To say that 2017 has been quite the exciting year for me, would be an understatement. I quit my professional marketing job, moved out of Madison, Wisconsin – the place I’d called home for 6 years – and moved to South Korea to teach English.
I even started a travel blog to document the whole thing! When I reflect back on what I’ve accomplished the past 12 months, it’s truly something. I put my life in America on hold and built an entirely new one from scratch in Daegu, South Korea – of all places.
So in the spirit of the coming new year, I’ve gone back through it all to reflect on where I’ve been, what I’ve learned and everything I hope 2018 brings me (as well as to share my fave travel photos). Cheers to the new year!
Madrid + Granada + Málaga + Sevilla + Toledo, Spain.
Jan 30 – Feb 18Before starting my new life in South Korea, I took the opportunity to travel Spain for three weeks with a friend based as an English teacher in Madrid. We explored southern Spain together and enjoyed the warmth of the south coast. What better way to see a new place than with your best friend? It was a perfect send off before continuing on to South Korea!
For more about my adventures in Spain, check out additional posts here
South Korea.
I arrived in Korea mid-February to attend orientation and official training to become an EPIK English teacher. I spent ten days in Busan enjoying free room and board surrounded by total strangers who would later become dear friends as we anxiously waited to see what our futures held.After completing orientation, I officially moved to Daegu on March 1, and got my first glimpse of where I’d call home for the next two years.
For more about my adventures in South Korea, check out additional posts here
Places I visited in Korea.
- Jeju Island
- Namhae
- Gyeongju
- Andong
- Geoje
- Busan (6 times)
- Daejeon
- Wolchulsan National Park
- Daedunsan Provincial Park
- Gayasan National Park
- Seoraksan National Park
- Boseong Green Tea Fields
- Jindo
- Jinhae
- Naejangsan National Park
- Seoul (4 times)
Mountains I hiked in Korea.
- Palgongsan (4 times)
- Biseulsan (2 times)
- Apsan (3 times)
- Seoraksan
- Wolchulsan
- Daedunsan
- Gayasan
- Jagged Ridge
- Hallasan
- Namhae hike
- Naejangsan
- Inwangsan
- Namsan Tower
- Igidae
- Olle Trails
Things I did in 2017 – a list of firsts.
- Attended a mud festival in Boryeong
- Visited a Korean traditional naked spa (jjimjilbang) and even got the scrub
- Saw a K-pop concert
- Experienced my very first earthquake
- Ate parts of animals I never thought I would – heart, stomach, intestines
- Saw immense amounts of cherry blossoms in the spring
- Learned to read Hangul (the Korean alphabet), and even learned a tiny bit of Korean
- Started blogging and posted consistently each week
- Taught English for the first time
- Visited my first Asian countries
Jakarta + Bali + Nusa Penida, Indonesia.
Aug 3 – Aug 15For my summer vacation, I took my first solo trip in Asia and explored Indonesia. Traveling around Indonesia was probably one of the biggest highlights of my year. I have never been somewhere so beautiful and full of life. I wouldn’t mind living there for a bit one day!
For more about my adventures in Indonesia, check out more posts here
Kyoto + Tokyo + Hakone Japan.
Oct 2 – Oct 9When my parents came to visit me in Korea this October, we took advantage of the week I had off for Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) and ventured around Japan together. We saw the traditional and cultural side of Japan in Kyoto, the modern and fast-paced in Tokyo, and the natural and beautiful in Hakone.
For more about my adventures in Japan, check out more posts here
Visitors I had.
I was super fortunate to have my family come and visit me my first year teaching in Korea. My brother and his lovely girlfriend came to stay with me in August and my parents came in October. Now the question is, who’s coming to visit in 2018? 😉
New Year’s Resolutions/Goals.
- Grow as a blogger and gain a wider audience
- Write my first ebook
- Make my first profit from this blog (fingers crossed)
- Save more money
- Hike the rest of the mountains in Korea
- Be more intentional in my actions
What’s in store for me in 2018.
- Sri Lanka – Jan 6th – 19th 2018
- 2018 Winter Olympics – Feb 14 – 17th 2018
- Taiwan – Feb 18th – 25th 2018
- Ullengdo, South Korea – May 2018
- Mongolia – August 2018
- Hong Kong – October 2018
What an exciting year! Thanks again for your great content on Nusa Penida 🙂
Let me know when you are in HK and I’ll show you around – I’m hoping to visit Korea as well at some point and need to get all the hiking tips from you
Thank you so much Nam! It was my pleasure. I’m actually hoping to visit Hong Kong near the end of September if I can find a cheap enough flight so that would be wonderful! And of course, anytime you find yourself in Korea you have a tour guide 🙂