#11 DNK - Interview October 2024

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✨ You’re reading the DNK October 2024 interview

💬 Contact: [email protected]

Annyeong !

Welcome to our interview of the month, where we put the spotlight on one of our community members. They’ll share their digital nomad story, how they experienced Korea (so far) and give you three personal recommendations at the end.  

Today, meet Lady.

• She works European hours as a performance marketer and has worked out the perfect routine.

• She’ll guide you through the bar and club culture in Korea.

• She’s Colombian and has lived in Mexico, London, Prague, Barcelona…

• She stayed a long time in both Seoul and Busan.

• She loves dancing, cute dogs and sports.

• She fell in love with Korea at first sight.

How did you land in Korea?

I never planned to come to Korea. My initial goal was Bali. Everyone I met kept telling me: ‘It’s a digital nomad paradise, you have to go’. I had such high expectations, and last year I thought, alright, let’s do it. I ended up finding a very nice flight with a stopover in Seoul. It didn’t require a visa so I decided to stay for two weeks and then go to Bali.

So you didn’t know anything at all about the country?

Not at all. I had no idea about K-dramas, K-pop, or even the food. I didn’t know anyone either so I hung out with the Couchsurfing community and looked for others. That’s how I found Digital Nomads Korea on Instagram. The day I landed was actually the opening party for the Hoppin House coworking and coliving, back in September 2023. I couldn’t join that day but I saw that there was an event planned soon for the Korean holiday Chuseok. I loved it. I could see people in the community were close, we cooked and played games. I liked the house and thought for the first time, ‘Oh, maybe if I come back, I’ll stay here’.

It’s seriously insane how fast people fall in love with Korea. All these interviews and it’s still a shock every time (laugh)

I know! (laugh) I did go to Bali after those two weeks and I spent the whole time having massive FOMO from not being in Korea. The island was supposed to be this famous paradise for digital nomads, but I was already dreaming of going back to Seoul. (laugh)

Why do you think you fell so hard for a place you knew nothing about?

There are so many reasons… For example, it’s very safe. In Barcelona you always need to be super careful with your phone in the streets, even worse in Colombia. I also find people more attentive. Foreigners and locals care about building a community and doing things together. And the manner! I really like that when you give something to someone in Korea, you do it with two hands. It’s because that way, you give it with your heart. Or the pouring! (laugh) I remember during the Chuseok party that Jeong was just next to me. I went to pour myself a drink and she exclaimed ‘Nooo!’. I thought I had done something wrong, but she taught me you don’t pour yourself a drink, ever, in Korea. The whole evening, she took care of filling up my glass as soon as it was getting empty (laugh). It’s so characteristic here.  

There are a lot of alcohol-related rituals here…

And the dogs! They are so cute. I wish I could have one. I told my friend once, about how I was enjoying the cute things, the adorable dogs… They said ‘I feel like this country was made for you’. (laugh)

You could get a dog if you stayed longer…

Staying longer is definitely the plan. I just need to sort out my visa situation, but I feel good here, so I want to stay. Except in winter because I can deal with the heat, but not the cold. It’s funny you know, we were talking with some other nomads and one of them was saying how he ever goes back to the same country because there’s just so much to see and explore out there. But for me, this lifestyle isn’t so much about traveling. If I have good friends, like the place, like the life I have there… Why leave?

How long have you been traveling?

I went to live in the UK nearly ten years ago. It was the first time I was leaving Colombia and I was amazed at how easy it was to travel from country to country in Europe. Colombia is so big, you need to save a long time to book a flight to Buenos Aires, for example. It cost me 20 pounds and took me 2 hours to fly to Germany. I realized I love trying to understand other cultures. Maybe others see things in a different way than I do, but I want to get to why they see it that way. I got addicted (laugh). For one year, I had the personal goal of traveling at least once a month. That’s how I started and then I got a remote job.

Do you work on your own schedule or do you follow a certain time zone?

