop and followed the crowds to help lead us to our destination. Once we saw the mystical white clouds of steam rising from the water we knew we were in the right place. A stone pathway allowed us to walk right over the crystal clear cyan water, getting just close enough to feel the heat and lean over for a quick steam facial. We were lucky in the fact that it wasn’t terribly busy for a holiday weekend and we were able to peacefully enjoy the hot spring. I’ll chalk that up to the Lunar New Year and so many people being out of town to visit their families.
Now it was time to journey out to visit Jiufen. We’d come across this day excursion via a couple of blog posts which had compared the small Taiwanese town to Santorini as it too sits cozily on a mountain next to the water. We spent the next few hours exploring all of the back roads of this small mountain village, trying different foods, popping into different shops and wandering a temple. It was a lovely way to spend the afternoon out of the hustle and bustle of Taipei. We explored just long enough to catch the sun setting behind the mountain and see the blue sky fade from yellow to red to black, at which time the city began to light up. I couldn’t have asked for a better day in Taiwan.
The weekend started off with a great flight from Korea to Taiwan and an easy bus ride from the airport to the hostel that my friend and I would be staying at for the weekend. After arriving in the center of town we ventured off for a quick dinner and explored our new surroundings into the evening. Something that Taiwan and 
Once we had our fill of the square we decided it was time for lunch. Something we weren’t expecting about traveling during the main weekend of the Lunar New Year was that most of the city had gone back to their hometowns to be with their family. This meant that the city was unimaginably peaceful, but it also meant that a lot of storefronts and restaurants were closed for the week. Luckily for us we found an incredible restaurant tucked away on a little side street that served absolutely delicious dim sum.
As the evening of day two was approaching we wanted to explore one of the markets that we’d researched. A lovely taxi driver dropped us off at Raohe Night Market which was supposed to be where any locals were likely to be on New Year’s. In theme with the weekend, we were surprised to see just how calm the market was. Nonetheless, we did a bit of shopping and grabbed some street food as we started to find our way to the subway to head home.
As we exited the temple we found ourselves moving with the crowd into the main strip of the Raohe Night Market. We crawled along with the thousands of other visitors slowly taking in all of the shops and stalls along the market until we found a crêpe stand that we couldn’t pass up. We hopped out of the shuffle where we were handed our strawberry Nutella crepes and reluctantly decided it was time to head back home for the night. in preparation for the following day.
As a peninsula, Korea has countless beachside towns and cities that offer the perfect escape from the busier areas of Seoul and Incheon. One of my favorites is the city of Busan. Busan is just a quick three hour train ride away and offers the opportunity for the perfect weekend getaway. It still has all of the conveniences of city life with countless cozy cafés and western restaurants, however, it sits right along a beautiful coastline housing various beaches to relax.
This sweet village offers such a juxtaposition to the traditional setting of Korea which is, for the most part, filled with tall office and apartment buildings and generally follows a gray color scheme with hints of green roofs. We couldn’t have been happier to experience this pop of color for a weekend and explore an entirely new part of the city we love in the country that has been home for nearly two years.
After our busy 
A three-day weekend in Korea called for a quick getaway across the East China Sea where we landed in Honk Kong. It only took about 24 hours for this country to captivate my mind and soul. Hong Kong is the ultimate combination of eastern culture and western convenience. It reminded me of being in New York, but then we would simply turn a corner and be in the middle of a night market. I was hooked.
A cable car took us to the top of the mountain where we walked along a shop and restaurant lined street on our way to the stairway up to the Buddha which is where we discovered the Po Lin Monastery also sits atop the mountain. We wandered our way to the Buddha and slowly made it up 268 stairs to the top where we stayed for nearly an hour soaking in the view from the peak of the mountain and snapping countless photos of the Buddha and the surrounding statues.
Once we were back at sea level we took a long yet relaxing train ride to the Tsim Sha Tsui part of Hong Kong which would be home for the long weekend. We spent the rest of the day sightseeing and exploring the city until late into the night. We ended our day at the famous Temple Street Night Market which lived up to all of the reviews of good shopping and great street food.
Every few weekends or so I find myself wanting to get away from bustling streets of Seoul and Incheon and explore new parts of Korea. That said, the recent start of the warm summer months has really amped-up those feelings and has had me reminiscing of past getaways. One of my favorites from last spring was the day trip some friends and I took to Ganghwado Island in search of azaleas on Goryeosan Mountain.
Once we had made it further inward on the island we realized we were definitely lost and actually traveling away from our destination. At that point, we decided to hop off the bus and trust our luck to catch another bus returning in the direction of the mountain we were so desperate to find. Forty-five minutes, two peeled oranges, one snack sized bag of peanut M&Ms, and a few pictures later we managed to hail a lone taxi that seemed destined to pick us up. After a brief drive we were dropped at an azalea festival which we wandered for a bit before starting our hike up Goryeosan Mountain.
Finally reaching the peak late in the afternoon we were able to take in the sun and the spectacular views of the island. Being from the midwest where even a good sledding hill is rare, seeing the lush mountains that cover Korea is always a breathtaking experience.
Anyone who knows me knows that I’m obsessed with cherry blossoms and have been since I was very young. I remember visiting my grandmother’s house growing up and staring out the window into her backyard each spring admiring the beauty of the blossoming trees in bursts of pink and white wishing they could stay that way all year round.
The following day we went straight to Nishiki Market to pick up some souvenirs and a little breakfast, and then we were on our way to the Fushimi Inari Shrine. While the shrine didn’t have many cherry blossoms it was definitely a priority of the weekend.
Just about a year ago a group of friends and I headed south for a weekend of festivals. We spent Saturday in Jinhae for the 
We woke up Sunday morning in Busan which was incredible enough on its own. Busan is a seaside city and always makes me feel like I’m in California rather Korea. It has a much more laid-back vibe than up north were we live.
Once everyone in our group picked up their color packets we ventured into the mass of people celebrating. Indian music was blasting, people were dancing, and color was everywhere. There were hundreds of people, some tourists, some fellow expats, and many transplants from India who were more than happy to share their culture with us; pulling anyone into the circle that seemed to be drifting away.
bbm travels 