Day 472: Finding Zen

Today was a really great day!

We slept in and then the four of us all went and rented bikes together. We went up this trail that climbed its way gently through another smaller valley and eventually lead up for a park with a hiking trail leading to a waterfall. It was a gorgeous, sunny, hot day with the bluest of blue skies. We hiked up to the waterfall which was really high but really just two silvery trickles of water plunging off the cliff face. We parked ourselves on some rocks to just relax and enjoy the scenery (amongst crowds of Koreans, naturally.)

After that we biked back down to the town/resort area to have some lunch. Feeling pretty mellow after lunch, we decided to grab our books and just sit at a little cafe and read for a while. It was really nice and chill and it felt so good to be out of the city out in this beautiful, quiet part of Korea. A few hours rolled by time and it was time for dinner (yummy dakkalbi again!) After dinner we had to gather up our stuff and board our train again for the two-hour ride back to Seoul. The train-ride was dark and quiet and it was nice to watch the sun set over the hills as the train gently rocked back and forth, city-bound.

These weekends away really help my sanity. After a busy and stressful work week it's amazing how therapeutic a weekend out of the city can be! I feel relaxed, calm, and actually ready to tackle school again. Two days outside of Seoul feels more like a week. There must be something about having physical separation from the city chaos, and a good healthy dose of greenery and fresh air that brings me back to zen. Tomorrow's Monday, but I'm cool with that now. I'm ready to dive back in and totally feel recharged. And the funny thing is that a weekend away (whether that's for camping, hiking, road trip, whatever) is most often actually cheaper than a weekend spent in the city! All those expensive dinners out, trips to Starbucks and the bar, and shopping around can really put a serious dent in your wallet. A weekend away should be an automatic prescription, every weekend!