I don't believe that traveling is necessarily glamorous, specially if moving to a new country is part of it. We still have to work, we still have to make money, we still have to fend for ourselves in similar ways that we would back home, or honestly, anywhere in the world.
For the last two weeks I have been realizing that I'm finally settling. The end of that sweet honey moon phase of culture shock (something that I have been getting lectures of for the last three and a half years) is nigh. I am getting into a routine: I know my quickest way to school (and the longest too); I know the three major supermarkets in the area; I know the local expat bar; I know how to get from point A to point B on the subway, and I know what to expect from my weekdays and most weekends. I'm adapting, which means that the initial excitement and restless need for exploration of my immediate area is starting to dim down. This, by absolutely no means, means that I am getting bored; this doesn't mean that I've seen everything there is to see in Seoul - in fact, that list keeps getting bigger as the weeks go by - all that this means is that everything is settling into my kind of normal.
This is why last weekend we decided to get out of Seoul for the first time since having moved here. Everyone, everywhere has that sudden urge of getting out, of doing something out that routine; whether that is going to a new restaurant, taking the back roads or treating yourself to a massage. I really believe that we all have that sometime in our life. Personally, I've always considered trips my way of treating myself and my favorite ways of breaking the routine.
This last weekend we headed south of country to a small town called Boseong. Originally, this trip was intended to be a two night, three day deal, but in order to save a little bit of money, we decided to leave on Saturday and make it a weekend thing. I had my reservations about that - I don't like to feel rushed, and the idea of spending most of my weekend in transit isn't super appealing. It was an incredible surprise to find out that:
a) The buses are pretty comfortable
b) This country is quite small
I suppose living in the States, and particularly Texas for 8 years has made me think that traveling outside of any city means at least a 3 - 5 hour drive. And visiting other states? Book a flight. So it's really nice to live in a country where you can go from North to South in about 6 - 7 hours, and from East to West in about 5 or so. Now, when I say small, I don't mean to say that there is little to see: there is so much in this, and any other country, that is worth exploring. I am extremely excited with the possibilities of everything I'll be able to do and see because of how accessible everywhere in this country is.
First thing to check off, like I mentioned before (sorry, I trail off constantly) was the small town of Boseong. What is this place known for? Green tea? What's my favorite kind of tea? Yes. What's my favorite color?!
The many tea plantations of Boseong are responsible for almost half of the green tea production for the entire country (OMG THAT'S SO MUCH TEA), and as you can probably imagine... the place is absolutely beautiful. And it smells so nice too. 
When we first got to the Daehan Dawon Plantation, I was really glad to see that, although there were quite a bit of people walking around and enjoying the sights, it wasn't necessarily crowded. Also, the day was perfect: not too terribly hot like I had originally dreaded. So everything started off smoothly. When we crossed the ticket booth and made it into the Plantation, you could hear the silence of a place far away from streets and traffic and buildings, as well as some birds squeaking in the distance: it just added so much to the whole setting. And you could immediately get that whiff of green tea before you make it to the actual fields. 
First, you have to go through a small bamboo forest and hike through a small path alongside the Yew Tree Forest (actually, it's very possible that we started our trail the wrong way because we kept walking on the opposite direction of the map arrows). After that you come to a square with shops and restaurants that sell green tea ice cream, green tea lattes, green tea milkshakes... you get the idea. From that square you can start making your way up to the actual Green Tea Fields. Now, the fields themselves aren't massive - in fact, we got through the entire plantation in a little under two hours going at a regular pace. But this isn't necessarily the place you want to rush through. As small as it is, there really is so much you can marvel at - they even got a sneaky waterfall at the back of the fields!
This is the kind of place you want to stop at every turn and marvel at the perfect beauty of it and take it all in.
It was such a refreshing weekend to say the least.
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