Last year, I made one of the best decisions in my life, it is to switch to a vegan lifestyle.

At first, it was really hard. I don’t know where to start, what to eat, and even how to cook. I made my research and read for weeks about recipes, issues, and researches. I scrolled through Manila Vegans facebook group, made a vegan-inspired blog, and followed vegan youtubers and instagrammers to have an inspiration and support. I watched documentaries and talks online about veganism. There, I found a reason to continue.

For that whole year, I have struggled of locating vegan food in the metro, ordering non-vegan food and just removed the animal contents on the meals, eating food with dairy or eggs accidentally, and cooking my own food from breakfast to dinner. It wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t a perfect vegan.

Last March, I started to share the food I eat on my instagram account to let my circle know how easy it is to be vegan. It has helped me to go on with this choice. I found a lot of like-minded people. They have been an amazing constant source of motivation. Shoutout to all my plant-based & vegan friends! Thank you for always sharing recipes, stories, and the food trips!

I wouldn’t go into the details why I am vegan and remained to be one because that would be a long story to tell. But, I can only mention that this lifestyle formed me to have such a good amount of energy and great positive view in life, enjoyed the food I eat, and contributed compassion to all life forms.

#GoVegan

It has been days since my last day in Seoul but I still can’t seem to fathom the right words to share regarding my first whole solo travel in a different country.

People say that there’s always a first to everything. Many individuals may have placed solo travel in their bucketlist-- and yes, I agree. With my first experience of solo travel, it has been nothing but the best experience I have ever had in my existence to date. I have picked up a few lessons in my few days stay at Seoul and I highly suggest that people should also try going away from your hometown and do some soul searching.

Solitude and independency.

I have never valued solitary moments in my life as I am naturally an extrovert. I like to be outgoing, and I’m the type of person who likes to cheer people up. But then, this solo travel has made me realize how important “me-time” is. I got to know myself better in the peaceful realm of Seoul. Walking around the streets, I had awareness of my self-limits and possible potentials. I was challenged to make my own decisions on the spot. Those quiet times made me recognize that there is a sense of fulfillment in accomplishing greater heights in solitude and independency. 

Don’t be scared. Relinquishing of fears.

Communication to complete strangers were my fear, especially there was a language barrier. This hindrance was set aside when I surpassed my anxiety. It was not scary when you try. Conversations with unfamiliar faces sound terrifying but as it progresses, it goes well. I also learned that great discussions actually happen with the people you don’t know. New insights, latest ideas, and even dissimilar perspectives can be acquired from those little chitchats.

Eating out alone in a new place can be frightening, as well, particularly, in a country that has a culture of eating out as a group. Don’t fret. There are also a lot of people enjoying their solo time, and you’ll realize you’re actually not alone.

Life is in no rush.

In reality, life makes you rush. From getting a college degree, promotion at work, relationships to marriage, and many others. It makes people insanely troubled with life. When I got to travel, I learned that life doesn’t have to be rushed. It is in our hands if we want time to move slow or fast. The pacing of our lives starts with our decision if we want it to cascade beyond our capabilities. Travel if you like. Work your ass off if you like. Study more if you like. Get married if you like. Your life, your pace.

Trust yourself.

From the simple choice of waking up early or walking beyond my feet’s limit, there, I learned to trust myself. Should I talk to a stranger? Should I walk further? Should I buy this? and tons of “should I’s?” 

For all I know, I cannot move more than 25 km per day but I did it anyway because I trusted my guts to accelerate forward. I know it will be tiring but my instincts said that I can do it and I just have to trust myself. I trusted myself to get lost in the moments I had there. Because all I know is that there will be satisfaction in every finished destination.

To be honest, in my actual itinerary, I included timeslots, subway stations, exit numbers, routes, and whole bunch of other notes. I am that type of person who’s into planners and details. Some perfectionist, OC stuff.  But I don’t want to show you that funny itinerary unless you want to see it. 

My planned itinerary wasn’t too much because I wanted my trip to be slow-paced and not overwhelming. I was rather into finding my self in the process.

Actual Travel

Day 1 - Edae, Sinchon, Hongdae

I arrived at Incheon Int’l Airport around 6:30 am. From immigration to getting my luggage to buying my T-money card to riding the subway to my hostel, it all went smoothly.  I got to my hostel around 8 am so the hostel staff allowed me to leave my baggage and come back at 2 pm for my check-in since it was early.

