I’m not going to attempt a patronising and comprehensive packing list, but here are some things you wouldn’t necessarily take with you that could be useful:
- large towel (guest houses largely provide merely a small towel)
- slip-on shoes (I got fed up of tying and untying shoelaces)
- toilet roll or tissues (a lot of toilets either have loo roll in a dispenser outside the cubicles or there is no toilet paper at all)
- tea and coffee for your accommodation (if there are sachets, the tea is usually only green tea and the coffee sachets are pretty awful)
- European plug adapter (I had assumed it would be a Japanese/US plug but it’s the European two-pin plug)
Electronics are not as cheap as I expected BUT you can haggle (I wanted to get a Samsung mobile phone and the price I was first told was no cheaper than the UK. I ended up getting a c£500 phone for £350 – HD, 4G LTE and unavailable in the UK (how exclusive does that feel?!). Research what you want in the UK/at home and get an idea of prices.
I had some ATM issues. In most cash points, the limit is a mere 100,000 won. I kept trying to take out more and ended up with my card blocked. Fortunately I had Skype and free wifi so called my bank and got it sorted. My bank told me my limit was £300 but 10,000 won is about £60. Get won cash from the UK/your home country would be my advice.
Driving takes a lot longer than you expect due to slow speed limits (there are a lot of speed cameras and I gather police are strict on speed limits), a lot of roadworks and a lot of main roads that are much less “main” than expected.
Umbrellas. They sell fairly cheap umbrellas there and there are so many exciting designs, I wished I’d bought an umbrella there rather than bringing my own.
There is a lot of free wifi available but a lot of it is very unsecure.
We never felt unsafe or threatened and it was refreshing to feel ok about carrying a good camera around, etc.
It is challenging to find postcards so if you plan to send any and you see some, don’t assume you will see better/different ones elsewhere.
Yo (futons) and ondol (underfloor heating) make you feel like you’re parboiling if, like me, you overheat easily. It was a massive problem for me and I’m sure that’s why I couldn’t sleep. Bring lightweight nightwear if you are planning a winter trip.
If you are a bit of a tea and/or coffee snob like me, you can get some decent coffee out (but it’s London prices) but if you like black tea, make sure you ask for your milk separately. If you order a “milk tea” it is basically a warm tea milkshake, which to me is undrinkable. If you order black tea, you can get milk on the side.
Maps. If you are planning to drive, buy a road map in your home country in your own language. It doesn’t even need to have place names in Korean as places are written in English on about 95% of road signs. It may seem an inadequate map that you see in your home country but I’m pretty sure it will be a LOT more useful than any you could pick up in South Korea (unless, perhaps, you went to a good English book shop in Seoul or Busan).