How it all began

Okay, here goes...time to try and recount what happened during my month long, winter vacation solo getaway. Hopefully a few people actually read these posts and maybe even enjoy them.Considering I'd be gone for a whole month, traveling to three different countries, and given my penny pinching background I figured I'd need a plan to save some money. First, I used Air Asia for as many flights as possible, their low cost fares are usually unbeatable and second I used couchsurfing (CS) whenever it was available. Thankfully the CS culture in Malaysia is huge and the people were some of the nicest I've ever met - hello new friends and goodbye completely solo trip.

Aside from booking flights and sending out a few CS requests I hadn't really planned all that much for my trip, shocking I know. Generally I like to have a plan and itinerary, thanks mom, but after changing most of my plans while traveling in Taiwan I realized that's not always the best method. There were a few things I knew that I wanted to do, like Thaipusam at the Batu Caves, but most of my trip was left to the cards. 

Anyway here's a map that highlights the cities I visited and a few other random things along the way - check it out if you want a frame of reference while you read along.  

My vacation...if I were a true Korean

I'm assuming most of you are aware of my whereabouts for the last month, but for those of you living under a rock...i'm back from my SE tour of Malaysia, Singapore and Bali.  It was a whirlwind trip filled with lots of fun stories, which i'll happily share with you, in due time.  First I just wanted to give you a taste of my trip - while I work on the details of the rest...give me some time it might take a while for me to defrost and thaw out my fingers so I can get it all down. Just kidding, well kind of, Korea really is cold and snowy and i'm not used to it....

Let's go! 

Just Some Stuff

Well now that I finally wrote a post about Christmas about two weeks after the fact I guess I'll update you all on some of the other random things going on this winter.  Sorry for the extreme laziness with blogging..it just kind of fell to the back burner. Plus I haven't been on any great adventures so there's not too much to write about.  

I'll just give you updates through pictures instead. 

purple goup,  팥죽  served for 동기 (winter solstice) 

Christmas in Korea

As the Holidays grew near I could sense more of my friends here feeling a bit down, missing family and things going on back home.  I'm not sure if it should make my family proud or sad to know that I didn't really feel too bad not being home for the holidays. I guess it shows that i'm independent enough to survive on my own and understand that I do have a great family back home who continues to support me as I explore the world.  I guess a big part of it too is that i'm loving my life here, all of the people who surround me make it hard to miss another place, I guess i've just always been one to try to live in the moment, my friends and family will always be there next year.