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Germany Day Trips: Gem Mining (Edelsteinminen Steinkaulenberg) in Idar-Oberstein

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hellograciemo

↠ GA ↠VA ↠CA ↠Germany↠ 𖡡 S. Korea
↠ Family Travel Europe & Asia
↠ Documenting life in South Korea
↡ Lifestyle | Travel | Food | More on the Blog↡

Some places just stay with you. I miss you, Germ

Some places just stay with you.
I miss you, Germany. 🇩🇪🫶🏻
#germany
✨if you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family who recently moved to South Korea. Germany was our home for the past 7+ years. Follow along @hellograciemo for our adventures abroad and me reminiscing our time in Europe and our travel tips!

Happy Chuseok! 🍁 Korea is officially celebrating

Happy Chuseok! 🍁
Korea is officially celebrating one of its biggest holidays and I’m learning all that I can about this traditional celebration.
It’s a big holiday where I’ve learned that even traveling around Korea gets hectic this time of the year due to traffic with everyone heading home.
Read through the carousel posts through what I’ve been learning about this holiday.
My daughter has been out of school for half the week to celebrate this Korean holiday.
If I’ve made some error or mistake, please let me know and add anything I’ve missed in the comments if you’re familiar with Chuseok.
Are you familiar with this Korean Holiday?
#chuseok #americanlivinginsouthkorea #busan

A perfect introduction to our new home, Busan… sta

A perfect introduction to our new home, Busan… staying at 📍The Westin Josun Busan. 🌊✨
We spent a few weeks at one of the best ocean-view hotels in Busan, @westinjosun_busan , while getting settled into our new life here. That ocean view was definitely one way to kick off our new adventure! 🤍
More about our stay coming soon on the blog. ✨
Not an affiliate post—just sharing a place we truly loved and wanted to share with you!
✨If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family who recently moved to Busan after living in Germany for 7 years! Follow along @hellograciemo for more Busan finds and our travel adventures!
#westinjosunbusan #busan #haeundaebeach

An ode to August in South Korea 🇰🇷 Highlights:

An ode to August in South Korea 🇰🇷
Highlights:
↠ My oldest daugther came home from College for a quick much needed visit
↠ We explored Seoul in the middle of a heat wave
↠ The DMZ was an eye opener
↠ Beach days in Busan 🏖️
↠ A bamboo forest in the middle of Busan
↠ Karoke in Korea is everything 🎤
↠ Busan Food Tour, included was a live octopus tasting
↠ I got back into running 🏃‍♀️
↠ My youngest started High School at an International School
↠meeting new people and making new friends
↠ tried lots of new food
↠ I explored areas of Busan we’ve never been to
↠ We finally bought a new couch after years 20 years of hanging on to one we bought after we got married
↠ the apartment is finally complete
↠ discovering places with friends
↠ Finding the little things that makes my heart happy
I’m ready for September, cooler weather, learning the Korean language, discovering more of Busan and South Korea, and more.
How was your August? I’d love to hear your highlights 🫶🏻
✨ If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family who recently moved to South Korea after living in Germany for almost 7.5 years. Follow along @hellograciemo for living abroad in Korea and travel tips in Europe and Asia✨
#August #lifeinsouthkorea

The views are great. The cows are better. 😂🐄 Just

The views are great. The cows are better. 😂🐄
Just sharing my obsession with these cuties 🐄
#Cows #alpinecows #hikingeurope
Locations:
- Mürren, Switzerland
- Alpe di Siusi, Dolomites, Italy
Credit: I had a hard time finding the right song for this reel, but this song stuck with me after being inspired by @hoteljakobwirt reel.

