Seoul, South Korea

As I was booking my flights for this trip, I noticed it ended with an extra day before I had to return to work.  And I wanted to take full advantage of everyday I had off.  A friend of mine told me about the Seoul airport doing layover programs.  Turns out they have quite a few options for long layovers so I picked the 24 hour one as thats all I had time for.  They book a hotel for you city center and give you a metro card and small gift!  I was so excited to be able to explore more before having to take that long ass flight home.  From wheels down to wheels up, I had exactly 24 hours to see as much as I could.  Once I got past customs, I went to the counter and my little gift bag with my name and info on it was waiting for me! It was so flipping cute! I then set off to find the metro and it took about one hour and 15 minutes to get to Seoul Station.  The hotel they picked for me was extremely nice and perfect location.  Once I checked in, I took an Uber to the N Seoul Tower.  I took the cable car up the hill and got rewarded with stunning views of Seoul.  

I got a great nights sleep in the very comfy hotel bed then I was up really early to continue exploring.  The breakfast at the hotel was massive so I had a great start then I was out the door.  The main temple I wanted to see is closed on Tuesdays, go figure but a smaller one nearby was open.  I walked there so I could get a vibe of the city.  It's definitely the most westernized feel of an Asian I have experienced yet.  I also felt very safe as I was alone on this journey.  After seeing the temple and stopped in a couple stores, I took another Uber to the Hanbok Village.  A tourist area of the city with traditional Korean buildings, it was so cute.  After a few minutes there, I tried to go to one more area but realized I was out of time.  I had to go back, repack and check out of the hotel.  Once I did that I already had to head back to the airport sadly.  This was such a tease but an exciting way to break up my long flights home.  One day I'll do a full South Korea tour.  Until then, here are a couple photos I got last minute!  If you want to see photos from the Seoul Tower, those are on my IG: kelseynicolesmith

More Vietnam Photos

 

Vietnam!!!

Vietnam has been at the top of my travel list for quite some time now so when it came time to decide where to go for slow season this year, my mind was already made up.  The last time I was in SE Asia was 2.5 years ago so I was long overdue to return.  There is something about that part of the world that I just love!  I chose a travel company called Intrepid for this trip as there was so much I wanted to see and thought a company would make it easier.  Plus meeting new people and having new friends to travel around with is an amazing experience.  Intrepid is now my new favorite company and I hope to book again with them soon because the trip was amazing.  Our TD was Thanh and he made the trip so smooth and exciting!  We had 12 people on this trip including myself, most being from Australia.  

We started in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam.  It was a bit crazy because they were celebrating their independence day during our trip but I still loved seeing the city.  The old quarter was so cute and being able to take a motorbike everywhere was such a treat.  I swear they are the best drivers there.

We also stayed the night on a boat in Ha Long Bay which is a World UNESCO Heritage Site.  So beautiful and the boat was very nice as well!  We went swimming on an island and toured a massive cave and kayaked!

Then we took a sleeper train down to central Vietnam to the city of Hue.  This is something I have always wanted to do but I will say I do not think I want to do it again.  The train wasn't very nice and kind of dirty plus the bathroom situation wasn't great. I knew when our TD kept calling it a five star train, we were in for an interesting ride.  All good experiences though!  We took more motorbikes around Hue and visited the Imperial City.  

Then we drove down to Hoi An which is the cutest city!  Saw more temples and the old town. Very photographic city!  I also got to spend a day at the beach!  

Our last stop was Ho Chi Minh City which we flew to.  This city has so much to offer and I definitely need to go back to see more.  We saw a few historic sites and went shopping at the markets.  Our last full day was spent exploring Mekong Delta which was gorgeous!

Vietnam is an amazing country and I barely scratched the surface.  This is a return country for me one day!  Everyone was so nice and welcoming which made me want to return more!  Thank you Thanh and Intrepid for an unforgettable trip! And to all the new friends I made, I truly hope we can travel together again soon! Below are my camera photos from the trip using my Canon 5D Mark IV.  My iphone photos are already posted to my IG:  @kelseynicolesmith

I'm currently planning my next trips for 2026!