For my fifth interview, I met with a guesthouse owner in Sinchon (a busy area of Seoul). He has been running a guesthouse in Sinchon for about two years. Since the guesthouse is in a very popular area of Seoul, about 40% of guests are Korean, and the other 60% foreigners. The biggest logistical aspects of running the guesthouse are finding a platform on which to promote it, and registering the guesthouse with the government. He chose Airbnb as the platform to promote his guesthouse and has been pretty successful with it. Each month is different in terms of volume of guests. He has also recently opened a second guesthouse in another area of Seoul in collaboration with a friend.

He got the inspiration to start his own guesthouse after visiting one about two years ago and having a really good experience. He tries to make staying at his guesthouse a good experience not only through aspects such as cleanliness and amenities, but also through developing connections with the guests. Particularly if guests are staying for longer than a couple days, he makes an effort to get to know them a bit and have a meal or drinks together. He has gotten to know people from all over the world this way and still keeps in touch with some of them.

He studied physics in college but afterwards decided he did not want to go into physics, so running the guesthouse is a way to make a living and stay occupied while working on promoting what he is really passionate about, his band. It was interesting to talk with him because I have been thinking a lot about what to do after graduation and have not come to any solid conclusions, but his case showed that even if you are not able to fully pursue what you are really passionate about right away, it is okay to do something else to make a living while also working on your bigger future goals.