One of my favorite celebration to Summers’ end in

One of my favorite celebration to Summers’ end in Europe…Almabtrieb- a festival for the cows coming home.
If you haven’t been to an event like this in Europe, I highly recommend adding this to your September-beginning of October European Bucket list.
For more information, link in bio for my updated blogpost on Almabtrieb or comment “Link” and I’ll send it to you.
You can find Almabtrieb events around the European Alps in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and surprisingly in Alsace near the Vosges Mountains of France.
#almabtrieb #germanalps #vosgesmountains

South Korea has some of the most beautiful beaches

South Korea has some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve seen, especially along the East Coast!
So if you’re planning a trip to visit South Korea’s beaches, don’t just visit Busan or Jeju, go see the East Coast!
The crystal clear waters along the East Coast really surprised me! Honestly, it’s much clearer than Busan’s beaches in my opinion. And, I admit, Jeju is still on my bucket list.
However if you’re pressed on time and really want to visit some beautiful beaches of South Korea, the East coast is also an option.
Beaches we visited:
Gangneung
Anmok
Jeongdongjin Beach 정동진해변
We drove through Uljin
And further research recommends these beaches along the East Coast:
Sockcho
Samcheon
If I’ve missed some beautiful east coast beaches from my list, please comment below! I’m still learning my way through Korea’s beautiful beaches!
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and my family and I (from 🇺🇸 ) moved to South Korea 3 months ago from Germany. Follow along @hellograciemo on our adventures abroad and travel tips!
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P.S. I just realized my grammatical error on my reel 🤦🏻‍♀️
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#southkorea #koreatravel

Anyone else have a camera roll that refuses to acc

Anyone else have a camera roll that refuses to accept they’ve moved? 😅
I’ll be honest, packing up 7 years of my life in Germany and moving to South Korea two months ago has been a complete whirlwind! I’ve been so consumed with settling into life here in Busan (especially over on my stories) that my feed is suffering from major whiplash.
Though life is now in Busan and we’re slowly getting used to living in Korea, a huge piece of my heart remains in Germany and Europe. Plus, my camera roll is still packed with hidden European gems, travel guides, and tons of Germany content I’ve been hoarding and meaning to share.
So, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want this space to look like moving forward.
From now on, this page is going to be a blend of both worlds: real-time life and travel guides here in Asia, mixed with curated look-backs at my favorite European spots and what I loved most about living in Germany.
To my long-time followers, thank you for coming on this cross-continental journey with me! I know the sudden shift from Europe to Asia was a bit swift on the feed. And to my new friends here in Korea—welcome to the adventure! 🤍
Which region are you most excited to see on your feed right now? Let me know below! ⬇️
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If you’re new here, hi! My name is Moneth and my American 🇺🇸 family and I just moved to Busan, South Korea 🇰🇷 after living in Germany 🇩🇪 for the past 7 years. Follow along @hellograciemo for a mix of Korea and Europe travel, aesthetics, and living abroad adventures. ✨
#lifeingermany #europetravel #lifeinkorea #germanytokorea #livingabroad

A few snaps of wandering around 📍 Haeridan Street

A few snaps of wandering around 📍 Haeridan Street (aka Haeridan-Gil) in Busan.
Some photos contain captions.
Haeridan Street area is right behind the Haeundae Old Train Station that was named right after the trendy Gyeongnidan Street in Seoul.
The narrow streets are lined with old houses converted into unique cafes, charming gift shops, trendy eateries, photo booths, and more. Some cafes and restaurants are even European inspired.
Fun spot to explore. Easy walk from Haeundae Beach.
Paid parking can be found here, but limited.
524-16 U-dong Haeundae-gu Busan (Naver)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/VuzwoVjb2o4aTnHr9?g_st=ic (Google maps)
If you’re new here, hi, my name is Moneth and we are an American family who recently moved to Busan from Germany. Follow along as we discover Busan @hellograciemo
#busan #americanlivinginbusan
Ate at this Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant during our first few weeks in Busan. It was good, but the food was spicy.
Walk around and you’ll find several European inspired cafes and restaurants.
Had to snap a photo of €1 coffee, next time we’ll try this.
A mix of old Busan and modern Busan.
This is the Old Haeundae Station that is the gateway between Haeridan-Gil and Haeundae beach front. It was originally built in 1934 and closed down in 2013 when the train tracks were relocated inland.
This is the old train tracks that has been converted into a public, landscape walking path.
This sign is located just right before you enter the Haeridangil street, just directly after the old Haeundae train station. This phot was taken in May 2026.
July 2026- the flower fields right by the sign in the previous carousel photo.
Find random local, small business shops throughout this area.
If you look above the umbrella, you’ll see the Haeunjeongsa Temple overlooking Haeridan-Gil; it is a hidden Buddhist sanctuary that sits on the slopes of the Jangsu Mountain. We want to explore that area next time.

