Katrina Baumann was around the world, lived in Australia and even taught English in South Korea. She has a passion for travel and adventure and blogs on this subject with the two -week traveler.
Wednesday writer would like to present to you Katrina Baumann
Please tell us a bit about you.
I was born and I grew up in Florida and I grew up in the water – I was still swimming at the swimming pool, in the swimming team or splashes at the beach. I have always had the love of writing and a love of travel. After university, I decided that I was not happy to live in my hometown and work in an office, so I did a huge act of faith and I moved to South Korea to teach English. After a year in Korea, 6 months in Australia and two trips around the world, I returned to Florida and I settled. Now, I live here with my husband and my sweet little DC black cat, traveling as often as possible with our limited holidays.
What did you appreciate the most by teaching English in South Korea?
I loved looking at my students progress with their skills in English throughout the year. I taught 3RD-6th Grade, and the first day with the 3rd year, they could literally say that “hello”. At the end of the year, they could count up to ten, they knew their colors and could say short sentences. It was such an incredible transformation and I really felt proud of my students to have come so far with their English in a few months. I also saw some of my 5th and 6th Students are selected for English bees and special English camps in special English, and I was so happy for them and I spent a little time training them before their events.
If you could recommend 3 must have experiences in South Korea, what would they be?
Certainly the DMZ tour! You can visit one of the tunnels that North Korea has dug while trying to sneak in South Korea, and at the end, you can go to the real border of the two countries. You can see North Korean soldiers looking at binoculars. The joint security zone (JSA) is the place where managers in the North and South Korea are still meeting to discuss things, and you can go to the conference room and technically feet on the North Korean floor. It was so rushed!
The Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival is also an essential event. The whole city is full of cherry and it’s so beautiful!
I would also recommend visiting the small town of Gyeongju. You can rent bikes and drive throughout the city in a day. There are funeral mounds and beautiful temples wherever you look. It is a beautiful day trip!
Katrina in Gyeongju
How many countries have you visited?
Currently, I have visited 44 countries. I hope to reach 50 at the end of the year!
What is your favorite place and why?
It’s difficult because there are so many places to choose for different reasons, but I guess I will say barbados simply because it was the first “romantic” trip that I made with my husband. It came at a very good time in my life and the time we spent there really deepened our love for each other. Honestly, it’s hard not to fall in love when you are in such a beautiful place!
If you could describe your travel method in a word, what would it be?
Flashpacker. I love hiking, but I don’t mind spending additional money on more beautiful accommodation and flights or trains instead of more than 12 hours by bus.
What is your essential travel accessory?
A good sleep mask is a must, as well as earplugs. Perfect for long flights and essential if you are staying in a room shared in an inn.
What is your most memorable travel moment?
Cage plunged with large white sharks in the southern ocean off Australia. No other experience can never compare itself in search of a large white shark in the eyes as it passes in front of you.
Katrina at the top of the Port de Sydney bridge
What is your dream destination?
My life dream destination is South Africa, which is about to be checked from the list of buckets. So I suppose that my new dream destination is Antarctica because it is the only continent that I have not visited.
Do you have future trips? If so, where?
My husband and I are going to southern Africa in May for our honeymoon. We will spend a week in South Africa to visit the course and make safari in Kruger National Park. Then we go to Zimbabwe and Zambia to see Victoria fall for a few days, then on Botswana for a safari in Chobe National Park. I still cannot believe that we are going. It’s my dream trip since I was a child and now it’s just at the corner of the street!
How did travel changed you?
The trip changed me in all possible ways. Once you have left your comfortable and isolated life and you go abroad, your whole perspective changes. You realize that, although each culture is so different, people are all fundamentally the same. You realize that the world is very small. You learn that you don’t need to speak someone’s language to communicate with a smile. You appreciate the beauty of nature and you feel very strongly about the conservation and treatment of the earth with kindness.
How long did you take for your first book to materialize?
This is a good question. In 2009, I was looking for books on what to expect from teaching in South Korea, but there was really nothing. Then, in 2013, I looked again and I found a few books, but they were either older or more treated with teaching or how to find a job in Korea. So I decided, why not write the book I would have liked to have read before moving? So I started writing the book in July and was published in early December. So, depending on how you look at it, 4 years or 5 months!
Do you have new books on the horizon?
I have no currently in progress, even if I have two ideas that I will probably start to develop this year. One is a book similar to the guide of English teachers second language in South Korea, but for people under vacation visas in Australia. The other would be a collection of some of my favorite (or less favorite) experiences that I had on a trip.
What is your favorite travel book?
I have so much! I must say that my favorite is probably Cannibales sex life By J. Maarten Troost. Troost’s girlfriend obtains a job in the island nation of the South Pacific of Kiribati and he will go around. The book concerns the years that has spent it and it is one of the funniest books I have ever read! I couldn’t place it! I gave it to several other people and they have all read his other books. He is fantastic.
What is your favorite travel quote?
“The trip is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.”
For more Katrina Baumann, visit the two-week traveler or follow it Facebook & Twitter.
