After living in Gwanak-gu for about two years, I decided to move to Yongin.
The reason I moved here in the first place,
- because there is more infrastructure in Seoul
- Because my sister-in-law is close
However, once I bought a car, none of this mattered much. Since I was always traveling by car on weekends and holidays, I started to go outside of Seoul more often than inside, and I started to enjoy the quiet and relaxing scenery rather than the crowded city. Also, since I have a car, it’s not too much of a problem to visit places that are a bit far from my in-laws.
My decision to move to Yongin was influenced by my job. In my case, my current job is in Bundang, and even if I changed jobs, I would be in Pangyo or at most Gangnam. My wife would also be commuting to Gangdong-gu, so Yongin was a good option in many ways. In addition, I felt that it was more advantageous because it was in Gyeonggi-do. In fact, if possible, I wanted to move out of Gyeonggi-do.
I started thinking about this when I was visiting my sister-in-law in Wonju. In addition to the significantly lower housing prices compared to the suburbs of Seoul, I envied the fact that there were parks nearby where I could take my kids for walks, and most importantly, all the necessary infrastructure was in place, assuming I had a car. In fact, until I give up my job as a developer, I can’t move to a place like Wonju, but I think I can enjoy similar benefits in Yongin.
In fact, as an extension of this idea, there’s even hope for full remote work these days. Even if I were to work remotely, I’d probably still have to commute to a coworking space or something, since I wouldn’t be able to work from home anyway. But the idea of being able to wake up every morning and drive to work somewhere I like without having to deal with the hell of traffic and rush hour traffic is very appealing. I think my quality of life would improve tremendously just by breaking out of the daily grind of the office.
I’ve always been a fan of motorcycle touring videos on YouTube when I’m feeling stuck in the office. Just watching the motorcycles traveling down the open road was enough to ease my frustration. But working fully remotely would make this wish a reality. Every morning, I can decide which office I want to go to. Some days it’s a coworking space in Hongdae, other days it’s a cafe with moderate white noise somewhere near Gapyeong.
these days, many tech companies and startups are embracing full remote work. In particular, global tech companies are more aggressively adopting remote work than in Korea. In fact, if I were to look at remote work alone, it would be more likely to target global companies than domestic companies. However, English was always the last thing I needed. I often joke with my friends that I never thought English would hold me back until now, but I think it’s a barrier that I had to overcome at some point, so I’ve been studying English conversation with an acquaintance once a week. But at some point, I realize that I need to seek professional help, like a cram school or a tutor.