If you haven’t read Josh’s article on the fast paced environment of Seoul, or if you are unfamiliar with how fast everything (trends, people, transportation) moves in Seoul, I would highly recommend you familiarize yourself with it before traveling to Korea. Some people may find the fast paced environment of Korea to be too much. Personally for me, I enjoy how fast and, as a result, efficient everything is. It makes me feel small and insignificant (in the best way possible), like the world is so big and my problems have become so small. However, every now and then I feel the need to take a deep breath of fresh air and escape the speed of Korean society.
I’ve discovered a few places around Seoul that feel like pockets of peace to escape the fast paced-ness. Where I can breathe for a few minutes before going back out there. Cafes are an obvious one. The cafes in Korea are on a whole other level. The themes and concepts each cafe adopts are so creative and captivating, I could stay in a cafe for hours. I’ve also written about cafes way too often. You probably understand why I love them so much by now.
One of my recent favorite pockets of peace in Seoul is the Han River. While it tends to be a pretty touristy attraction and is typically quite crowded, watching the sun set behind the city of Seoul is enough to reset me and help me relax. Seeing children run around playing with the same toys I played with when camping with my family made me feel sentimental. It was a beautifully peaceful experience – watching the water show on the side of a bridge with music and busking noises in the background, couples sitting everywhere you looked and families with their kids buying light up balloons.
These pockets of peace are rare to find in the bustling, busy streets of Seoul but when you stumble upon them, it’s like a breath of fresh air. I don’t really realize it’s what I needed until I regroup and realize I was a lot more drained than I had thought.
