“How could you afford to travel a lot?”

For me, traveling is as expensive as you want it to be. If you have the funds then it’s ok to travel in style. But if you’re on a budget, there are a lot of tips and tricks to travel cheap.

One that I always do is NOT to stay in hotels when I’m traveling solo. The world has gifted the backpackers and the budget travelers with hostels and guesthouses. This I have exploited for many years.

Seoul is full of these sharing-type accommodations. They make the travel experience more entertaining. My closest group of friends in South Korea I met during my stay in a guesthouse in Hongdae.

This time, I had a few days in Seoul and wanted to try exploring the Itaewon area.

Travelholic Guest House

I chose to stay here because they had the cheapest price in the area during my stay – that’s 480 PHP (9.4 USD | 10,900+ KRW) per night.

The guesthouse is owned by Sunkis, a lovely Korean lady who speaks English. She said she took over the management just recently.

During my stay, the available shared room was on the 3rd floor.

SOCiAL AREA

The kitchen and dining place is where you meet everyone.

Coffee and bread whenever you want some.

4-BED FEMALE DORMITORY

When staying in a guesthouse, the cleanliness will depend on you and your roommates. Sometimes you get really chaotic roommates and sometimes you get the obsessive-compulsive ones. That’s all part of the adventure.

I didn’t mind our room being messy like this because my roommates where super kind.

THE TOILET

The 3rd floor had only 1 toilet but everyone was considerate, so I never had a problem with that.

What I love about guesthouses in Korea is that they have all sorts of bath and beauty products for the guests to use for free. This motivates me to take a bath because I can then test and experiment on the different brands available.

THE PEOPLE

The people here are so friendly. Even if I didn’t spend a lot of time with them, I felt their warm welcome. They often had meals together…

And they party together!

Even Sunkis’ dog is sweet. I’m usually scared of petting animals but this one kept coming to me.

RECOMMENDED IF:

1. You are on a budget
2. You want to be in the food and shopping center of Itaewon but on the quiet side
3. You want to be near the subway/train station (5 minutes walk)
4. You want a kind, approachable and English-speaking Korean host
5. You are in a social mood and want to interact with others
6. You want free wifi and a simple breakfast (coffee and bread)

NOT RECOMMENDED IF:

1. You are allergic to dogs
2. You are obsessed with cleanliness and order
3. You can’t climb 3 flights of stairs
4. You can’t survive with only 1 shared-toilet
5. You are claustrophobic

Thank you for the wonderful stay!