In this blog post, I’ll share the story of my first day—capturing the excitement and fear I felt as I began my solo trip to Jeju, as well as the various experiences and insights I gained along the way.
I had entered my junior year of college, often referred to as the “year of death.” While others were busy filling their schedules with major courses, I was taking only 13 credits—and excluding physical education classes, effectively just 9 credits—so I was enjoying a bit of breathing room. However, since I had been pushing myself almost nonstop for about two years since entering college, I was quite exhausted, which made me look forward to the end of the semester even more eagerly. One day, as my desire to escape my daily routine grew stronger, I suddenly decided I had to go to Jeju Island. Although I had to study during exam period, I booked my flight ticket and found vicarious satisfaction by reading travel reviews on travel forums and other platforms. After finally making it through my last final exam—with its fair share of ups and downs—I boarded a flight to Jeju Airport the very next day.
One of the main themes of this trip was riding a scooter. I’d never ridden one before, but seeing people commute between Nakseongdae and campus made them feel strangely familiar to me, and I wanted to experience firsthand the thrilling sensation of speed while feeling the wind in my face. And so, my trip officially began with renting a scooter. I rented a 50cc beginner’s scooter from a rental shop for four days, and since it was my first time riding one, I received a brief lesson from the owner. I thought it would be easy since I’d ridden a bike a lot as a child, but when I actually got on it—perhaps because I was nervous—it was much harder than I’d expected. In particular, changing direction in tight spaces was no easy feat. After practicing together for about 20 minutes, I received permission to head out on my own. With the shop owner’s parting words to “travel safely and come back well” ringing in my ears, I stepped out of the shop feeling as if I’d been cast out into the world all by myself.
To be honest, I was really scared. Even though I’d had a lesson, I wasn’t yet at a level where I could drive perfectly, and since I wasn’t familiar with Jeju Island’s geography, I had to figure everything out on my own. In stark contrast to how boldly I’d booked my flight ticket, I was now completely terrified—so much so that for a moment, I even had the absurd thought, “Should I just give up and go back?” But eventually, I began to slowly ride the scooter toward the coastal road.
The first thing to greet me was the salty sea breeze. Jeju Island truly lived up to its reputation as the “Island of Three Abundances.” Although I hadn’t met many people yet, just a few minutes after setting off, I could already feel firsthand that the island was indeed full of rocks and wind. As I rode along, cutting through that refreshing breeze, I suddenly thought, “This isn’t so bad after all,” and my vague fears naturally faded away. As is often the case in travel stories, fear of a new environment seems to turn into anticipation before long. Once I’d regained some composure, I’d stop briefly at each of the overlooks dotted along the coastal road to take in the scenery. The first thing that caught my eye on Jeju Island was a landscape where green and black blended together. The sight of grass growing over the basalt formations exposed along the coastline was truly beautiful.
As my confidence grew, I began to speed up on the scooter without a care in the world. While riding alone on the quiet roads, I occasionally came across other travelers, but I hardly saw anyone traveling by themselves. About three or four hours after my last conversation with anyone, a sense of loneliness gradually set in. Every time I saw a group of people riding scooters together, as if they were traveling with friends, I felt envious. Thoughts like, “How nice it would be if I had someone traveling with me right now,” and “Why did I come alone?” kept running through my mind, naturally leading me to reflect on the value of the people around me.
Not long after, I stopped at a nearby gas station to fill up. What I was truly grateful for at that moment was that the station owner struck up a conversation with me at just the right time. While solo travelers probably weren’t all that rare, he asked me where I was headed and how long I’d be staying, his expression a mix of curiosity and concern. When I paid, he saw my student ID/debit card and offered a compliment along the lines of, “I thought Seoul National University students only studied, but it turns out you travel like this too. That’s awesome.” It was a little embarrassing, but thanks to that, I regained my energy and was able to leave the gas station in high spirits.
As I drove along the west coast of Jeju Island, the famous Hyeopjae Beach came into view. Seeing the emerald-green sea made me want to jump right in, but since I was traveling alone and had to get back on the scooter, I couldn’t bring myself to go in. Instead, I took about 10 minutes to relax and enjoy the view of the ocean and the people before hitting the road again. After all, I still had a long way to go to reach the guesthouse where I’d booked a room for that night.
