Jessica's Travelogue

Choosing to leave Korea was one of the hardest decisions I had to make in my life. I loved living in Korea. I had almost no culture shocks since I moved there. And, it felt like home. As someone who grew up with the Hallyu wave and detached from western culture, I felt right at home in Korea. Although I wasn’t Korean and only had basic understanding of Korean. I decided to go home in the end since my family was all back in the US.

Tip #1: Use the carrot app and Wonderful to give your things to others. I had lived in Korea for 3 years. As such, I had accumulated many things over the years. For my furniture and things I didn’t plan to bring back to the US, I tried to sell/get rid of it using the carrot app. It’s a place where you can sell/give away second-hand items. I had 3 suitcases in which I could bring things home in. Everything else that I didn’t fit in the three suit cases were either tossed or sent home via boat shipping.

You can also use Wonderful! Wonderful is like a virtual personal assistant in Korea. You create an account and deposit money into an account, then you can contact wonderful to do things like make appointments, call on your behalf, or help you buy trash/recycling disposal stickers online. I am so thankful to them since they helped me get rid of all the little things I had laying around the house.

There website can be found below:
https://www.gowonderfully.com/

Tip #2: Use a strap to connect suitcases together. At first, I was really worried about having to carry three suitcases around with me. But someone told me that I could use a strap to connect the suitcases together! I connected two suitcases together and it made it so much easier to pull the three suitcases together.

Tip #3: If you are planning to explore before you head home, and have too many things to carry around, send your things to Incheon airport before you leave. Hanjin (the package delivery service) has a service where they pick up luggage and store it at the airport for you to pick up. Sadly, they didn’t provide this service where I lived. So I couldn’t use it. Sendmybag is also another service that many people use to send their luggage home from living abroad. However, didn’t service my area either.

As I didn’t want to lug my suitcases everywhere with me, I knew I had to find a way to get to Incheon airport so I can store my things there. Hanjin Express at Incheon airport terminal 2 is where you can store your things. I believe terminal 1 also has one but long distance international flights leave from terminal 2 so that is where I had to go. More info about Hanjin Express can be found here.

Tip #4: Call a private taxi service to get you and your bags to Incheon airport. I tried a lot of things to try to get my things to Incheon airport. But, sadly, since I lived in the countryside of Gyeonggi-do, nothing seemed to service my area. In the end, my co-teacher was able to search and find a private taxi service that was willing to come to my town and pick me up. The driver who picked me up was so kind. He picks up a lot of foreigners and asked me to share with my friends/people if they need an airport van. So I will leave his details below. He arrived before our set time and called me when he arrived. I had a really great experience with him. If you need a airport van to or from Incheon airport, I really recommend him~

Getting to Hanjin Express was really easy. The taxi drops you off right where you need to check in from! Unlike the subway where I had to navigate from the basement to the third floor, I just had to walk to Counter H. Hanjin Express is located at the left end, across the room. I don’t remember how long you can keep your luggage there but I left it there for 4 days.

Tip #5: Stay close to Hongdae Station. The airport line stops at Hongdae Station. There can be large gaps between subways on the airport line. I really like taking the subway from Hongdae Station because it was easy and convenient. I just rode the train all the way down to the last stop, Incheon Airport Terminal 2.

Tip #6: Check in early online and get to the airport early. You might not have to worry about this if you are on a smaller flight. But I was on a big flight so there were hundreds of people. Everyone had a lot of luggage that they had to check in and the lines were long. I checked in early online so I didn’t have to stand in the check-in line. I was in the baggage drop off lane and it took forever. Although it was a lot a lot shorter than the regular check-in line. I was in line for an hour and a half. I’m so thankful I went to the airport early. I only had an hour and a half after check in to go through security, get food (I only had breakfast that day and was starving), and find my gate.

Thankfully, I had an hour after going through security to find food. It was busy so I actually had a hard time finding food. And, Incheon airport is BIG. So it took a while going pass all the duty-free stores before I finally found my departing gate. Finally, I settled for this small little restaurant that was close to my departing gate. I ate Kalgooksu (칼국수), a knife cut noodle soup that my small little town was famous for. So this dish held a lot of memories and special meaning for me.

Also, I am so thankful that I got there early and was able to buy some extra food before I got on the plane. Look at tip 7 for the reason why.

Tip #7: Buy food to eat on the plane. I chose Korean Air because I wanted to eat the food again. However, I was a bit of a fool. My flight was Korean Air ran by Delta. I bought it through Korean Air so I wrongly assumed that it was be the same as the flight I took to get to Korea. However, I was super wrong. There was no bibimbap on the flight. No Korean food. Instead, we had some plain western food that was not filling and not worth the money I spent on the flight. I got the vegan meal and was super disappointed in the food. It was cold, soggy, and sad. I am so thankful that I bought food at the airport after going through security. It literally saved me from starving on the plane.

Although I am complaining about the food, the flight itself was great. The flight attendants were super nice. They did quick and efficient service. Remembered who ordered special meals. The landing and takeoff was smooth. I really enjoyed the flight itself.

Tip #8: Wear comfy clothes and layer up. The flight is long, it’s best to wear comfy clothes as you want to be able to move around freely and be comfortable throughout the entire flight. I wore three layers. I had my athletic t-shirt, a light jacket, and my long winter jacket. And I wore sweatpants. I had two layers on most of the fight. And when I was feeling cold or like I needed a blanket, I just used my winter jacket. If you fly in warmer weather, you can leave the winter jacket.

Those are my tips if you are headed home soon. I hope you had a great time in Korea whether you were there for travel, teaching English, business, or anything else. Feel free to comment below if you have any questions or any tips you would like to add.