Time to Plan

 Last night I had dinner with two dear friends. "Tell us about your trip to Korea! Where are you staying?" they asked. They looked at me incredulously when I said that I hadn't reserved anything yet. They stole glances at each other and responded, "Don't you think you should get on that?"

I've been on this planet for over 4 decades and still can't figure out if I should be described as a planner or as spontaneous. I'm a planner in certain spaces of my life. I always plan what I'm going to teach each day. I've taught for 26 years yet I never completely wing it. There is always a fairly detailed plan. Every Saturday I sit down with my spiral notebook and plan meals for the week. I always have a plan for Saturday mornings- laundry, clean, groceries. Every single Saturday. If I have to play the piano in church, you better believe I plan. I practice a lot. 

But there is also a part of me that just doesn't really plan. This spring we went to Pensacola for vacation. We decided to go about a month before the trip. And we went there without much of a plan. We greeted each day and just let the day take us where it wanted to. I like it better that way.

So I thought nothing of it when I responded that I had no lodging reserved yet. The last two times we traveled to Korea we booked our flight and lodging all within the course of about 3 days. So this time I feel like I'm way ahead of schedule!

Even so, Andrea and Coleen, no need to fret. I made our first reservation today. I actually have one reservation pending in case we change our minds. I like the pending reservation a bit better, but there is no elevator and it is on the 4th floor. Bringing luggage and groceries up and down 4 flights of stairs sounds tough! But we have one place securely reserved for sure. We haven't put money down yet, so there is still time to change our minds. 

Our securely reserved Airbnb is located in the Insa-dong neighborhood of Seoul. It is a 10 minute walk from Seoul Station (one of the Korean words that pops up in my practice frequently!!) and seems close to shopping and restaurants. The apartment has a kitchen, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. One person will have to sleep on the pull out couch which is a downside of the place. But it has a gorgeous view and appears bright and airy. The kitchen looks spacious and is stocked with many necessities including a washer/dryer combo right below the kitchen sink! Face to face check in is guaranteed- there was much written in the reviews about the graciousness of the hostess. She sounds like many of the Koreans I met on our last trip. This Airbnb will likely be our pick. It is the most expensive, of course, but it has an elevator and a weight room which is a necessity in Aiden's eyes.

The current plan is to spend June 10- 20 at this apartment. After that we will travel to Kwaangju (Luke's birth city), then Busan, and then back to Seoul before we leave for home on July 1. We leave in 43 days!

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