Stay
tuned to the end to find out how to win $100 vouchers
just
by sharing your different travel experiences!
Hihi!
I
am currently in U.K and it is my Day 2 here :)
While
the 8-hour time difference is not an issue to me
(because
I sleep at 3-5am on normal days hahah),
I
am still getting used to the cold......
The opportunity cost of this decision to go away for the next
1.5 months of adventure
is the acting roles and other opportunities which I could
have taken up if I stayed instead..
But I knew that I needed this getaway.
Travel is never a bad investment, indeed.
Sometimes in our travels,
the littlest
of things can make our holiday much more interesting and memorable.
It’s funny how
even if we may have visited a country for the umpteenth time,
there could be
a specific trip that just beats the rest!
I visited Korea earlier this year,
it was pretty
memorable for me for a couple of reasons.
It was my
first (and definitely not last time there)
and I thought
I’d just share a little sneak peek into what made the trip so different for me!
I
actually almost wanted to skip blogging about the Seoul part of this trip,
(which
happened from 26 March - 7 April this year)
Blogged
about the Jeju part: HERE.
So for this
trip, we decided to do things a little differently.
If you’re
planning your future travels, here are a couple of things you could try!
1. Be
Impromptu
Not
sure if I mentioned about it before,
but
we did not have an itinerary for this trip.
On
some days, we planned our activities the night before,
and
on most days, we decided on the day itself where we wanted to visit.
We
wanted it to be this way, so that we could slow down our pace,
and do
whatever we felt like doing on that day.
In a way,
things are quite unexpected too!
E.g. Coming
across hidden gems like indie, cosy cafes etc.
This was
different from many of my other trips that were planned from head to toe.
Many times I
would go on those city tours
but I now know
being in control of your own time and itinerary
gives you
freedom to explore more things
and plan your
itinerary according to how you feel that very morning!
Things worked
out well (thankfully)
and
I’m glad we decided to be more impromptu on this trip.
2. Home
Stay with Locals
@Big John’s
Place
615-11 Yeoksam-dong,
Gangnam-guSeoul, Korea 135-907
I’ve
heard of more and more people staying in local’s homes on their trips
abroad
and
I’ve always been pretty interested to try.
So
I was happy when we decided to go with that for this trip; it was my first
time!
Staying
with the locals completely enhanced the whole experience.
It's
somehow just different from staying in the hotels.
There’s
this air of hominess and we were very lucky to get such a friendly and
welcoming host!
So
here’s our host, John and his wife!
Fortunately,
John could speak English fluently so there was no language barrier there.
The
thing about staying with a local is there
is
that personal relationship that forms between the host and the
guest.
John
and his wife were absolutely sweet;
they
took us out to their favourite restaurants,
cooked
local food for us
and
gave us many good recommendations on what to do/see/eat.
In
that way, he became our personal tour guide!
We
got really close in those few days, having chats over breakfast, lunch and
dinners.
We
even had a BBQ together with all the guests from different countries, staying
there!
The
experiences we had because of our stay at Big John's were priceless!
If
I visit Korea again, I will definitely head back to find this loving
couple.
We
were extremely grateful for their hospitality :)
Homely,
was an understatement.
It
was such an amazing and heartwarming experience that
made
me so convinced that I want the experience of staying with the locals
for
my future trips, whenever possible.
&
I did, for my Taiwan trip months later.
I
did again for my current Europe trip! :)
3. Trying
all the local food
So
we settled our itinerary and lodging, now it’s on to the food!
As
it was my first time in Korea,
I
figured we would be eating a lot of kimchi and Korean bbq etc.
But
when we got there, I realized there was a lot of great local street food!
I
normally try and eat as healthy as I can (when I can ;P)
but
I told myself it wouldn’t be a full experience if I didn’t try all the local
food here!
So
three of us went on quite a rampage and ate whatever we thought looked
good.
What
made the experience especially great was eating both hot and cold food in the
cold.
You
can literally feel the hot food warming your tummy in the cold!
4.
Live in the moment
In
this digital age, all of us get very caught up with our little smart
gadgets.
Even
when we’re overseas,
we
are still trying our best to stay connected
to
whatever’s going on back home for fear of losing out (guilty as charged).
But
in this trip and in many of my trips, I try my best to live in the moment.
This
trip was very special as I had two very great people with me
and
we became so much tighter after the trip!
We
shared many laughs and many heart-to-heart chats.
And
in that foreign environment,
it
was nice to share and gain such experiences and memories with people you know.
Talking
about moments,
we
really captured a lot of moments thanks to Multifolds!
It
was so fun dressing up and taking pictures with beautiful backgrounds.
What
better, we even stripped down to dresses in 10 degree weather!
Photos
by Multifolds and me.
I
have been stalking the @Travelmadedifferent account on Instagram,
and
also looking through the photos with #travelmadedifferent hashtag,
to
gather information about the countries that I want to visit during this travel.
Still
in the process of planning for my current Europe trip.
Yes,
I am not done planning yet..
Impromptu
once again!
In
addition, we will be staying with the locals as well. (Point 1 & 2,
checked!)
THERE
ARE SO MANY BEAUTIFUL PICTURES THERE!!
Currently,
there are close to 10,000 photos depicting the various travel memories,
from
many different parts of the world.
Some photos come with very detailed captions,
which
I find interesting and very useful.
Coincidentally,
my friend Amelia, was the winner of their last contest,
and
she won herself a full expense paid trip to Istanbul to fulfil her bucket list!
So I have been reading about the bits and pieces of her experiences,
coupled
with the amazing visuals.
In
fact, right now....... I have something awesome to share.
GOOD NEWS!
From
now till 31st December 2014,
Travel
Made Different will be giving away
$100
shopping vouchers to 40 followers with the most
amazing
'Same
Same But Different' (aka #SSBD) travel experiences.
Simply
share a unique experience on your travels which made your trip turn out
differently
and
you could walk away with a $100 voucher!
How
to take part?
1.
Follow 'Travel Made Different' on Instagram --> @TravelMadeDifferent
2.
Post a photo/video on Instagram of your 'Same Same But Different' travel
experiences
3.
Write an awesome caption about your photo/video and include these
hashtags:
#TravelMadeDifferent
#SSBD #
(Do
make sure that your Instagram is set to 'public' for your entry to be seen.)
I
have been given the luxury to select one winner out of all your entries soon,
so..
keep your entries coming in!
I
will be checking on the hashtag regularly,
because
I really love looking at travel photos
and
reading about the interesting experiences from all around the world.
In
any case, since I am still planning for my own travel
(I
will most probably be going to Rome, Venice, Florence, Paris, London and
Switzerland),
it
will be awesomeeeeee if you can share your Europe experiences with me too!
*grins*
Travel Made Different
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