Seeing a Korean woman without make-up on is pretty rare unless shes like 80 or 8. There is a very strong sense of vanity here and they don’t try to hide it one bit. The pic above we had to take on the sly of a woman that was out eating dinner. She literally sat with a fairly large mirror up to her face for a good 4 minutes or so evening out any possible imperfections that would obviously ruin the occasion. What you can’t see because my fat head was in the way are her 3 other friends who were all engaging in the same activity. This repeated itself about 3 times in the 45 minutes that we ate.
In school we see it all day…..between the mirrored cell phones and fold-able desktop mirrors, students as young as 11 can’t go 30 minutes without a few glances. Yes, this is a cell phone charm with a mirror on it.
To help perpetuate the fury of self-picture taking to check for runny mascara, Samsung now has a new “mirror” digital camera with a small lcd screen on the front so you’ll get a perfect shot…of your entirely too perfect face.
Its not just the woman…every public restroom I visit seems to be equipped with a few Korean men powdering up and i don’t mean just washing hands. I even saw two dudes doing each others hair the other day.
How do you build a life around adventure and travel?Intentionally and incrementally. Most families who live this way did not leap from conventional to adventurous overnight. They built remote work capacity, paid down debt, tested longer trips, and had honest conversations about what they want from their lives.
What does an adventurous family lifestyle actually look like?Different for every family. For some it is long-term travel. For others it is weekend adventures close to home. What connects them is intentionality about how time is spent and a preference for experiences over accumulation.
How do you balance adventure with stability for kids?By finding stability within the adventure rather than treating them as opposites. Routines, rituals, and family rhythms travel with you. Kids need consistency in relationships more than consistency in geography.
What has travel taught your family?That people are fundamentally similar across cultures. That comfort zone is a smaller circle than it feels from inside. That the things worth having in life require effort and discomfort. And that time together doing hard interesting things is the most reliable source of family closeness.
How do you handle the pressure to live conventionally when you have chosen differently?By getting clear on why you made the choices you made and returning to that clarity when outside noise gets loud. Most families living unconventionally describe an initial period of explaining themselves that gradually gives way to just living the life.
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