As with the recent Spain/Portugal trip, there were so many different experiences that it made the most sense to split the blog by day. Click on each day's link for the full entry. Scrolling through pix on this page will give you highlights but there are about 1,200 photos in all - pared down as always.

3/12-3/22/2023 Trip to Korea (country 34 for me, since I'm counting). With a one-day stopover in Hawaii on the way back. Because I can.

I've been wondering where to go next. Possibly Asia. Possibly mid to late March. Just as I was pondering that, I got an email from NAATBatt, a battery trade group that ModBatt is part of, that they were doing a US delegation to the Interbattery show in Seoul, in cooperation with the State Department. Would I be interested in being a delegate? Travel at own expense, have a chance to give a 10-minute presentation. OK, I guess fate has decided. Sure!

The presentation is on the 16th. I lose a day getting there, and arrive in the evening, so have to leave on the 13th at the latest. One challenge is that I had already made plans to travel to Boston and Maine to see my father and Mark, my long time friend and partner in MetaLINXX. I return from that trip on the 12th at night. No rest for the wicked.

I used Hawaiian Airlines miles for the tickets, but made it into two separate itineraries giving myself a day on Oahu on the way back. Outbound the layover at HNL is 1.5 hours. No problem if the Portland flight is not delayed.

I will land in Seoul at 7:30 pm, and have to be at the Coex convention center 8:30 am the next day. I had booked an AirBnB apartment right next to the Seoul Station which has a nonstop AREX train connection from the airport, taking just under an hour. It's 45 minutes by bus from the apartment to the convention center.

All doable. On with it then. First day will be all business. The next few? I'll just have to show up and see what happens.

Day 1 - Transit and arrival in Seoul - Full day link

Day 2 - Interbattery trade show. This is the business part of the trip - Full day link

Day 3 - Exploring Seoul - Lotte World Tower, aqquarium, a few other places - Full day link

Day 4 - More roaming about Seoul - Full day link

Day 5 - More Seoul - Full day link

Day 6 - Day trip to Busan - Taking the KTX high speed train Full day link

Day 7 - Back in Seoul - Full day link

Day 8 - Last day in Korea, fly out in the evening - Full day link

Day 9 - Stopover on Oahu - Full day link