South Korea is a place that is talked about often in our household. My 13-year old daughter, Vail, completely surprised us all about two-ish years ago.
Vail is a shy, quiet (if you do not know her) girl who really enjoys keeping to herself. She does not like to stand out at all, she really does like her “invisibility”. Then a Korean-pop band was introduced to her.. BTS.
This band introduced her to a whole new world, a whole new way for her to live life. Yes, she still enjoys her invisibility, however, she doesn’t mind standing out anymore. In a matter of months she had almost her entire class, plus another class, converted to fans of Korean Pop (K-Pop) and Japanese Pop (J-Pop).
She has also become completely consumed with the Korean culture. She has even taught herself Korean. This is a girl that doesn’t want to learn French (our second language and taught in schools) because it is to hard, but she managed to teach herself Korean, and is actually quite good. I do believe that after highschool we will be saying good-bye to her as she heads off to live in Korea.
One thing that she wants to do more than anything is go to South Korea. She wants to go so bad, she tried to convince me that a 3-day tour would be perfect! I tried to explain to her that, even though it is a brilliant thing to look at, for her, it wouldn’t really suit. Especially for a first visit. We talked about everything that she wanted to see and do (and reminded her that we probably wouldn’t get to meet BTS! Haha) while we there, and she realized that we will definitely need at least a, definitely, dedicated week!
I would definitely love to take her, and have been looking at numerous options including what promises to be a beautiful and amazing tour from G Adventures. This is promising for us, because of the tour itself. A fun-filled, jam packed 10-day tour that includes visiting the Demilitarized Zone, sleeping in a temple in Busan, and exploring Jeju Island. And, of course, we cannot forget the all-important (at least the most important to Vail) day in Seoul.
I cannot even begin to say how proud I am of her. Most kids would be all over going to Cuba, Mexico, some beach resort, warmth, sun, water and fun. And even though her love for Korea started because of a group of boys, it has grown into a culture love for her. She really is interested in learning more about the history, visit the beautiful culture and history-filled landscapes. She is a huge lover of their cuisine and cannot wait to be over there tasting everything. She wants a vacation full of culture, history, and learning, plus some sightseeing. Of course she hopes to meet BTS as well, but completely understands that it just may not happen 🙂 .
As an agent, I specialize in family vacations, and have become an expert, specially trained, with some suppliers. I can honestly say that she has completely inspired me. I will be attending training classes to learn more about South Korea and became one of their experts. This is very exciting for me. I cannot wait to be able to help travellers find their perfect Korean vacation.
Travelling with Nichole 