I Only Went In for Jet Lag Advice, But Ended Up Staying Much Longer

By my third day in Seoul, the jet lag was getting pretty frustrating. I kept waking up around 3 a.m., and no matter how much coffee I drank, I felt exhausted during the day.

While walking around, I stopped at a pharmacy hoping to find something that might help. I expected to grab one product and be out in a few minutes.

Instead, the pharmacist started asking about my sleep schedule, how long I'd been in Korea, and how I was feeling during the day. It turned into an actual conversation instead of a quick purchase.

They explained that adjusting to a new time zone can take a few days and gave me a few practical suggestions that I hadn't really thought about before.

That night I still wasn't completely over the jet lag, but I slept better than I had the previous two nights, which felt like progress.

Looking back, I never expected one of the most helpful parts of my trip to come from a random stop at a pharmacy. Sometimes the experiences you don't plan end up being the ones you remember the most.