Do you have any plans of going to Jeju after exploring every corner of Seoul? To me, heading to Jeju one time is never enough. It might look like a tiny round island in maps, but I learned that it is even BIGGER THAN SINGAPORE. Maybe that's why one full day during my visit in 2016 was not enough. I was only able to go to their museums like the Hello Kitty Land, Teddy Bear Museum, O'sulloc, and the Van Gogh exhibit at that time.

Now that it's my second time in the island, I made sure to correct a few mistakes. First, I have to be ready even before my flight by knowing where I want to go and booking Jeju Island Bus Tour through my favorite Korean online booking site Trazy.com. Second, location-wise I chose a hostel that's nearer the places I want to go to. In 2016, a bus ride from my hostel near the airport to my destination will take me an hour and a half. Ubos oras talaga that you won't be able to go to so much places as planned! Anyway, so you don't have to commit the same mistakes that I did, here's a blog post just for you!

Can I be completely honest?

On my very first solo travel, I made a white lie to my mom. I told her that I am going to Korea as a blogger for a sponsored trip--which is true. I said that I will be with other bloggers, now that's the part where I lied, huhu I'm so sorry. 

On my first solo travel, to be fair, I was supposed to be with a friend so I can use my airfare prize from a blog contest that I just won. Since we both went to Seoul already, we both agreed that we should also go to Jeju Island for a change. And so I booked everything from the domestic airfare to our hostels. Then my friend got sick and cancelled the last minute. With everything already paid for, I was still determined to push through even though this means going alone for the first time. 

It was indeed one of the best experiences I've had in my life! Sweet independence, late autumn in a beautiful land, experiencing Korea's first snowfall of the year... but still, something's lacking. I cannot fully update my family on my going-ons because they will notice I was alone. I cannot post too much and update my social media because it will also be super obvious. The experience is nice, but not fully perfect. That's what I tried to change in my recent trip to South Korea.

After Yeomiji Botanical Garden and checking out the popular museums in Jeju Island, I still had a few hours of sun before calling it a day. Sunsets were noticeably early in the island when I was there, and most of the establishments with entrance fees were already closed by 5pm. 

Going to Hello Kitty Island, I decided to hail a cab. Kuya Driver, albeit our language barrier, suggested on more things that we can go to before I head back to my dormitory. He laughed when I relayed that I don't have any plans anymore. The only reason why I hailed a cab was because I don't know where the bus stop was anymore, and Hello Kitty Island is not walking distance from Jungnum Resort. I was lucky, he became my instant tour guide AND photographer for the rest of the afternoon! 

Taken by kuya cab driver, photog skills level 100! ;p

Here's what I realized about Jeju Island: It takes an hour or so to get to places. You have to plot your schedule well, or make your visit longer (3-5 days). Since I am still learning from experience, I had to maximize just one full day in Jeju. The night before that one full day, I researched and created a game plan. It's hard to go to all these top TridAdvisor places, so I just went to the ones that were highly recommended and near each other. Most of them are museums.

Since my main agenda for this trip was to catch any signs of what's left from Autumn, I decided to go to a garden first thing in the morning during my first (and only) full day in Jeju Island. 

Post-traveling leaves too much stories in my heart. 

And although life lately consists of events and Bloggers United duties (sadly, setting aside my @simpleMNL business for the meantime, huhuhu), it's so hard to just let go of these stories. Time is crucial.

Anyway, during my day 2 in Korea, I felt that I wasted - well - a lot of time. I feel that I made poor decisions, booking a flight to Jeju Island in the afternoon, leaving me again with a day spent more inside a transportation or the airport, and less time to go about "exploring". Again, time is crucial.