Underrated South Korea

Country number 35 on our 52 Countries in 52 Weeks adventure dropped us into Seoul, where I immediately had to abandon the family and fly to Los Angeles for a work event. Excellent parenting timing on my part. Meanwhile, the kids checked into our traditional Korean hanok and apparently spent the next several hours walking around saying “wow” every few minutes. It truly was awe inspiring. These historic Korean homes have a soul to them. Wooden beams, paper sliding doors, stone courtyards, tiny gardens tucked into impossibly dense neighborhoods. Seoul does this incredibly well. One minute you are surrounded by glass skyscrapers and neon signs, the next you are standing inside a centuries-old courtyard hearing only the wind moving through bamboo.

The second I got back from LA, we went straight into full Seoul mode. The city has an energy unlike anywhere else we visited. Everything feels fast, polished, and unbelievably intentional. Fashion stores look like art galleries. Cafés feel designed for architectural magazines. Even convenience stores somehow look cooler in Korea. The fashion scene surprised me just as much. Seoul is wildly style-conscious without feeling pretentious. Some districts feel like giant open-air trend labs where luxury fashion, streetwear, cafés, pop-ups, skincare brands, and experimental retail all collide together. Even the architecture feels futuristic. Buildings look more like spaceships that have landed directly in the middle of the city.

Then came Gyeongbokgung Palace, which honestly stopped me in my tracks. Massive gates, endless courtyards, detailed rooftops, quiet gardens, mountains rising behind the palace walls. It may genuinely be one of the most visually impressive places we visited during the entire year. At one point we heard massive cheering echoing through the streets and naturally followed the noise because apparently that’s what we do now. We suddenly found ourselves in the middle of what appeared to be a political rally, an independence celebration, or possibly both simultaneously. There were hundreds of thousands of people filling the streets waving flags, chanting, smiling, taking photos, and somehow despite the sheer size of the crowd, there was not a single piece of trash on the ground. I have seen operating rooms less organized than this protest.

Korean BBQ spots spill smoke and laughter into alleyways late into the night. Tiny market stalls somehow serve meals better than expensive restaurants back home. We hit one of Seoul’s famous street food markets where you buy tokens and wander from vendor to vendor eating whatever smells impossible to resist. Which is basically everything. Dumplings. Korean fried chicken. Skewers. Fresh noodles. Hotteok pancakes. Grilled meats. Things bubbling, sizzling, steaming, frying. Entire streets dedicated to food. Entire buildings dedicated to food. It feels like the city collectively decided calories are someone else’s problem.

The DMZ is one of the most surreal places we visited all year. The drive north from Seoul slowly shifts from modern city life to military checkpoints, guarded roads, and heavily monitored zones as you approach one of the most tense borders in the world. You can only visit through guided tours, which is normally not my thing, but this one was absolutely worth it. Standing at observation points looking into North Korea while hearing stories of tunnels, ceasefires, and decades of conflict feels strangely fascinating and unsettling at the same time. And then, because this is South Korea, somehow there are cafés, gift shops, and organized tour buses that feel natural operating beside one of the world’s most heavily militarized borders. The contrast is hard to wrap your head around.

What surprised me most about South Korea was how seamlessly everything coexists. Ancient traditions beside futuristic technology. Quiet temples beside massive LED billboards. Historic hanoks beside luxury flagship stores. Somehow it all works together. There is something magical about mixing the traditional Asian charm with the quirky pop-culture atmosphere.