Traveling alone vs. traveling with your soul mate

With my soul mate, on our second trip to the N Seoul Tower. (Jeon Han) 

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Salwa Elzeny

As Ibn Battuta (이븐 바투타) said, “Traveling leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”

Yes, that’s true. Korea was the most beautiful country I have ever seen. Before I traveled to Korea, I wasn’t  talking too much and I didn’t  have any tales or adventures to talk about. However, after I traveled to my beloved Korea, I became just like the famous traveler said: a storyteller. 

Because of my intense love for Korea, it makes me motivated for intensive research into how to travel to Korea for tourism. I have searched through social networking sites like Facebook, also through the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism pages, and through the Korean TV channel KBS World to participate in any contest. At first, I failed many times. However, the failures were not an obstacle to achieve my dreams. I continued researching and participating in many contests, such as the Peace Flag Campaign. I was selected as a final candidate in the Peace Flag Contest for the grand prize, but unfortunately I didn’t win. After that, I participated with Korea.net, trying to be a Korea.net honorary reporter. The hope come back again! I was trying to get any opportunity to visit Korea because my longing for Korea increased day after day. Finally, I got my chance to visit Korea. 

This is my first trip to Korea, at the N Seoul Tower. (Salwa Elzeny)

When you're young, you're still finding yourself. The skills and experience you gain from traveling can give you life-long personal benefits, as well as a leg up in the professional world. For me, I gained a lot of skills and experience when I traveled to Korea. I found myself there.

Now the question is, "How do I decide whether to travel alone or with my sister?"

Someone once said that, “If you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never get anything done."

Certainly, I would have liked to take my sister with me on my first trip, but the invitation was for only one person. Because of that, I started traveling by myself and discovered Korea alone. Because life can give you second chances, I was able to travel with my sister on a pretty short trip to Korea the second time.

Here you can find all the details about my two trips to Korea.

At the beginning of 2016, I received an e-mail from the TV channel KBS World telling me that I won the competition in which I had participated at the end of 2015. I would get to travel to Korea. This was the first time that I traveled outside my country, but I was very excited to visit Korea because it's the country about which I've long-dreamed of seeing first-hand. I've written about my first trip in detail in a previous article published at Korea .net, titled "6 days in paradise." Here you can find the link: http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Travel/view?articleId=133929

I locked a 'love padlock' with my name and my sister's name on it. (Salwa Elzeny)

They were actually six days in paradise. The only thing I missed was my sister, because she's also a Koreaphile. We share everything together, always. At the end of the year, the Korea.net team surprised us and made our dreams come true. Finally, we achieved our dream.

My sister and I were chosen with 12 honorary reporters from all over the world to visit Korea. This trip was different from the last one. My sister was with me and we would see all the Korean beauty together. I’m not alone. The whole Korea.net team was with us. They made me feel like a member of their families. I've previously talked about the Korean people and how nice and hospitable they are, but this time the people exceeded all descriptions: they were fantastic.

We pose for a picture with our best friend Lee Doyeon at Busan Station. (Salwa Elzeny)

There are some moments that are memorable in human memory, especially happy moments. This is what happened with me on the day of Arafah, the ninth day of Dhu al-Hijjah, the 12th and final month of the Islamic calendar. This is the day when pilgrims stand on the plains of Arafah to pray. On this day, Muslims all over the world who don't witness the annual Hajj spend the day fasting, in preparation for the four-day festivity to follow, Eid ul-Adha, the celebration marking the end of the Hajj and commemorating the Prophet Abraham's willingness to make a sacrifice.

After fasting that day, it was time to magrib azan. Before Iftar, I asked God to help my sister to travel with me. God responded to my prayers and when night fell, we spent the eve of the feast preparing to celebrate. I was talking with my friend on the Korea.net team -- seven hours ahead of Egypt -- and she told me that Esraa would be able to travel with me. At that moment, my sister was doing the al Isha prayer. That's the nighttime daily prayer recited by all practicing Muslims. It's the fifth of our five daily prayers.

I will never forget her face, filled with tears, tears of happiness, certainly, because she would finally achieve her dream and would travel to Korea with me, and I would be with her this time. Then I told my mom that we would travel to Korea together and she was very happy because she always motivates us to achieve our dreams. Then I talked to my closest friends, and who also prayed for Esraa to be able to travel with me to Korea this time, for they know that we really love Korea.

We pose for a photo with 10 other Korea.net honorary reporters from the Philippines, China, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Greece, Pakistan and us, from Egypt. (Salwa Elzeny)

As we started to prepare for our trip, we got our suitcases and carry-ons, and went to the Korean Embassy in Egypt to finish our visa paperwork. In fact, Egyptians do not need visas to travel to Korea for a month, but due to a decree by the Egyptian government, after the revolution we must get visas in order to pass through the gates at Cairo International Airport.

Certainly, we'll never forget the aid from the Korea.net team and their travel agency which helped us a lot with the visa procedures. They cared for us so much before traveling. They asked me about our halal food requirements, to make sure of its presence onboard the  Etihad Airways planes. They gave us lots of love and respect, as Koreans do for tourists from all around the world.

After 17 hours of flying from Cairo to Korea, we arrived at Incheon International Airport together and the happiness overwhelmed us. I was astonishment in spite of the fact that I had seen this airport before. However, last time I was in a hurry and I couldn't enjoy the airport that much. This time, I was able to see a lot of things very well, things that I hadn't seen before. On our way to the hotel, we saw a lot of beautiful spots all around us. In Seoul, there are many breathtaking views. If I were to write about every beautiful spot in Korea, it would take many more words than are allowed in this article to describe them. 

We were able to eat some delicious samgyetang at the Eid Restaurant, a halal restaurant in Seoul.
(Salwa Elzeny)

Thanks to Korea.net for its wonderful efforts, and for choosing the beautiful places we visited and the wonderful Korean dishes we sampled. This trip was the best ever. This trip was organized very well. We headed out early in the morning and stayed out until the evening time. We saw and visited many places and learned a lot of wonderful information from the tour guides. We also met some wonderful new friends who we can never forget. We had breakfast together, we tried on some Hanbok clothes together, we rode a cable car together, and we took some beautiful selfies together. We were very similar to each other: we all love Korea and we shared our stories and anecdotes together. Even when we ate together, we were enjoying our time together.

Korea.net honorary reporters enjoy wearing Hanbok as they pose for a picture in downtown Seoul.
(Jeon Han)

This trip was a beautiful dream for me. I hope to repeat this wonderful experience again with my old friends, and to meet new friends. In the end, I like to say that I liked Korea more on my second trip because my sister and my friends were with me. It's good to discover and to see new places, but it’s even better to have your friends and your soul mate with you to enjoy it all more and to make more unforgettable memories.

As the travel author Tim Cahill once said, “A journey is best measured in friends, rather than miles.”

wisdom117@korea.kr

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