Travel the world, they said. You will meet people from all over the world.
I did travel and I did make a few friends from other countries and it has been one of the most amazing experiences to date. But this one trip to South Korea was a rather interesting one.
I travelled to South Korea with the intention to meet travellers at city walking tours and just .. Yolo. I had no plans, and I was going to live day by day. If I make a friend, that’s good. If I don’t, that’s good too. I had no expectations.
I feel that the best of experiences, the best of moments, happen when you have the least amount of expectations. That’s when every single thing that happens to you in that moment, you can truly appreciate it.
That was what happened to me.
I went on a free walking tour of the Seoul Fortress wall on a Tuesday of my last week in South Korea. Turns out, the tour group consisted of me, a family of four from Germany (if I remember correctly), and another lady traveller. The family of four could not speak English fluently. So, I gravitated towards the lady traveller. She was from Singapore too.
At first, we were both reserved. We just briefly introduced ourselves and how long we’ve been in Korea for. I lied a little because my mother said to never reveal my actual plans to strangers. The same situation goes for the lady traveller too. She skipped out on the details and then the group got quiet. Only the tour guide spoke.
15 minutes into the tour, the lady traveller, Y, began asking me questions about where I’ve been and where I planned to go next. She started opening up to me and so did I. Our conversation didn’t go for too long when we realised we wanted to go to the same places. That was when I plucked up enough courage to ask, “How about we have some coffee or tea after this tour and we can talk about our plan for the next few days!” Surprisingly, she agreed!
And that, was the start to a wonderful last week in South Korea.
When I came back to work, my colleagues asked me how my trip was and if I made new friends. I said I did, of course, I did. Were they Koreans? Yes, some are. Are there foreigners too? I replied, “Yes, I also befriended another traveller who is also from Singapore and then we travelled to places together.”
Some of them looked at me strangely. Why would anybody want to meet another traveller from the same country?
I rebelled, why not?
I felt extremely blessed and grateful to have met Y. Because had I not, I would not have gone as far as Pocheon in Gyeonggi-do or as high as Bukhansan. She was almost the age of my mother but I admire her being adventurous.
Meeting each other became a source of motivation and encouragement to explore South Korea beyond the main city centre.
Meeting her turned out to be the best thing that happened to me in my South Korea 2017 trip.
Travel & Come Back 