Korea (2026)

My mom grew up in downtown Seoul and left for Canada in her early 20s. She hadn't returned since, and I'd never been. We talked about going but kept putting it off because it wasn't great timing. Earlier this year, Charles told me that if I didn't just figure it out then we were never gonna go. (He was right). So off we went, my mom and I!

In Seoul, basically nothing was left from my mom's memory except for a friend's apartment building, nestled at the foot of Namsan. In its somewhat decrepit state, it's been used as a film location and still houses some residents.

We hiked Seoraksan for a couple days (including the vertigo inducing Ulsanbawi), then headed down to Busan, which I liked even more than Seoul. It's got ocean! It's got mountains! And the food was great, there were zero misses.

A few photos: