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 in-laws live nearby
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 line of thinking, I even find myself hoping for a fully remote job these days. Even then, I’d probably still commute to a coworking space of some sort, since I don’t think I could really work from home. But the idea of waking up every morning and driving somewhere pleasant to work, without dealing with rush-hour subway hell or roads packed with traffic, is incredibly appealing. I think my quality of life would improve dramatically just by escaping the daily grind of going to the same 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 fully remote work. Global tech companies in particular have adopted it far more aggressively than most Korean companies. In fact, if I were aiming specifically for remote work, I would probably end up targeting global companies rather than domestic ones. But English has always been the last hurdle holding me back. I often joke with friends that I never imagined English would become my bottleneck at this point in life. Since it’s clearly a wall I have to get over sooner or later, I’ve been practicing spoken English once a week with an acquaintance. At the same time, I’m beginning to think I may eventually need professional help, like an academy or a tutor.