Sleepless in Korea
About sleepless nights, overstimulation and the final weeks of our Traveling Village adventure in Busan.
This article was originally written in German and translated into English with the help of AI.
Matilda lost her first baby tooth last night. At the same time, she is still dealing with the aftermath of a cold and snores like me after three liters of beer and a big pork roast.
So the last few nights have been restless. Today I woke up around 2 a.m. and couldn’t fall asleep again. After two hours and various breathing exercises, I was still awake. So I simply got up and went for a walk. Along the water, always heading east, towards the sun. It felt good. Just walking. Quiet. No people.
Because the last third of the Traveling Village here in Busan is somehow more exhausting than expected. And this sleeplessness kind of fits the picture. Everyone seems a bit overstimulated. Our family, but also the whole “Village”. After almost four months of nonstop community and intense travel through foreign cultures, that is probably not surprising.
But as always, several feelings exist at the same time.
On the one hand, you are tired. From new impressions. From the rare moments of retreat. From the almost non-existent alone time. From unfamiliar food. From the constant offer of social interaction.
On the other hand, you also don’t want to miss anything. You want to soak it all in. Make use of this once-in-a-lifetime setup. Connect with people. Exchange thoughts with like-minded families. Explore a foreign culture. Try new things.
As always, it is intense.
No love at first sight
Busan — over three million inhabitants, in the very south of Korea — is also not really a place to relax and slow down. We live right in the tourist hotspot of Haeundae. Which means great infrastructure and lots of restaurants around the corner. But also constant neon lights, intense smells and heavy commerce right in your face.
The distances to other highlights in the city are usually quite big and only manageable by metro or taxi. That makes excursions more effort to plan. And you end up doing fewer of them. Which again leads to the feeling that you are not really getting to know the city and the country.
That probably also has to do with the concept of the Traveling Village. Five weeks in one place. Are we already living here? Or are we still traveling? Do we want to explore everything? Or just be in community in a foreign place?
As you can see, it is still an experiment.
Still, there have been highlights
Of course, after a “sleepless” night like that, the critical points can easily take over. Nevertheless, we are having a good time here. Above all, the coliving — this time with three other families and a rooftop terrace — makes this place special. And Busan has already offered quite a few highlights:
a brilliant karaoke night with the other men from the Village
barbecue evenings on our coliving rooftop terrace
long Spikeball sessions on the beach and discussions about the fairest tournament bracket
hiking and trail running on our local mountain
visiting Beomeosa Temple, embedded in beautiful nature and already decorated for Buddha’s Birthday
a city and food tour with interesting insights into Korean culture
good coffee and a huge selection of coffee shops and bakeries — salt bread!
excellent bibimbap and Korean barbecue
trial classes in archery and Taekwondo for Matilda
an impressive drone show at Gwangalli Beach
good conversations and game nights in our coliving
Looking forward to “home”
Slowly, this adventure is coming to an end. And the focus is shifting towards the time after. Even though it is easy to catch the travel fever from other families — straight to Japan afterwards? — we are also happy that we will soon be going home.
Clear air. Sleeping with the window open in mild temperatures and without street noise. The mountains and the lake right outside our door. Familiar food in the supermarket.
Summer is coming. We are looking forward to our family, friends and neighbors.
But we still have 2.5 weeks left here. And we want to make them count.
