South Korea

One of my 2011 resolutions is to blog more often so why not get the ball rolling?  I'm at Incheon International Airport in South Korea waiting for my connection to Taipei.  This is by far the nicest airport I've ever been to and I've probably visited 100+ airports in my travels.  No surprise that it is consecutively rated the top airport in the world by Airports Council International!

So, what makes the difference when you're traveling?

Here's a few things I noticed about Incheon during my layover ...

• The chairs don't have armrests.  Such a small detail but having the option to stretch out and sleep comfortably during a long layover is essential!
• Free Wifi and free electric outlet adaptors
• Free city tours for transit passengers, leaving during the day and at night
• Korean Cultural Experience Centers: mini museums in various locations where you can check out Korean art, practice calligraphy, listen to traditional music, and other cool stuff.
• Airport construction:  I didn't leave the departures area,  but it's obvious that a lot of planning went into the innovative design of the airport. In addition to ample seating, tables, and outlets near each gate; the moving walkway (which was very busy) was separated from these areas by the line of stores and restaurants.  This layout created a quite corridor behind the shops where the gate seating was so that you don't even notice you're in one of the busiest transport hubs in the world.

I hope to get a chance to come back to South Korea to visit my roommate from Roger Williams who is also teaching English in Asia for a year.  The plane is about to take off and it  looks like there will be breakfast on my 1 hour flight to Taiwan :)  Glad to know I'll be flying the same airline on my way home this summer!