I Used My 5 Point Filter to Turn a 5-Page Seoul Wish List Into an Actual Holiday

Building my Seoul 4 day itinerary was starting to feel like more stress than it was worth. After a genuinely difficult few months in the run up to the trip, what I actually needed was a chance to reset and enjoy myself, not more admin. But somewhere along the way my itinerary had stopped looking like a holiday and started looking like a content catalogue and work plan.

Don’t get me wrong, part of this trip was always about building my portfolio. But I also wanted a trip I could enjoy, rather than working through a generic tick list of “unmissable” activities that everyone on the internet insists you have to do.

If you read my last post on travel planning overwhelm, you’ll know I’d already built the fix: a 5 point filter for cutting a bloated wish list down to something you can actually enjoy. This is that filter in action, on my own Seoul itinerary.

Rule 1: Choose your list of regrets

Everything online looks amazing, but travel is personal, and my idea of a good time isn’t necessarily the same as the creators I follow. So instead of working through five pages of things that looked incredible from someone else’s perspective, I asked myself what I would actually regret not doing once I was home. Here’s what made the cut.

1. The DMZ. The chance to look into North Korea has always fascinated me, and standing on the border might be the closest I get for a while. Tours into the area can be expensive and are cancelled at a moment’s notice, so this felt non-negotiable.
2. A haircut and a perm. This might sound trivial, but it’s something I’ve been looking forward to since deciding on Seoul, and I’ve been growing my hair out for six months so I’d have options. It felt like a quintessential Korean experience.
3. Shopping in Olive Young. I’m what you’d call a typical guy: my skincare routine begins and ends at washing my face, with the occasional moisturiser. But I’m getting older and it’s showing, so here’s hoping K-beauty is everything it’s cracked up to be. Olive Young’s in-store skin analysis machines also help complete amateurs like me actually understand what my skin needs.
4. Street food markets. I didn’t have a fixed list of dishes, but there’s something about walking through local night markets that gets you closer to the real Korean experience. The hustle of the city, no pretension, just good food and good vibes.
5. Live performances in Gangnam. As someone who loves street performance, there’s no better place to see it than the country that gave the world K-pop. Gangnam’s busking scene (버스킹) is a genuinely high-energy stage where trainees, hopefuls and independent dance crews show what they’ve got.

Rule 2: Pick one neighbourhood

Every neighbourhood in Seoul has its own personality, but constantly moving hotels turns a trip into logistics rather than a holiday. I stayed in Myeongdong for the central location and the transport links, which meant I could still reach every other neighbourhood in the city without ever repacking a bag.

for more InSite in to the different Soul Neighbourhoods check out this post

Rule 3: Cap it at three

With a shortlist this condensed, this rule became easy to hit. The idea is to keep each day intentional: one main excursion, something food related, and time for aimless wandering. Since my regrets list was already down to five items, one of which was food, a 4 day itinerary basically wrote itself. Days two and three stayed flexible, built around whatever was local to that day’s main excursion.

Rule 4: Let the food find you

Rather than spending hours researching restaurants and cafes, I let the mood and the atmosphere guide me. I knew I wanted Korean BBQ, street food, and a good local bakery, but beyond that I stayed open. Sometimes when you go looking for the exact spot everyone else has posted, you miss the places sitting right in front of you.

Rule 5: Build in nothing

Coming from a genuinely busy life, it’s refreshing to just slow down and take in your surroundings, and for me that usually happens in nature or somewhere quiet. South Korea gives you plenty of chances to do that, whether that’s an evening by the Han River or the sensory overload of a neon-lit back alley. It’s a city built for walking, exploring and unwinding, if you let it be.

The takeaway

That’s how I actually planned my Korea trip. Not a generic must-do list pulled from everyone else’s feed, but a shortlist built around what actually matters to me. If your own wish list is spiralling, start with the 5 point filter and see how fast it shrinks down to something you can enjoy.

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