Shops were still closed early in the morning at Edae

It was a bit of a cold morning so I opted to walk around the Edae, Sinchon and Hongdae area. Some stores were still closed when I roamed around but it was such a beautiful morning. Familiarized myself with the area and neighborhood.

Ewha Woman’s University campus

Sinchon-Hongdae Area

I stayed for quite a while in this little park in the middle of the Edae shopping street. It was very cozy and quiet. I knew it was the start of my soul searching break. I bought a quaint little grapefruit juice to drink while chilling in the park.

Edae Park near Yes Apm mall

Finally, I checked-in at the hostel. Rested a bit in the bed. At around 5:30 pm, I took the subway to Hongdae for the Saturday night flea market! 

Hongdae was jampacked with people, especially the youth. I didn’t expect that this place would have all sorts of entertainment like dancing, singing, performing magic tricks and whole lot more. 

Restaurants, malls, and drinking places can also be found in Hongdae. The stores at the night market offer cheap clothing and other pasalubong finds. 

Hongdae at around 7 pm

Day 2 - Yeouido Park, Kyobo Bookstore, Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggyecheon Stream

It was a rainy Sunday morning, which is why I went out at 10 am. I still pushed through with my plan to go to Yeouido Park. 

Yeouido Park

It was windy and drizzling when I got there so there weren’t so many people. I was supposed to rent and ride a bike but it was closed. I sat down on one of those chairs under the trees to relax a bit. Then, I headed to see the KBS Building. 

Around lunch time, I went straight to Kyobo Bookstore. It was a big bookstore with stationary and some educational gadgets being sold there as well. I stayed there for about 2 hours to read a book. Few books are open for reading and there are available to chairs and tables for people.

After that, I accidentally walked into Gwanghwamun Plaza while looking for a convenience store. 

Gwanghwamun Plaza

I had my late afternoon lunch along the Chenggyecheon Stream. There was a Thai Festival when I was there so it was a bit loud and crowded. It was still rainy so I wasn’t able to stay until the evening to see its night beauty.

Chenggyecheon Stream

Bad weather but I capped off the day by going around Edae. I believe this is the most beautiful night ever. Even though it was raining hard, the peace and tranquility within the university was very relaxing. 

Night at Edae

Day 3 - Gyeongbokgung Palace, National Folk Museum, National Palace Museum, Insadong, Dongdaemun

I needed to be at Gyeongbokgung Palace at around 9 am to see the guarding ceremony. But guess what, I woke up late. I only got to see a glimpse of the exiting guards right when I set foot in the palace. Not to be sad, I bought my ticket to see the palace.

Suddenly, my friend messaged me to eat lunch with them so I have around 2 hours to see the whole palace and the museums.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

I really got into the Korean history when I watched Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart (shoutout to my kdrama fans friends) so when I was walking around, It felt like I was in Joseon Dynasty.  Knowing that these hallowed grounds were once the main royal palace, I felt the respect and amazement, at the same time. 

The National Folk Museum was beside one of the palaces so I went there, as well. It was a greatly curated museum about the people of Korea. It was also interactive to visitors. I also checked out the National Palace Museum before heading out for lunch with my friends.

We walked from Gyeongbokgung to Insadong to have our lunch. Little did I know, we were going to eat at Season’s Table, a Korean buffet. Good thing my digestive system was prepared for humungous servings of food. 

Season’s Table

There was a lot of vegan options, so don’t worry my vegan friends, this buffet got our backs! You can make your own bibimbap bowls, noodles, and tteokbokki. I guess there was a time limit for this but we didn’t care, we finished around 4:30 pm.

We checked out Ssamzigiel along Insadong. As my friend said, “Every foreigner should go here”. At the top floor, I bought this chain thing that you can place with other chains. I wrote in the chain as a reminder that I went there with my friends. 

Ssamzigiel, Insadong

We then went to Dongdaemun because it was the nearest touristy destination since the rain was accumulating and might pour anytime soon. It did rain! My newly-brought umbrella was ruined by the strong wind.

Duty Free Store, top of Dongdaemun

I had to say my goodbyes to my friends. It was a great catch-up time with them at a different location than our school.

Day 4 - Bukchon Hanok Village, Changdeokgung Palace, Insadong, Gangnam, Express Bus Terminal, Banpo Bridge

Fourth day of the travel and my body was still keeping up with me. The weather was very hot and humid like the Philippines, actually. Despite the heat, I headed to Bukchon Hanok Village in the morning.

Bukchon Hanok Village

It was kind of a climb around the village but I was beyond amazed with the peacefulness hovering around that tickled my soul. I went straight to Changdeokgung Palace, it was about a 15 minute walk from the village.