A 3 mile (4.8km) walk (one way) through one of Bus

A 3 mile (4.8km) walk (one way) through one of Busan’s famed trail, 📍 Haeundae Blueline Park.
To enjoy this trail, you can do 1 of 3 things:
1.) Take the Haeundae Sky Capsule which takes you to 2km of the trail, from Mipo station to Cheongsapo and usually takes 30 minutes one way. It does book out fast, so it’s recommended to book way far out in advance. We have not done this yet, but I’ll report back once we do. There is a fee.
2.) Take the Haeundae Beach Train to the entire 3 mile trail one way. It makes 6 stops along the way. Again, we have not done this yet and hope to soon. There is a fee.
3.) If you’re up for walking, you can walk/run this entire trail on the Green Railway , like we did. We enjoyed the walk and views along the way and it gave us the opportunity to check out trails and observation decks that line up along the coast, two skywalks, the Cheongsapo Daritdol Skywalk and the newly completed Haewol Skywalk (also known as Haewol Observatory). Stop along the way and enjoy a few cafes and restaurants by the trails and take your time enjoying the scenery. Free! No fees!
Super fun way to explore a part of Busan. You get to experience Haeundae and also the surroundings between Haeundae and Songjeong area.
Always fun discovering the many fun things to do around Busan!
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family living in Busan. We recently moved here from Germany and we are discovering all the best things to do around Busan. Follow along @hellograciemo for more Busan adventures and living abroad.
#haeundaebeach #busantravel

South Korea’s East Coast I had 24 hours to plan

South Korea’s East Coast
I had 24 hours to plan this trip.
My husband’s work schedule kept changing for the long weekend.
Once I found out he could take some time off, we decided to stay inland since it was too late to plan anything outside of Korea and rain was forecasted in Busan, the West Coast of South Korea, and Jeju where we wanted to go.
So I made the executive decision to head East and planned everything the day before.
***The East Coast is where it’s at for beaches! It surprised me more than I thought it would!
The beaches were clear and cleaner than Busan, in my opinion. Though still cold (this was July 3-5, 2026), we still jumped in and after some adjustment, the water felt refreshing.
From hidden temples, to incredible coastal views, an amazing hotel we booked last minute (will post soon), here’s where we explored on the East Coast of South Korea.
To top it off, this was officially our first getaway since moving to Korea and it has been one of our favorite weekend thus far!
Which stop would you visit first?
📍 Temple: Bogyeongsa Temple
📍 Filipino Restaurant: Hyore’s Restaurant Anmok
📍 Affogato from Coffee America in Anmok
Find the rest in photos**
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family who recently moved to Busan, South Korea from Germany! We took a long weekend to the East Coast of Korea and loved it! Follow along @hellograciemo for more South Korea finds and living abroad moments. I sprinkle some of our European adventures here too!

