Home Cooked Meal in Seoul (April 29, 2026)
Last night, I received an unexpected message from my Airbnb host here in Seoul. “Have you ever tried kimchi and bulgogi?” To which I explained that I loved kimchi, but wasn’t sure I’d had bulgogi before. She then responded, “You see, I’m good at making bulgogi ~:) I’d like to offer you the kimchi and bulgogi I made.”
Um … YES PLEASE! Let me get this straight. The host of our Airbnb would like for us to have a home cooked meal that she made. Amazing. Of course I offered to have her join us and she politely declined saying that she takes care of her child and would only have enough time to drop off what she cooked.
Violet, Soo, me and Will before enjoying Soo’s Korean feast
White Rice, Bulgogi, Seaweed, and Kimchi (sesame oil not pictured)
Fully assembled dish (admittedly, I could do a better job at plating)
It’s not an exaggeration to say that this has been the best meal we’ve had here in Korea. That includes the many authentic Korean restaurants in our neighborhood that tend to equate spicy with flavorful. I’m okay with heat on my food, but both Will and Violet are not fans of the spicy. This had all the flavor and none of the spicy heat most Korean dishes typically have. We devoured it.
All told, this is the 13th Airbnb I’ve stayed at during my world tour including these ten in 2026:
Japan: Kyoto
Japan: Hakone
Japan: Shiroi
Vietnam: Hanoi
Thailand: Rawai
Fiji: Pacific Harbour
New Zealand: Auckland
New Zealand: Taopu
New Zealand: Wellington
New Zealand: Pohara
And two more in 2025 Thailand: Rawai and Japan: Atami.
I wish I could share a link to all of these as a group, but Airbnb doesn’t allow sharing all of these places publicly. The link is https://www.airbnb.com/users/profile/past-trips but if you’re not signed in as me, it will only show you your past Airbnb trips.
As amazing as many of these past Airbnb hosts were (and many of them were truly amazing humans), Soo is the first host to cook us a meal. There’s something beautiful and deeply enriching about this.
Why I’m Touched By This
If it sounds like I’m going a bit overboard on receiving a home cooked meal from my Airbnb host, please allow me to explain. When Will, Violet and I were in North Korea speaking with a successful defector (see related post), one of the questions asked was, “Are there many restaurants in North Korea?”
The answer was no. She went on to explain that, “Yes, restaurants exist especially in the biggest cities, but cooking a meal for your guests is one of the ways friends show their appreciation for each other. It would be strange to have a guest to your home and then go out to dinner.”
There was something primal that perked up inside of me as she said that. Perhaps it was how I was raised. To this day, if you went to visit my mom in Santa Rosa, California, she’d either cook for you (if she knew you were coming) or offer to cook for you if you just showed up unannounced on her front door step.
It’s not just the act of sharing a meal together. There’s something more to that. When you enter someone’s home and a meal is prepared for or with you there is a loving energy that is included in the food preparation. The care that goes into the preparation. The intention being set to feed another person. I feel this and appreciate it every time it happens.
What was unique about today was the “stranger” element. Yes, we are staying in Soo’s home while we are here in Seoul, South Korea. That’s the transactional part. I give a requested amount of money for the privilege of staying in a home rather than a hotel. I get to live like a local rather than a tourist for a short amount of time.
The only thing that could have been better than enjoying the food that Soo cooked for us would be enjoying it with her and getting to know her has a person … not just our host. Had I spoke fluent Korean, I might have been able to make this happen. But while the Airbnb app offers real-time translation for messaging, true and authentic conversations are still a stretch (for both of us).
I’m grateful for this home cooked meal offering and the love in which it was shared with us. It’s a simple, yet powerful gesture; an act of kindness that I will not soon forget.
Meanwhile …
Before wrapping up here, I’ll share three more things I’m really enjoying here in Seoul.
Deep and meaningful conversations with Will and Violet
Why We Sleep Audiobook
Expansive walking track
I’ll go in reverse order here. First, the walking track I first came upon a few days ago continues to amaze me. I’ve now gone really far in both directions and continue to discover a mix of art, nature, and gym equipment sprinkled throughout.
Each stretch of water feels uniquely specific to its area
Each overpass is uniquely painted. The gym equipment is varied. The flowers are meticulously maintained. Even the water has its own unique characteristics – from wildlife like giant koi fish to plants to stepping stones to the exact placement of the waterfall streams.
The individual uniqueness feels created by each neighborhood. There’s a deep feeling of interconnectedness here. Specific parts are individually unique and yet they connect to the next section and the one after that. There are both similarities and differences that feel like nature’s music playing.
Why We Sleep audiobook is incredible and a MUST LISTEN!
The reason I’m going on all these long walks in the morning is so that I can listen this audiobook, Why We Sleep. Author Matthew Walker, PhD has been studying the positive attributes of getting 8-hours of sleep for more than 25 years. The research is incredible and largely unknown despite all the positive health benefits to getting a full night’s sleep.
I’m fascinated with every aspect of his work and happy to report that I began prioritizing my sleep back in 2014 (post-suicidal ideation) and have experienced many of the health benefits first-hand. Shortened sleep cycles (i.e. “I can survive on 6 hours of sleep”) are causing long-term health problems and short-term cognition failures including “Drowsy Driving” which claims more fatalities than Drunk Driving (as just one example). Surprising claims are backed up by well documented and peer-reviewed research studies. It’s fascinating.
Positive meme from Greg, one of my friends back home
Finally, what these less planned days are revealing is deep quality conversations with both Will and Violet. Today, before we had lunch provided by Soo, I began sharing the insightful meme above. This sparked a deep and meaningful conversation about anger, resentments, fears, uncertainties and doubts.
As Violet wraps up her time here and heads back to New York tonight (sniff) she’s leaving with some important questions to consider and one agreed upon action that Elena has been asking for; to take an aptitude test and discover the kind of work that would be most meaningful and fulfilling to her. Will has also agreed to take this test when he returns in a few weeks time.
The magic of deep meaningful conversations. We are learning how to more effectively communicate with each other. Violet, for example, hesitates to interrupt me when I’m talking, but then forgets what she wanted to say when I’m done. I’ve given her full permission to interupt me at any time and then both Will and I are encouraging her to jump in when she appears to have something she want’s to say, ask or contribute. It’s small steps like these that improve our effective communication with each other and deepens our bonds.
I trust this will continue when we’re no longer traveling the world, but are instead back in our familiar home in Port Washington, New York.
