Is there anything more idyllic than summer in Chicago? Just like 2017, I made my way back here for the Women @ BCG conference with the Great Lakes region.
After a delightful time in Seoul and Jeju, the last stop on my 2019 Korea trip was Busan! We had trouble finding our Airbnb at first, and were told we need to speak Korean in Korea. I felt affronted at the time, but I've come around to the logic.
I'm saying this upfront: we did not have enough time in Jeju. Our "three days" in Jeju was more like one day, since we arrived late on the first night and left early in the morning on the last day. There was a bit of poor planning with this segment of the trip overall: we booked a nice hotel with a pool, only to discover that the pool wasn't open yet for the season. Ah, the perils of shoulder-season travel (still the best considering the beautiful weather and lack of crowds though)!
When I asked Jenny to go on a trip with me again in 2019, her first response was, "When are we going?" Although Jenny and I don't see each other that often these days, she remains the perfect travel partner. We pretty much learned how to travel "independently" together, and have created our own seamless travel style that's fast-paced, highly mobile, and full of elaborate activities and delicious food. You could even say we... run on autopilot (had to squeeze in an aviation pun!).
Jenny and I bracketed our trip to Belize (1, 2) with a couple overnight layovers in the South. As someone who had not explored much of the South (other that than 17h road trip to Atlanta for DECA in HS...), I saw the layovers as a novel way to soak up extra culture rather than a hassle (akin to our crazy layovers in Hawaii!).
Osaka represented the tail-end of my Asia grad trip with Jenny, and we were TIRED by this point. We faced a series of unfortunate events trying to take the train to get to Osaka, followed by more transit and a lengthy walk to our Airbnb in the boiling hot sun with our heavy luggage. In hindsight, we should've just ubered once we made it into the city.
Kyoto was my favourite place in Japan, full-stop. It had the best food and the best sights. While probably considered touristy, I enjoyed the well-preserved architecture and natural beauty of the surrounding areas. Growing up, Kyoto also held additional allure: it was the home of Kyoto Animation. This mythical studio was known for its attention to detail and gorgeous stories (my favs included: Clannad After Story, The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kanon 2006, Air, and some light-hearted ones like Lucky Star and K-On!). In hindsight, I wish I found a way to pay homage to this old interest of mine; to fully do 12-year-old-Charmaine justice by visiting the studio shop or something similar.
Huge caveat: I am still working through an immense backlog on this blog — at this point in 2022, I have 33 trips I intend to write about (eventually). What's more, I am CURRENTLY TRAVELING for the next month before I depart for my MBA! I've come to terms with the likelihood that I will never write any of these posts on time.