Hacking Curiosity: How to Travel to Korea for Free
149.81 Tote Bags Stand Between You and a Free Trip to Seoul
My family travels to Korea at least a couple times a year. This gets expensive. So, you can imagine my curiosity when my wife texted this message to me:
We had a hearty laugh at this one later on that evening; yet, I still couldn’t get this exchange out of my mind long after our laugh. So, I Googled Grok how much these Trader Joe’s bags are going for in Korea and this is what I got:
Ok. So, here’s where we take action to make our three-day visit to Seoul, South Korea absolutely free:
Roundtrip Airfare (San Francisco - Seoul): ~ $700 on Air Premia (Air Premia is a solid airline with incredible food, too)
Stay (Moxy Seoul Myeongdong): ~$80-$100/night, so ~$240-$300 for 3 nights (BONUS: Myeongdon is a great shopping area and has a lot of foot traffic [perfect for our plan])
Eat: You can eat like an American for three days for about $200
This means, we’re looking at about $1,200 to cover our trip. Sure, you could sock away $100/month for a year and do it the old-fashioned way, but what if you need three days in Korea, today?
Here’s where we’ve got some work to do… let’s say we sell each bag at an average of $12/bag. Cool! We’ve got 100 bags to buy, pack, and sell—but wait! We need $400 to buy those bags! That’s an extra 33.3 bags we need to grab, bring, and move.
Ackchyually, it’s 149.81 bags we need to trade if we’re going to clear our $1,200 goal selling at $12/bag.
So, after we find $598.50, we’ve got to pick up 150 bags at our nearest Trader Joe’s/es.
Air Premia allows two checked and two carry on per passenger, pack light and only use your carry ons for packing your personal gear. You’re gonna need to pack all those Trader Joe’s bags in your checked luggage.
Next (probably before you go even) you’ll want to set up accounts on Karrot, Bujang, and Naver. List your bags there along with eBay (set to “local pick up”).
There’s an ancient Korean saying that says: “Work smarter and harder, not just harder.” You can apply it here. Take a bundle of your bags down to the sidewalk and start selling.
As soon as you sell your 149.81st bag, you’re trip is free.
Bonus Tips:
Why stop at 149.81 bags? Pack a few hundred and pay for your next trip. If you have any left over you can donate them to a local orphanage.
Bring a friend! Sure, you’ll have to move twice as many bags, but Seoul isn’t as much fun solo. In fact, many restaurants won’t even serve single customers.
Be mindful of the weather. Seoul has very distinct seasons, so time your trip according to what sort of weather you prefer standing hours at a time outside in.
Like this curiosity-driven experiment about what can happen when market inefficiency meets wanderlust?
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Stay curious!
Matt