With the warmer weather creepin at our doors and March being my month of reinventing myself.  (see Feeling Balanced) Kevin and I look forward to a summer full of nothing but spontaneous escapades and senseless shenanigans.  But not the senseless shenanigans you might think a 24yr old would jump into. Nope. Think more Peter Pan and less Girls Gone Wild.

Our new spring routine has been spending our weekends waking up early and jumping into whatever adventure that inspires us that day. Two weekends ago it was..get me out of Daegu.  Don’t get us wrong we love our home, but sometimes you just want to run to somewhere you have never been. So Kevin checked out a Korean map on my wall, picked the greenest (and closest) part on the map. And before we knew it we had hopped on a bus to that destination.  We had no idea what to expect, no idea how long the bus ride would be, and no tickets book back home.  Just our wallets, some trail mix and a pair of sunglasses.

Two hours later and we…. have arrived!  Welcome to Gyeongju National Park.  What we thought would be a quite day hiking in the beautiful mountains of Korea.  When in reality, it turned out to be a hidden treasure of the Wisconsin Dells….Korean style!  For you current waygooks (foreigners) you will understand why we were so blown away. …we saw parking lots! Red Cars! Green Cars! Blue Cars! Even purple cars!!  We saw legit drive-thrus, RTVs, and above all, actual houses….with real backyards!  Friends back home, you will find yourself missing the craziest things when living abroad.  Spotting a backyard and a family playing badminton had me gitty all day!  This is because, due to limited space and a booming economy most Koreans find themselves calling highrises and condos home.

Gyeongju National Park had a little something for everyone, amusement parks (Wisconsin Dells), water parks (Wisconsin Dells), camping sites (WD), even renting out RTVs for kids and adults, tandem bicycles, high scale entertainment, a Teddy Bear Museum, a Sex Museum (Yes in Korea they have one…wtf?) and plenty of romantic temples and river walks for couples!

Saw these little cuties and hundreds of kids like her on mini RTVs driving around… and clearly never looking where they were going.

After checking out our unexpected surroundings (we thought we were going to be dropped off in a more rugged area) we decided to rent an RTV.  They had a designated area for 4wheeler rentals to play in but… if Korean drivers scare you.. imagine them behind a RTV in closed quarters.   We didn’t want to risk our lives, so we thought a pleasant ride on the highway was a good idea. (Logical right? Haha)  Riding the highway was pretty scary, but mainly because our RTV sounded like a dying cat when we went up hills. We ventured around some small folk villages, and got a glimpse of what small town Korean life was like.  And I must say, if I could change schools for my second year in Korea, I would definitely look in to rural living.

They even had hot air balloon rides!

Taking life by the horns.

For doing a trip on a whim I have to say it was a total blast.  Deciding to just randomly get out of Dodge for a bit is what lead us to this pleasant discovery.  So this month’s challenge… spice up your spring with a spontaneous trip to Nowheresville.  I think Jim Carey in ‘Yes Man’ nailed it on the head, sometimes you just have to get up and go somewhere with no strings attached, even if it is Lincoln, NE!  Just remember your wallet and a good pair of sunglasses.