Korea: Preview

I'm going to Korea from October 5th through the 13th.

Check this page regularly for updates, as well as my Pownce and Twitter pages. I don't expect to post many photos until I get back, but check my Zooomr page regularly too, in case I do anyway.

Why Korea? Why not Korea?

Actually, my friend Jason invited me along on this trip back in March. I ran into him in the hall at work one day, and he asked "How would you like to go to Korea for a week in October?" And, of course, my answer was, "I'd love to, in theory." October was a long time off, so there were months to sweat the details, but I was a definite tentative "Yes!" Jason's friend Adam lives in Seoul, and after a long visit back to The States last fall, I guess the seed had been planted for a trip the other way. Jason, Steve (another friend of Jason and Adam) and I are going this time.

What will we do there? I don't have a minute-by-minute itinerary, but since October is supposed to be the best time to visit, I'm sure we won't have any problem finding stuff to occupy our time. Koreans are serious about hiking, and the country has many excellent parks and trails, which this time of the year may be all the more awesome with the fall color (they're at roughly the same lattitude as us, so the climate is very similar). Seoul is huge and there's always something going on there too. Adam has a friend who is a tour guide for Japanese tourists, and he's trying to talk her into maybe showing us around also. There's also talk of a rooftop barbeque Saturday night. I think we all wouldn't mind getting up to see the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), the most fortified border in the world, but who knows how feasible something like that is.

I have a new camera, and even though the lens I bought did not arrive in time, everything is going to be just fine. My brother Tom overnighted me the same lens from his personal collection, so I'm all set. My goal is to take 100 (decent) pictures a day at a minimum, so look forward to those.

Even though I'll be on the other side of the planet, I'll be reachable by email, and I'll post updates when I can. Other than not having packed at all, I'm ready to go.

At 7:10 AM (EDT) the journey begins. . .

(View my entire set of Korea trip photos here on Zooomr)