Korea's second biggest city after Seoul. Busan is a nice place to go if you want to see another part of Korea that's still pretty comfortable. It's in the south of South Korea on the ocean, and that makes it a great place to eat fish. In fact that's where all the fish in Seoul comes from, so you can eat it fresh in Busan! In many ways Busan feels like Seoul but 10 or 20 years ago. It's a bit more grimy and broken down and less futuristic than Seoul, but still very nice. I'd suggest staying in Seomyeon, which is kinda like Seoul's Hongdae. It's a student area with some hipster vibes to it. But take hipster vibes with a grain of salt, this is Busan after all. People are very friendly, even more friendly than Seoul. Where in Seoul as a foreigner they don't really care anymore, in Busan you're still hailed as a curiosity which can be fun! If you want to see the beach, take a taxi to Haeundae Beach. It's especially nice in the evening if you'd like to party. Korean beach culture is a bit different than in the West, so you'll probably see less swimming and sunbathing that you're used to. More like people walking on the beach boulevard. Also nice is to see the Jagalchi fish market, pick some fish you like in the big building and you can ask them to prepare it for you upstairs and cook it. Fish as fresh as you can get in Korea.
Pros and Cons of Living in Stockholm Sweden
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Pros of Living in Stockholm
Very safe Fast internet Lots of fun stuff to do Good air quality on average Many Nomad List members here all year round Very easy to do business High quality of education Great hospitals Roads are very safe Great freedom of speech Democratic Everyone speaks English Very safe for women Very family friendly Very friendly to LGBTQ+ Not many people smoke tobacco
Cons of Living in Stockholm
Too expensive Cold now Gets cold in the winter Very damp now Feels crowded Very difficult to make friends -
I've been living here for almost 4 years. I'm single latin and worked in IT. A piece of advice: don't ever come here alone for long time unless you are either attractive or have incredible social skills. The darkness is the most depressive aspect of Sweden but the people are not far from it either. Everyone thinks Sweden is very "progressive" but the people act as living in a small village anyway and are old fashion, specially regarding their social circles. My conclusion is that this is a place to come and have a family for the social benefits and nothing else. And even then you still need to go through 7 months of what any warm country considers winter and 3-4 months of above average dark days.
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Just got back from spending a month in Stockholm (Feb-Mar) enjoyed the experience but perhaps went at the wrong time of the year as the weather was a bit wet / cold. Was staying in hostels (~$30/night) and met some really interesting people - hostels were busy during the weekends but only about 30% full during weekdays (probably due to time of year). Found the city about as expensive as London (where I'm from). City was very clean, easy to walk around and people were friendly with perfect English (and more than happy to speak in English). I worked in SUP46 co-working space (free to work in the hot-desking area) and cafe's around the city (Espresso House was a good option). I looked at a few different co-working spaces but most were pay-monthly, which maybe I would have picked if I was living there longer. My biggest issue was that there didn't seem to be much going on, I went to a few museums (recommend the Vasa museum) and explored some parks on the weekends (good for running around), however after the first couple of weeks, I ran out of things to see / do in my spare time. In the summer, I imagine people would go hiking around Stockholm, however the weather didn't allow me to. Nightlife was okay, there is a great pub crawl called "Stockholm Pub Crawl", which is on every Friday and Saturday, highly recommend going as you'll meet some really interesting people. I ended up going on it a few times. Nightlife on weekdays seemed pretty dead. Final point about weather, it was a little cold (-3 degrees C) when I got there and snowed / rained quite a few days, but was getting better by the time I left. I'd recommend going between April and September, as outside of these months it does get very dark and cold. Overall, a city worth checking out (probably the best city out of Norway, Sweden and Finland) but not for longer than 4 weeks.
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On the bright side: Clean and generally safe good infrastructure, close to nature. Negative side: One of the most difficult places in the world to make friends, not much happening in the city, very expensive and broken housing market. Many internationals with whom I have spoken feel very bad here
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Quite pricey but not as bad as London. Great underground. The city is very clean. Food is ok, but far from amazing. Rental market is very difficult, which every property agency would confirm. Renting is not only expensive, but also problematic due to the local law. Be sure to read up before looking for a place as even verbal agreements are legally binding. Communicating in English is easy as almost everyone speaks the language reasonably well, however good luck in finding anything written in English. No directions, no product descriptions, nothing. I found Swedes to be very friendly and helpful. Overall not a bad place to be, if you can bear the cold (expected, not bad) and the darkness (was quite a surprise, it's worse than it seems, very depressing).
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I absolutely love living in this city. It's very clean safe and things generally always work! This is something I miss when I travel to other cities in Europe and rest of the world. Also co-working spaces are growing tons. Though night life might be pretty "boring", it truly is what you make it. Get to know other expats and friends through meetups or friend of a friend, and you'll have an awesome time here!
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