Tuesday, February 19, 2013

What to pack for Korea

There are a lot of things you want to bring to Korea and just as many that you NEED to bring with you to teach English in Korea.  Given a two checked bag and one carry-on restriction from Delta, here are some of the things I was able to fit into my two checked bags and one carry-on bag.

Two quick packing notes:  
1.  I was looking around at Goodwill and other thrift shops for cheap suitcases to transport all of my stuff over to Korea.  We will probably be leaving most of what we bring over there to backpack for a month or two after our year contract so we didn't want to spend too much money on a travel bag.  Luckily I came across this - www.walmart.com/ip/Protege-32-Expandable-Rolling-Duffel-Bag-Black/11069689.  I haven't used the two bags yet obviously, but will report on how useful/reliable they are once we get to Seoul.

2.  Space saver bags are the way to go!  I've been able to pack all of my  stuff in half the space I'd use without them.  You can get an 8-pack at Bed, Bath and Beyond for less than $15.  Well worth the money.  www.spacebagbrand.com/To-Go-Roll-Up.dtm

Teaching English in Korea Packing List:


Must Haves
- Gift for your school director and principal
- Copy of your passport and Visa
- Extra copy of your college transcripts (depending on your school)
- College diploma (depending on your school)
- At least $1,000 in your bank account to live off of until your first paycheck
- An open mind!


What to wear
- Clothes, clothes and more clothes (shorts, shirts, jeans, hiking pants, sweaters, workout stuff, winter hats, gloves, lots of socks and boxers, dress pants and shirts, suit jacket, rain and winter jackets, 2 ties, swim trunks and a towel)
- Black dress shoes, gym shoes, sandals and hiking boots

Keeping clean
- 2 bars of soap
- 1 bottle of shampoo and conditioner
- 4 sticks of deodorant
- 5 things of floss
- 5 toothbrushes
- 8 tubes of Chapstick
- 4 tubes of toothpaste
- 1 bottle of mouthwash
- 1 bottle of face wash
- Mac3 razor with 8 extra blades
- 1 bottle of shaving cream
-  600 Q-tips
- Bandaides

Good to have if it fits in your bag, but not a necessity
- Small Brita water bottle with extra filters
- Full size Brita water filters
- Playing cards
- 2 cameras
- Headlamp
- Green tea (I heard it wasn't too common over there)
- Bottle/wine opener
- 2 bottles of vitamins
- 1 bottle of Advil and cough medicine
- DvDs of 4 of my favorite movies
- Ski goggles
- American flag
- Family picture
- Kindle
- Leatherman and a Swiss Army knife
- Pens, pencils, stamps for kids work
- Portable shoe shine kit
- Outlet adaptor
- AA batteries
- 2 locker locks
- Portable speakers
- Frisbee
- Carabiners
- Korean language books


Safe Travels!!

1 comment:

  1. Just a quick follow up from this post. We've been in Korea for about 3 days and it's been great to have everything that we brought with us so far. I've already made two trips to the E-Mart, even with what we've brought, but have been very fortunate to have one steps from our apartment. It was nice to know that I had enough to get by on for a month or two.

    You can find shampoo, a toothbrush, etc. but if you can fit in in your 2 checked bags, why not bring some with you??

    Safe travels!

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