Jeremy

Jeremy founded Living the Dream in 2008 to chronicle his long-term trip around Asia. Since then he has been on two long-term trips, visited 69 countries, and is just getting started. He is now on a Lifestyle Design quest to build businesses to pursue a life of travel.

The 10 Best Things to Do on Jeju Island, South Korea

Jeju Island is often called the Hawaii of South Korea and is one of the most popular vacation spots for both visitors and locals alike.

In fact, Jeju is so popular that the flight between Seoul and the island is considered to be the busiest flight in the world with over 80,000 annual flights (that’s 200+ per day) servicing over 20,000,000 annual visitors. This is a pretty insane figure, but it only really hits home when you see the departures board in the airport- almost every one of them is to Jeju!

Naturally, we had to go and hit it pretty hard during our five-day visit. While there are a lot of spots we checked out, we settled on the following as the ten best things to do in Jeju!

Read more

Hiking Tips for the Yeongsil Trail on Mount Hallasan on Jeju

One of the top things to do in Jeju is most certainly hiking in Mount Hallasan National Park. 

This mountain is actually a shield volcano and is the tallest mountain in South Korea (at just under 7,000 feet), and the national park covers just about 8% of the island itself- truly making for a great space to get out and enjoy nature!

One of the most popular hikes on Mount Hallason is summiting the peak itself. But after having read about its intensity and how it often takes 8-10 hours, we decided to hit the Yeongsil Trail instead which was a much more approachable 4-5 hour hike. Coupled with peak fall colors, we made our way out to the park to enjoy Jeju’s beauty.

Read more

The Seoul Lantern Festival is an Event You Really Must See

The Seoul Lantern Festival is a colorful event that takes place in South Korea’s capital during the first 17 days of November. 

While the theme of the festival changes every year, it takes place along the Cheonggyecheon Stream and features dozens upon dozens of colorful and ornate paper lanterns that really must be seen to be believed!

We were fortunate enough to end our South Korea trip in Seoul right after this one started, and wanted to share a bit more from this festival!

Read more

What to Expect at a Hanok – A Traditional Korean House

When exploring South Korea, odds are good you’re going to stumble upon many hanoks- traditional Korean houses. These buildings have been constructed in Korea since the 14th century and are present in almost every city in the country.

We saw a good number of these when exploring the Bukchon Hanok Village in Seoul (where they are mainly homes, B&Bs, and historical museums) as well as Jeonju (where they are used as a mix of B&Bs and modern businesses) and rather enjoyed the ambiance of walking around the streets full of these unique buildings.

As many hanoks are open as guesthouses, we decided to stay in one during our brief stopover in Jeonju and wanted to share what the experience is like in this one!

Read more