I work European hours as a performance marketer (with Google, Facebook, and Instagram ads). I work from around 3 PM to midnight or 1 AM.

Isn’t that difficult?

Actually, not at all. It’s pretty much the perfect routine for me. In the morning, I can go to the gym, go to Korean class, and go out for lunch. When I start working in the afternoon, I’m fully awake. Then I can go out. Midnight is kind of when things get started in clubs anyway, so I can be late but join in on the fun. It works amazingly for me.  I like it better than being in Europe, or even worse, in Colombia. I’d love to spend more time there, and in Mexico, they’re such beautiful countries. But the time zone kills me there. I need to wake up at 2 AM and work until 10 AM. After three months of this rhythm, I could feel I was slower, physically and mentally.

You’re more of a night owl then…

Is that the term? I like it.

Do you enjoy the nightlife in Seoul? It’s a whole scene.

Yeah. Maybe because I’m from Colombia, I miss dancing pretty fast. I need to go out and I just love how the transition from day to night happens in Korea. You start by having dinner and a drink first. Then you go for a second round, maybe a third. And then you go out to a nightclub. Koreans are very friendly when they drink, which I like. Seoul is quite the vibrant city. I remember one of my first nights, I just accompanied some people to a nightclub in Itaewon. And I was like… Boom. The lights! I thought Koreans were quiet. That they didn’t dance, didn’t drink. I don’t know why I had this image, but I did. I was so, so wrong! (laugh) People were dancing on the tables, drinking, kissing. The light, the music, the voices… The room was so alive.

You also went to Busan, during our Hoppin Busan workation. Did you find the club culture very different?

To start with, it’s a lot smaller. There are two main areas I know of that you can go out to in the city. We mainly went to one called Seomyeon. There was a club there we visited every week (laugh), and it was nice because we were a group. But alone, I’m not sure it would have been the same. There weren’t as many options as in Hongdae or Itaewon, especially for dancing. When I’m in the mood to dance, I love going to La Bamba or Juntos for some reggaeton…

So you weren’t a fan of Busan…

Oh no, I’m a fan. The cafes are soo cute! The workation was actually my third time there. The first time, I went to visit, but I was surprised that Busan was so big so I couldn’t do all I wanted. Then I went back for a yoga-surfing trip. It was nice, but we didn’t have time to do much else than what was already scheduled. With Digital Nomads Korea, we were a pretty big group so it was very different. The hotel we stayed at was very nice. It’s located in an area with older people, there are local markets, and it’s such a different vibe from what I was used to in Seoul. I swear I’ve fallen in love with the bed - I slept like a baby in a cloud for the whole stay. (laugh) One of my favorite days was at Gwangalli Beach. We paddled on the ocean and the sunset was unreal.

Seoul or Busan?

Personally, I prefer Seoul, but I can see how Busan wants to push the city more with all the programs it’s got going on.

Where do you stay in Seoul?

I traveled around a bit in the beginning, but then mostly stayed at Hoppin House coliving in Yeonnam-dong. I really like living there, close to the cute cafes and Hongdae’s nightlife. The coworking is downstairs, which is super convenient with my schedule. I don’t want to go to a coworking, then leave at 1 AM and have to take a taxi or a night bus home. Other people usually have European or American hours, so I even have coworkers - it’s fun and we can discuss. I wonder if it’s because we have locals and foreigners in the Hoppin community, but we cook, we hang out, we care for each other. Living there, it feels like family.  

💚 Lady’s Recommendations

+  🍸 Jujae, her favorite cocktail bar in Yeonnam-dong+  🌸 Jinhae’s Cherry Blossom Festival, a gorgeous flower show in spring+  🍥 Olbareun Kimbap, a keto kimbap restaurant that replaces rice with egg

💌  Send us your digital nomad story and tips! We’d love to feature you in a future issue of this newsletter. You can answer this email or contact us through Instagram.

See you next month!

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