Website: http://www.grrrltraveler.com
GRRRL TRAVELER has written 383 articles so far, you can find them below.
Lee Oh Ji, a haeneyo of Seongsang ri on Jeju Island
What do the Lockness Monster, the Yeti and the Korean Mermaids of Jeju Island have in common? Well they’re all legends, with one exception- the Korean Mermaids aren’t myths, but real life people.
In visiting Jeju Island, mermaid spotting was one of my curiosities. Being an island girl myself, my connection to the sea as one giant maternal seductress is unconsciously strong; as a little girl I’d have many mermaid dreams (more…)
Furious. Frustrated. Jaded. Piss-poor negative and tempted to risk unauthorized visa extensions. This is how many (Daegu) NETs were feeling at the recent email that went out from DOE’s notifying them of the new visa extensions regulations. Produce apostilled diplomas and now, a FBI criminal (more…)
Delhi, India. Dilapidated havelis, winding souk-like streets congested with workers, rickshaws and merchant shops which sell anything imaginable from saris to electrical appliances– Chandi Chowk is the bustling heart of a 16th century Delhi. The “chowk”, reknown as one of the oldest and (more…)
Dostana (Hindi: दोस्ताना, translation: Friendship)
Did you ever like a place enough to return to it?
This weekend I was doing my fall file cleaning and came across some India photographs that I thought I’d share. Every so often, I revisit old photographs to see if they still resonate with me the way they did when I first took them. This particular series, Dostana (meaning Friendship in Hindi) is brief and came about simply when I met some children who lived in the neighboring backstreets of Varanasi’s ghats. This series wasn’t an immediate favorite of mine (reason: some have technical flaws); it took a while for me to realize why I kept wanting to come back to it, despite its imperfections. I figured out later- what captivated me was the resolute and truthful expressions on the faces of the children in them and how it conveyed the hardened lifestyle they lead.
In fact, it was two years (and a week) ago that India had accidentally turned into my crash course as a solo traveler in a (more…)
Jeju Island’s Olle Trails aren’t exactly a hidden secret, but for the western traveler it may as well be. With rival sights, such as the Manjan-gul caves, Mt. Halla and Loveland… the Olle trails aren’t one of Jeju’s loudest boasts. It should be…
Have you ever found a love letter? That’s how it felt when I discovered an Olle Trail. I stumbled upon a trail by accident when I was searching for haeneyo, and a walking love story opened before me: unfolding villages, vast seashore cliffs, stunning and panoramic waterfalls, volcanic rock beaches and fields with grazing livestock, springing grasshoppers and butterflies! What a romance!
An “Olle” is a pathway connecting a street to the gates of a home. Interpreted, it easily could mean secret paths of a heart to the rest of the world! The Olle Trails are some 20 walking trails along the Jeju coastline. As a trekking (more…)
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Sometimes you’re better off not knowing what you’re eating; in this case, Korea is just a land of too much information. Why? Korean food is delicious, but pushing it past the gates of your eyes won’t be easy. You might just lose all desire to order anything more than a pizza!
Welcome to Fear Factor Korea!
I’ve had bamboo worms and crickets in Thailand, tiger penis and cobra whiskey in Myanmar, so Korea?… I’m thinking, Easy, right? But after I had the popular Korean silkworm larvae snack during my first week, and had to live with the (more…)
Sometimes, Korea can make it hard for you to like it; moreover, it can make it hard for you to want to continue to remain in it, even when you have to. Yes, it’s time to look at Visa Extensions and the huge K-bomb that was just dropped on current NETs last week. After battling various issues of desk-warming during school holidays, lousy co-teachers, bad apartment situations, rough interactions at work or with locals (as Christo of Kimchi with Eish! (more…)
For travel bloggers, nothing is more fun than to share trade secrets with other travelers or with your community. When Chris of South Korea posted his Top 3 Travel Secrets and tagged me in it, I was thrilled. I too, had seen the year-old Tripbase travel meme on Legal Nomads‘ blog and commented on it almost the week before receiving this challenge.
As I said, I excited to share some of my new travel secrets…
Travel Bucket List 2012: Booking a role on Hawaii Five-O (Part II)
8 ways I stay warm during winter in Korea
My narrow escape from Bangkok's Ping-pong sex show scams
Getting my hair done at the Korean beauty salon
10 funny quirks you didn't know about Koreans
Cambodia: Which of these Fear Factor foods would you eat?
8 Places to Make you Fall in Love with Seoul
Long-term solo travel and three mistakes I wish I avoided
Are you a street-smart traveler or just travel-jaded?
Atrocities of Tourism: 6 annoying habits of tourists
Surviving a university job interview in Korea
