Seoul

My trip to Seoul, South Korea turned out to be surprisingly smooth—maybe even easier than my experience in Japan. From the moment I arrived at the airport to getting into the city, everything just felt convenient and intuitive. Taking the bus was simple, paying with my debit card worked everywhere without any friction, and the metro system was easy to navigate without overthinking anything. I never found myself confused or making mistakes, which made the whole experience feel very comfortable. In some ways, it even reminded me of the best moments I’ve had traveling around Europe, where things just work the way you expect them to.

The day started cloudy and kind of cold. The weather wasn’t great — around 22 degrees, with a cold wind hitting from time to time, which made it feel chillier than it actually was. Still, I didn’t cancel my plans to visit the last spots I had in mind from yesterday. Actually, I did the opposite — I started as early as possible and managed to finish everything before 6 PM.

Later, after dinner and on my way back to my accommodation, I kept walking around the streets of the district where I’d been staying all week. Funny enough, I had only properly stepped onto these streets yesterday. But today felt like the final walk — quiet, calm, just me wandering under the streetlights. There was something about the atmosphere that felt really unique, like one of those moments you know you’ll remember later.

It wasn’t the easiest day, though. Nothing unusual really happened, but I felt surprisingly tired almost the entire time. I started late, sometime after noon, after taking my time with sleep and my usual routine. Even so, by around 8 pm I was already heading back to my accommodation because the cold started creeping in and it just didn’t feel comfortable to stay out any longer. What’s interesting is that during the day it actually felt quite hot—I was walking around in just shorts and a t-shirt, and at one point I saw a building display showing 27°C. Still, many locals were dressed in jackets and long pants, while most tourists, like me, were clearly in summer mode. It made me wonder if I misjudged the weather a bit, especially once the temperature dropped in the evening.

Today ended up being a shopping day, so everything felt pretty calm, but also more expensive than I expected. Honestly, I hadn’t planned to spend that much money, but it all happened spontaneously, and I really wanted to keep updating my wardrobe. I ended up buying some essential clothes from brands that left Russia after February 2022, and since I can’t find them back home anymore, it felt like the right decision to get them now. Still, this led to another problem — how I’m going to bring everything back on the plane. I don’t have any checked luggage, and my backpack is already full and overweight, so now I have to figure out where to fit all these new clothes and somehow get them home without issues.

My morning was as usual — I slept until 11 am again and basically skipped the first part of the day. But the weather in the morning was quite cloudy, so I don’t think I really missed anything important. When I finally started the second part of my day, the weather had changed completely — it became much sunnier and more pleasant for a walk. It felt like a positive sign to finally start my day and explore new places in this unfamiliar city. To be honest, the whole day felt very long in a good way. I started my walk at 1 PM and finished it only at 9:30 PM. Even though I didn’t have time for dinner during the walk, I just ate after I returned to my accommodation.

Today started a bit rough though. I woke up around 10 AM after more than nine hours of sleep, which honestly feels catastrophically bad for me. I think the time zone shift is still messing with my rhythm—it’s been hitting me harder than I expected and keeps throwing off my sleep schedule. Even after waking up, I didn’t have the energy to actually get out of bed, so I just stayed there scrolling through news on my phone. I knew time was slipping away, but I couldn’t really push myself to move. By the time I finally got up and went through my morning routine, it was already close to 11, and it felt like I had wasted the entire first part of the day at my accommodation.

My alarm went off at 4:20 AM and, surprisingly, I actually got up on time. I was in that deep, cozy kind of sleep where your bed feels impossibly warm and you really don’t want to leave it. But the moment I got up, the cold, crisp air coming through the window hit me right away. Not exactly pleasant, but definitely effective—it woke me up fast and got me moving as I packed my backpack. Luckily, everything went according to plan timing-wise. The only hiccup was in Japan’s metro system—I got a bit lost for about fifteen minutes, especially around the airport line. Nothing major though, and in the end I made it to Narita Airport without any real issues. My flight landed in Seoul at 1 PM.