As I continued driving, I briefly lost my way and ended up in an unnamed village that wasn’t a tourist spot. I watched the village children playing and passed through a small market. Unlike the famous tourist attractions easily found in online photos, I felt a sense of joy thinking that if I hadn’t taken a wrong turn, I might never have seen such a scene in my entire life. Travel truly is like a microcosm of life, with unexpected crises and serendipitous opportunities intricately intertwined. I found myself agreeing once again with the saying that “everything depends on your mindset.”
Before I knew it, I had grown accustomed to Jeju Island, and after driving on in silence, I arrived at a guesthouse near Sanbangsan Mountain in the southwestern part of the island around 5:00 p.m. Although I generally preferred to travel on a whim, I had looked up information and made a reservation for the guesthouse in advance. I chose this guesthouse because it’s famous for the Sanbangsan carbonated hot springs and had received positive reviews in various online posts.
After checking in, I entered the 8-person dormitory room. Since it was still early, the room was almost empty except for one person taking a nap. Before opening the door, I had imagined exchanging warm greetings with new people, but with a slight sense of disappointment, I unpacked my bags and went back outside.
Before dinner, I enjoyed a quick soak in the hot springs. Since it was a carbonated hot spring, I’d initially expected to see lots of bubbles rising like in soda, but in reality, there were only one or two bubbles clinging to my skin. Although it was a bit different from what I’d expected, it was enough to relax my body, which was tired from the long drive and the tension of the first day. After my bath, I booked a spot for the barbecue party and returned to my room to rest for a while.
Now it was time for the long-awaited barbecue party. Isn’t this one of the moments that every solo traveler looks forward to the most? Even I had harbored a simple dream, even before setting out on this trip, of sharing a drink and chatting with strangers. In reality, it turned out to be a truly meaningful experience.
It was a bit awkward at first, but as people took their seats one by one and began introducing themselves, the atmosphere quickly livened up. What surprised me was that, out of the roughly 20 attendees, I was the youngest. There were participants in their 30s and 40s, but as we clinked glasses, I naturally started calling them “hyung” (older brother) and “noona” (older sister). We kept the conversation going, sharing stories about our lives, why we came to Jeju Island, the places we’d visited so far, and our future travel plans. As we chatted over drinks unique to Jeju Island, the night slipped by before I knew it.
I’m naturally a bit introverted, so I’m not usually very talkative. But on this particular day—thanks to the connections I’d made with people I’d met after a day of solo struggles, and a little help from the alcohol—I was able to talk much more than usual. It was also impressive how naturally we were able to share even serious topics that I wouldn’t normally bring up. It was probably because we’d all gathered there with the same goal in mind: travel. Although the people who had gathered from all over the country came from different backgrounds and had different jobs, it was actually easier to find common ground with them than with people I knew in my daily life.
We wrapped up the day by chatting like that for a few hours. I’d usually lived within the confines of my college’s engineering department—among classmates and club members—but meeting people from such diverse fields through this trip made me realize anew just how narrow my world had been up until then. We exchanged contact information, promising to stay in touch even after the trip ended, but unfortunately, those connections ended up being nothing more than a brief encounter on a midsummer night. Perhaps this is because, once we return to our daily lives, the special feelings and atmosphere unique to travel destinations fade away. Still, those moments remain cherished memories in my heart to this day.
I highly recommend traveling for many reasons. As I mentioned earlier, you can have new experiences like riding a scooter, step into a new world through challenges, and meet new people. In particular, while traveling alone can be lonely, it gives you plenty of time for self-reflection and helps you rediscover the value of the people around you. It’s an experience well worth trying at least once. You don’t necessarily have to spend a lot of money traveling abroad; even a short trip of just a day or two offers plenty to learn through new experiences that take you away from your daily routine.
After that first trip, which made me realize all these things, I developed a new habit. Although I don’t actually follow through very often due to various practical constraints and a bit of hassle, spreading out a calendar and a map to imagine and plan a trip I’ll take someday has become a new hobby of mine.
