Do Something Crazy This Summer

This summer has been crazy so far. I was traveling and working a lot. After traveling to three countries within a month and finally coming back home, I was reminded by this sudden sense of peace and calm that I am supposed to be writing a new article every week.

Definitely guilty of being a lazy writer, I think it would be a great idea to write an article about things I’ve done so far this summer. I hope that it inspires some of you to do something out of your comfort zone too. After all, summer goes by so fast that in a few months time, we will all be back in college doing our routine work.

So, as cliché but true as it sounds, definitely seize your summertime and make every moment count!

My trip to Seoul

Street view of a busy Seoul city

I traveled to Seoul, South Korea on a whim. I have always wanted to visit South Korea but never had the time and money. When I received my first paycheck ever from my summer job in May, I realized that this summer would be the perfect chance for me to travel. This realization quickly led me into quitting my summer job, buying a plane ticket, and flying to Seoul the week after I got my money.

JeonJu Village, Seoul, South Korea

Seoul is breath-taking and meticulously beautiful. I love traveling not just because of the food or shopping but also the process of submerging yourself into another culture. I went to most of the touristy places, as well as some local villages and suburban areas.

For example, I almost got on the wrong train due to language miscommunication, but the friendly locals helped me find my train eventually. The other day, I summoned my courage and tried a Korean rice bowl with pickled vegetable and raw beef. It tastes surprisingly good!

Raw beef rice bowl — best meal in my entire trip

What years of traveling taught me

In conclusion, I spent my entire monthly paycheck in a week, but this trip was so worth it. As mentioned, I went on this trip on a whim. Not everything is planned at its best, but I got to travel to a foreign country as a person and an adult, not as a part of a school trip nor as someone’s child.

Traveling, I realize, is a process of learning. It is to get past cultural shock by appreciating the culture, not just surviving it. It is to face language barriers not by panicking, but by friendliness and understanding. It is to stay calm and make alternatives when things don’t go as planned.

As an international student, it is common for me to travel a lot. Years of traveling experience have led me to thinking that while college education makes my mind grew intellectually, it is traveling that has made me grow as a person and as an adult. Even right now, I’m sitting in a cafe in Hong Kong, typing an entire article in English — a language that I wasn’t even fluent in a couple of years ago. If it wasn’t for traveling, I definitely would not be the same person I am right now.

So I would encourage all of you to travel — it does not have to be somewhere far, but somewhere that would throw you out of your comfort zone. Take the chance to do something crazy before you stop having summer holidays and graduate into the adult world!