I Need a Seoul-mate

South Korea was a place that was never too high on my radar, but I felt like it kept popping up (a good friend had just visited, I had been hearing a lot of incredible things about Jeju), so when I found a cheap flight, well … you know the rest.

I arrived in Seoul after midnight, took the airport express into the city (which doesn’t hit every stop at night so make sure you plan ahead!), and found my way to my hostel in Hongdae. I highly recommend staying in Hongdae as it’s close to most major subway lines, an easy ride to either international airport, and is one of the liveliest neighborhoods in the city.

As I said, I arrived pretty late, but the streets were packed. It was a Friday night, so fair enough. I decided to go out to grab a late night bite and some soju. I ordered tteokkboki (a spicy rice cake dish which is 100% a MUST if you’re in Korea, but beware as it’s incredibly hot!), and when my meal came out I was a little taken aback. The portion was enough to feed a family of four. Oh, and for soju, it’s not served by the glass like sake in Japan; instead, they give you an entire mini bottle (which is pretty intense for one person). I hardly got through a quarter of the dish and wondered why they gave me so much food, but after just a few days in Seoul I realized, all portions are meant for sharing. This made it a little difficult and a little uncomfortable for a solo traveler. Of course, there were a plethora of options to eat something meant for one person; street food, bowls of soup, sambak-gimbap, etc. But for the most part, if you wanted to be civilized and enjoy a meal at a sit-down restaurant, the portions would be giant. It gave Seoul quite a bit of its charm, to be honest. A lot of restaurants had an electric stove in the middle of each table to keep food warm while friends all grabbed what they wanted from such dish. Adorable, but, I had no friends to share it with.

I have gone to over thirty countries with no buddy and something like this had never been a problem for me. But it got to the point that by the end of my South Korean venture, I was eating McDonald’s and instant noodles just to avoid the awkwardness of sitting at a restaurant and wasting tons of food (and money). That’s another thing, it is not cheap to eat out in Korea; I am assuming part of that is due to portion and part of that is due to it being Korea.

It wasn’t just the food that made South Korea a little lonely, but the social aspect added to my isolation. I saw new couples on dates, groups of friends laughing and sharing a bottle of soju, families dining and shopping together. I hardly saw anyone on their own, and sometimes it felt like I was missing out a big part of South Korean culture because I felt so out-of-place. It worked out in some ways, as it forced me to talk to as many locals as possible. However, most people had limited English so that only worked a percentage of the time.

I loved my time in South Korea despite all of this, but it definitely was the quickest place to knock me right out of my comfort zone and make me feel vulnerable, which is good for anyone to have a quick reality check. Truthfully, it’s the only place I’ve visited that I believe I would’ve had a better time had I been with someone else (that mainly applies to Seoul; Jeju was fine because I got lost in nature). I even tried to go to karaoke in Seoul on my last night but didn’t want to rent a room for just myself.

Don’t let this discourage you from visiting South Korea alone, because the country has so many wonderful beautiful aspects to it that I don’t regret a thing, other maybe than the amount of money I spent on food! I say eat a few street meals, and just go grocery shopping! You’ll save plenty and their grocery stores are pretty interesting with what feels like unlimited options.

At night, go out for some soju and talk to the locals. You’re bound to find someone that speaks English. In fact, even if you don’t, I had one of the most memorable experiences at a market by sitting next to a couple who didn’t speak any English but helped me to properly eat my first bowl of bibimbap.

Let me know in the comments section if you’ve had a similar experience anywhere!