Seoul, Korea for the Health Conscious

Staying healthy while traveling is not easy; for anyone who regularly and routinely exercises at their gym after work, or wakes up at 5:30 every morning to run a quick 5K, travel can mess with your body if you're unable to exercise the way you are accustomed to. Even if it's just a weekend trip somewhere, it's a time to try new foods, go ahead and get that dessert, and relax, skip the run because you're on vacation and deserve a break. 

As cabin crew, we have to focus on our health as a serious part time job; the constant travel is stress on our sleep patterns as well as our bodies-- I have to make an effort to keep track of my workouts no matter where I am. 

In Seoul, you can absolutely maintain that healthy vibe and come back feeling rejuvenated rather than nursing a soju headache. Here are just a few healthy alternatives to the standard Walk-The-City-Eat-The-City-Drink-The-City itinerary. 

Run/Bike/Rollerblade by the han river

Any great city, in my opinion, needs an expansive, beautiful park to survive. Central Park is an obvious example, allowing New Yorkers to seek refuge from concrete relatively easily. Atlanta has Piedmont Park, designed by the same architect. Seoul's park is Hangang Park, along the Han river which divides the city into North and South regions and is my personal favorite place to run in Seoul. 

Back when I was running with the running club , we would meet here for our long weekend runs each Saturday. It's absolutely beautiful! You can run forever and ever along the river and the scenery along the city is a nice break from the standard tourist busyness. It's also a great way to stave off the effects of jet lag. 

Activate your endorphins outside exploring a new place rather than the same old gym routine. You can be sure to feel safe and relaxed as you get your workout in away from the manic driving that Korea tends to inspire, and maybe meet someone new on one of the many leisurely meadows along the river. 

If the thought of running makes you want to crawl into a hole and die slowly, you also have the option of renting a bike at the park for only $3. They offer tandem style bikes as well if you suffer separation anxiety from your significant other or bestie -- locations to rent bikes are easily found near the Yeoinaru Station.

This park is gorgeous and a great place to hang out during cherry blossom season, as the streets are lined with the pretty pink trees and look beautiful when the flowers are in full bloom. 

I'm on a diet but everything tastes so good here. help! 

Korean BBQ is not for a vegetarian's enjoyment or preference. In fact, the entire country doesn't really understand the concept quite yet. "But you can eat chicken," I was assured by the confused server when I asked for a vegetarian option. "No," I insisted, but they still gave me chicken, and I sure did eat it. I sure did.  

Since Korea pulled themselves out of economic hardship from the Korean war, eating meat was still seen as a luxury item and would be ridiculous to refuse. For a culture forced to recover from such a hardship in the 1950's accepting and relying on International Aid to survive, now its easy to understand why they would be confused if a foreign visitor claimed they didn't eat meat as a personal choice. 

If you're visiting Seoul for only a day, I would highly recommend Korean BBQ to those carnivorous travelers who are invested in weight lifting or trying to eat minimal carbs. Meat, meat, and more meat is the only inspiration for this meal. You'll have grilled marinated pork, beef, or chicken prepared in various scrumptious ways, perfectly folded into a lettuce leaf and garnished with your choice of sauces or sesame oil mixtures. It's not "healthy" in the textbook sense of the word, and very red meat oriented, but if you are focused on muscle gains then this is definitely a paleo inspired menu. A suggested outfit is leggings or stretchy pants; you're going to eat everything and then regret all your choices immediately. But no carbs, so no guilt right? 

Another of my favorites in Korean cuisine is the fermented cabbage treat Kimchi. Health benefits of this spicy pungent and addictive treat range from lowering cholesterol, harnessing those probiotics, supplying you with vitamin A, detoxifying heavy metals that cause cancer, boosting metabolism, strengthening immunity, and maintaining healthy skin and hair. Some might be wary of the spiciness attacking your taste buds, but the taste lingers and grows on you if you let it. Eat Kimchi as a side dish to any BBQ meal, add it to rice, throw it in with your noodles; Kimchi is a staple here like butter is to Southern food. 

After your traditional Korean meal, if you do get hungry later by some miracle I highly recommend  Beesket, a DIY juice bar which makes choosing juices a fun little puzzle. Take a tiny hexagonal container with space for three different hexagonal pegs to represent flavors in your juice, and customize your juice or smoothie for your own specific health conscious goal. 

