My previous slightly tongue-in-cheek post was all about saving your hard-earned money. This not-at-all tongue-in-cheek post deals with the exact opposite. Also, I promise that I won’t use so many dashes between words in the future.

1. Go out and meet friends as much as possible

You work hard (relatively speaking). So don’t waste your off-time sitting at home watching streaming American TV shows. Go out, grab dinner with friends, have a few beers, have a good time. There’s no point in flying halfway around the world for a year if you’re just going to work and sit at home.

2. Get a motorcycle or take taxis everywhere

If you’re in Seoul or Busan, the subway is pretty convenient for longer journeys. However, for short trips, or if you’re not in Seoul or Busan just take a taxi. The time you save by just hopping in and going can be pretty huge over descending into the subway, waiting for a train, going through all the stops, transferring, then ascending from the subway. The bus is even worse: you have a relatively infrequent schedule plus you’re stuck in traffic.

Alternatively, buy a motorcycle or scooter. The absolute most fun way to travel in Korea is by motorcycle. It’s also by-far the fastest since you can just lane split to the front of packs of cars.

3. Travel

You’ve got at least a month of vacation time. Flights from Korea to places around Asia are obviously much cheaper than from your home country. So head over to Thailand or the Philippines in the winter for a hot beach break. Or go to Hong Kong or Japan in the spring or summer to experience a different culture while the weather is nice. And go with good friends for both safety and fun.

4. Make a realistic budget

I mentioned in my previous post to make a budget and stick with it. I’m not going to contradict that but I will reiterate to make it realistic. There’s no point in making a razor-thin budget then blowing it every month. Be realistic about your expenditures so that you can actually succeed in living by your budget.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010 at 16:31 and is filed under Social. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.