No place like home: Young Koreans eschew summer travel for 'staycations' as costs rise

Young Koreans, born between 1980 and 2010, are opting for staycations at home due to sweltering heat waves and travel costs. Some are seeking alternative activities such as haunted houses and exploring trending dishes

Chicken and beer were delivered to Lee, who was spending summer vacation at home in July. [LEE SUNG-MU]

Young Koreans — or the country's MZ generation, born between 1980 and 2010 — are choosing their homes as a destination for summer vacation instead of traveling or doing outdoor activities, considering the former the preferred method of avoiding sweltering heat waves and high travel costs.

A 33-year-old worker, surnamed Lee, and his wife spent five days of summer leave at their home.

“My wife and I thought spending summer vacation at home would be most reasonable,” Lee told the JoongAng Ilbo, adding the couple felt burdened by high international flight fares — nearly doubled in peak summer season. “A staycation at home is much more economical than spending time outside.”

The couple found shelter from the round-the-clock heat wave underneath their air conditioner at home, deciding to use their travel budget for their electricity bills. They also enjoyed nighttime supper using late-night food delivery services.

“I am sure that ‘there is no place like home,’” Lee said.

In a survey conducted by data marketing company Lotte Members last month, 27.8 percent of 2,000 respondents answered that they are “planning to take days off for summer vacation but not to travel.” Also, some 39.8 percent said they will be watching television or shows on streaming platforms rather than going out.

A screen captured image shows the “Horror Village in the Dead of the Night” program at the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Some young Koreans are trying out haunted houses to combat nighttime heat with a sense of horror and chills.

The Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi, runs a program dubbed “Horror Village in the Dead of the Night” until midnight every day in the summer season. Actors dressed up as ghosts scare and frighten the visitors.

“I went to the village at night to stay cool and beat the heat in vacation season,” 34-year-old Ahn Jae-hong said.

In social media, some wrote they “ended up in tears because it was scary” or recommended it as a “summertime dating experience as it gives chills.”

A report from the JoongAng Ilbo said that an exhibition centered on horror-based Japanese animation in Seoul or a drone show dubbed “Horror Night Festival” in Busan also gained traction among young Koreans.

Left: A screen capture shows a post showing a bingo board for Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurants nationwide. Right: An Instagram feed shows various review photos of Pyongyang naengmyeon. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Others seek escape from the brutal heat in food.

Pyongyang naengmyeon, buckwheat cold noodles known to originate from the Pyongyang region of North Korea, has become one of the trending dishes among young Koreans.

An Instagram account that posts reviews of Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurants across the country has more than 10,500 followers. A video showing a map of the restaurants nationwide has gained more than 2,000 likes and been shared around 56 times as of Sunday.

“It is interesting that tastes and flavors of Pyongyang naengmyeon are distinctive and different based on ingredients that each restaurant uses,” 26-year-old worker Kim Seon-young said. She added “touring different Pyongyang naengmyeon restaurants after work is an answer to the nighttime heat.”

“It appears that younger generations are seeking more reasonable and meaningful ways of summer vacation as they found traditional ways of spending summer holidays demanding,” Seol Dong-hoon, a sociology professor at Jeonbuk National University, said.

“Young generations prioritize their personal satisfaction through their direct experiences in a tight-budget situation,” said Lee Young-ae, a professor specializing in consumer science at Incheon National University — another factor driving young Koreans to find their “own means to combat the summer heat.”

BY LEE BO-RAM, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]