Changdeokgung Palace

I cannot describe the feeling that I felt when I was in this palace. It was pure calmness. In contrast, I prefer the Gyeongbokgung Palace than this one, but I didn’t get to see the garden, which probably could have been beautiful to see.

For lunch, I went back to Insadong again. I searched for a vegan restaurant in Happy Cow and I stumbled upon Osegaehyang. It’s a completely vegan traditional Korean dining and cuisine. Everything was delicious.

Soft Tofu Bibimbap - Osegaehyang

In the afternoon, I decided to go to the very famous, Gangnam. It was mostly a shopping and nightlife area, so I didn’t do much there besides drinking a cheap iced americano at the subway station.

Gangnam and Express Bus Terminal stations

Late afternoon, I headed to Express Bus Terminal station to see the Banpo Bridge. I didn’t know that the station has a huge underground shopping center. A lot of inexpensive clothing, pasalubong, food, skincare and other whatnots can be found there. 

Around 7 pm, I decided to walk to Banpo Bridge to see the rainbow fountain show. I got to view the sky changed its colors. Unfortunately, I waited for 2.5 hours but no show for that night. It was still lovely and beautiful night at Han River. 

Tip: A lot of couples are there so go grab a drink and eat ramyun even when you’re alone.

Banpo Bridge, Han River

Day 5 - Lotte Dept. Store, Myeongdong

For this day, nothing much happened. I was starting to feel tired but then I still went to Myeongdong. First things first, I entered the Myeongdong Catholic Cathedral before doing some shopping galore.

Myeondong

I was supposed to go to Namsan Park to see a nearer view of the N Seoul Tower but my energy won’t permit. I was already halfway there but my feet were seriously dead tired. I couldn’t walk anymore. Hashtag weakling. 

Day 6 - Edae, Yongsan Station, Hyehwa-dong

Last day. I couldn’t believe that I made it to the sixth day all on my own. I woke up early to hit more sacks. I wanted to check off more on my plans. I walked around Edae one last time. Then, I decided to go to Yongsan station to look for electronic shops.

Yongsan (top), Hyehwa (bottom)

The last place I went to in Seoul was Hyehwa-dong. Not much reviews about this place but it was in my plan to visit a unique neighborhood. You’ll get to see children from schools in the vicinity and oppas from Sungkyunkwan ;) Hehe just kidding. You’ll get a glimpse of what’s a typical day of Koreans.

And that concludes my solo soul searching trip to Seoul, South Korea. Six days were not enough to see various famous destinations and truly marvel the whole Seoul. However, I believe it went really great and fulfilled my intentions.

It was a life-changing experience alone in a different country.

Is it manageable to go on a travel in Korea with tight budget? Well, my answer for that will be, it depends. Your budget will depend on what type of travel you’re going for, your appetite, your shopping madness, your preferred transportation, airfare, and room accommodation.

As I’ve said in my Tips, I went for a cultural solo travel kind of thing and shopping. Most of the money I had were spent on those. The places I went to are pretty much free of charge so that’s make it more tipid.

The total pocket money I brought was ₩590k (~₱29k), US$31 and ₱1.5k (just in case). I mentioned in my Tips that I had my money changed here in the Philippines.

Without further ado, these were my expenses in the whole trip!

Airfare

My Philippine Airlines plane ride was a gift from my mom. It’s a mabuhay miles flexi-flyer redemption that we booked last May, we only paid the tax for about ₱3.5k. I will still include this in the total expenses below. Although these days, you can now score cheap airfares via AirAsia or CebuPac. 

Hostel

I booked a room using booking.com (HoSeong Guesthouse). No prepayment or credit card needed. I paid the day I came. For 6D5N, they charged me ₩140k (~₱5.8k). I got to check-out late, too!

Summary of my expenses

The grand total of my daily expenses, airfare, and hostel accommodation is around ₱31k. I guess that’s not bad for a solo traveller for 6 days and 5 nights. That amount already includes my shopping madness, which is the half of the total! I got to go home with a few more won on my wallet, too! 

If you can stand long hours of walking, then that would be helpful to your pocket to save some money on transportation. If you like to splurge on food and other destinations with fee, then you can allot more of your budget for that, and lessen your shopping. It all depends on how you will use your allowance. 

My budget can be the same for you if we have similar taste, y'know. This is only an overview of what I spent on those 6 days, 5 nights stay in Seoul. 

I hope this part was helpful. Thank you for reading this segment!