The variety of flavors makes this juice store unique from the rest. Yes, you can order a typical Kale Spinach Banana smoothie, but you are also able to combine flavors like pomegranate, kiwi, persimmon, watermelon, broccoli, pear, grape, ginger, dragonfruit, yam, and grapefruit among the other typical juice flavors like carrot, strawberry, or blueberry. The menu suggests potential combinations, but you can go ahead and try that watermelon-pear-yam smoothie if your heart is there.  

Find Beesket in the Myeongdong DI Mall, at the address : 123 Dong-meyong, 123 Tumulo Road, Jung-gu, Seoul. 

hike up a mountain and burn your bbq calories with your new ajumma and ajossi friends 

Hiking is a huge popular past time with Koreans and if you're looking for a non-touristy adventure, I highly recommend taking a hike up any of the mountains around Seoul. I write more about Korean hiking culture in Love Letter to Korea. The hikes are very challenging and will give anyone a good workout and a picturesque view of the city once you reach the summit. Since the trains are very reliable here, it's easy to go on a quick day trip to one of the mountains surrounding Seoul. My personal favorites are Bukhansan, Dobongsan, Suraksan, and Seoraksan. 

Don't expect a lot of guard rails or safety precautions on these hikes; it's best to keep attention along these hikes as many mountains are steep and rocky. Sometimes I would genuinely wonder if I could complete the hikes since the rocks often turn into boulders and suddenly transform into a rock climbing exercise that I wasn't prepared for. Not all of the mountains are this way, but you could be confronted by this as you struggle to make it up to the top of Seoraksan Mountain : 

That's part of the fun, though, isn't it? Challenging yourself outside your comfort zone and defeating your voice that says "why don't we just sleep in today." 

It's my favorite thing to do as the locals do when I visit a new place, whether that's finding the newest trendy local bar or discovering a new past time that I didn't realize I loved until I tried it. For example, were you aware that Seoul, Korea is the worlds largest Swing Dance community? Neither did I until I took a Lindy Hop lesson and was astounded at the talent here. Dive into the culture and do as the locals do, it will provide a richer experience of that place and give you more opportunities to understand the culture rather than stare at it from afar. 

rest your body and recharge your spirit at the jimjilbang korean spa

Naked and lying on a table like a slab of meat, I waited for the Korean woman in her 50's wearing black lacy lingerie to put on her scrubbing glove and grab a handful of epson salt. This is not an intro to a fetish film but the beginning of a salt scrub at an extremely nonsexual place called the Jimjilbang, the traditional Korean Spa.

The salt scrub feels as though you've lost five years from your skin and afterwards you feel like a new, decidedly smoother person. During the process, expect to be stretched and prodded, with buckets of warm water thrown on you in between the furious scrubs to let all the disgusting skin dirt gloms fall to the ground. It was oddly gross and satisfying at the same time to see the filth roll off my body and collect around me; I think I even shocked my scrubber as she chuckled with disbelief and made me see how gross I was. They are not here to make you feel good about yourself the way an American spa might, but they are here to strip you down to the bare minimum (see what I did there) and make you feel good as a result of good old fashioned hard work. Massages, pedicures, and manicures are also available for those needing even more relaxation and a softer form of pampering.

The Jimjilbang has two areas, a co-ed clothed area and a gender separated unclothed area with the salt scrub area and hot tubs with various temperatures including one with an ice bath. These hot spas often have liquids of infused herbs or teas to help detoxify the skin such as green tea or ginseng, and feel quite delicious to the skin.

The co-ed area has its own domed igloo shaped saunas that are lined with gems, charcoal, gold, silver, jade, crystal, salt, or some other element that is said to have healthy healing powers. It's delightful to experience the hottest room for as long as you can stand it, and immediately go into the ice room for relief. 

After a day at the jimjilbang (you can lose track of time here and stay for hours and hours and hours without realizing it) you'll feel the effects of the spa linger on your brand new body, the cleanest you'll probably ever feel in your life. 

At DragonHill Spa,  there are eight floors of activities, including a small cinema room, an arcade, outdoor pool area, traditional Korean restaurant, and an internet cafe room. Expect to pay an entrance fee of 12,000 Won ($12 US) and extra for everything you spend inside the spa. I typically will spend a total of 60,000 Won for extra amenities like lunch and salt scrubs and an additional massage. 

Find DragonHill Spa, 40-712, Hangangno 3-ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, outside the Yongsan Station from exit 1. Turn right, and you literally cannot miss it. 

Enjoy your day of health and may your kimchi be plentiful!