The games have begun!
Kim and I landed in Seoul Korea Thursday Oct 17. At the bottom of this page is a menu leading you to descriptions of the days. We are just starting day 4. For the second time we both slept until 7am breakfast. We did take a long long nap Friday. We fly to Jeju island today so today we will make it through to going to bed at a normal 10pm time.
The content you are reading has been written on Tuesday, Oct 29. We are really in the final days of our trip. We spent a day in the air, 3 nights in Seoul, 4 on Jeju island, 3 in Busan and this is our last of 3 days in Gyoengju. The trip was specked out to be about 3 weeks, actually a little shorter. One day in the air at either end. We don’t actually fly for 24 hours, this just means that we get up and our entire day is consumed in travel. Tomorrow we move to xxx for 3 nights, then 2 nights in Seoul again and Jet home. One way to look at it is 8 days in the big cities, 4 days on the resort island of Jeju and 6 days in the archeology rich interior. You add the 2 travel days and get 20.
Sooo, we are winding down psychologically. While we are both looking forward to the next 5+ days, we are also ready to be back in NH. With traveling, as well as with anything in life, it is often interesting to muse on whether living the experience is more enjoyable or remembering it. A stupid distinction right, but one that is sometimes instructive. I love the memory of travel. Do I love it more than the experience of travel? Sure. The actual experience is full of ups and downs, exuberance and an upset stomach and a bad choice of bike. The memory of travel is more even. Reliving the adventures in my mind. Writing and reflecting on them. Probably most enjoyably, choosing stories and points of view to communicate to friends and family.
Traveling, as I have mentioned more than once in this monolog, places Kim and I in a unique position with each other. We REALLY spend time together. Not that we do not do lots of things together in NH but: we usually watch TV in separate rooms, we usually eat separately in front of our respective TVs. We almost never drive together: Kim drives to fast and I drive too slow! I enjoy getting to share this part of life. Kim does mention the joy of traveling alone!