Hydrangeas on Gadeokdo Island in Busan- 📍 Oeyangpo

Hydrangeas on Gadeokdo Island in Busan- 📍 Oeyangpo Hydrangea Garden
Note: we visited June 21, 2026. Blooms were low as noted in the reel.
I’m obsessed with Hydrangeas and I happened upon this IG reel (granted it was a few years ago when it was posted), but this place looked amazing on the reel, however, the blooms were low.
Don’t get me wrong, even though the blooms were very few, the island itself seemed like a neat island to explore.
Not sure if we came early as the old post I saw from a few years ago was around the same timeframe, but I did not see a lot of flowering. I’m hoping next year will be better with blooms.
**Bonus, if you watched at the end of the reel, there was an old Japanese Fort right next to it, so my husband was pretty excited to explore a little bit of history; also, a view of the ocean.
We would have loved to explore the island longer, but we didn’t have enough time.
Location: 📍 Gadeokdo Island at Oeyangpo Wildflower Garden).
Here is the Naver address for parking: which is directly next to the gardens but you will have to walk to it. [NAVER Maps]
Busan Gangseo-gu Oeyangpo-ro 39
https://naver.me/FkaE8nT1
Also, even though this is still considered a part of Busan,this is an hour from main Busan city.
What do you think, still pretty despite the sparse blooms? I still think so.
If you’re new here, hi 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family who recently moved to Korea from Germany. Follow along @hellograciemo for more Busan travel and living abroad adventures; I also feature our Europe travels.
#Busan #Koreatravel

Who knew sunflowers could grow next to the beach?

Who knew sunflowers could grow next to the beach?
Planted seasonally at Gwangalli Beach, you can find this location at the Minrak (or Millak) Beach Park, directly in front of the Gwangalli beach. If you’re facing the beach and bridge from the stores in front of Gwangalli beach, the park with sunflowers will be on the left side of the beach.
If you’re visiting Busan now (June 26, 2016) they’re in bloom.
Great photo opportunities here to include Gwangalli beach and the famous Gwangan Bridge.
Parking might be difficulty and/or limited on heavy busy days and may be expensive to find in Gwangalli beach, so I recommend either taking Uber or taxi there. The metro is about a 20 minutes walk to the Minrak/Millak Park (Gwangan Station).
Fun little corner of Gwangalli Beach and this area is full of fun stuff to do!
Add this to your Busan Gwangalli Beach to do in the summer!
Did you notice the red sunflowers near the end of the reel? I’ve never seen red sunflowers before!
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If you’re new here, 👋, my name is Moneth and we are an American family who recently moved to Busan from Germany 🇩🇪. Follow along @hellograciemo for more Busan finds and other travels and living abroad adventures! I also feature Europe travel!
#busan #gwangalli

What our 2nd week of Korea Living looked like…. Sw

What our 2nd week of Korea Living looked like…. Swipe through the collage of carousels 👉🏼
If you missed my previous reel announcement, we recently moved to 📍 Busan, South Korea about 3.5 weeks ago. This is a brief look at what we did our second week in Korea.
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family living abroad. We recently moved from Germany to Korea. Follow along @hellograciemo for our life abroad adventures and more.
#busanlife #southkorea

Finally sharing our new home base for the next few

Finally sharing our new home base for the next few years, 📍 Busan, South Korea 🇰🇷.
I’ll be honest, when we first found out we were heading here, I had not heard much about Busan or knew anything about it.
We did some research and ultimately found out it’s the 2nd largest city in South Korea, after Seoul. Located on the southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula, it boasts of city life, skyscrapers, dramatic coastlines, and mountains.
It is the main port for Korea (the 7th largest container port globally).
After having lived here in the city, so far in the last 3 weeks, we are excited to be living close to the water and the city life will be something new for us to experience, especially since we love the quiet, country life.
Looking forward to exploring more of our coastal/city home and sharing our finds with you!
Have you heard of Busan, South Korea 🇰🇷?
….
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family living abroad. We recently moved from Germany to Busan, South Korea. Follow along @hellograciemo for more Busan content and living abroad in Korea. I’ll also be sharing our past European adventures on here!
#busan #southkorea

Welcome to “The Land of Morning Calm,” 🇰🇷 our new

Welcome to “The Land of Morning Calm,” 🇰🇷 our new home country.
Original Audio credit: Andrew Chung
It’s been almost a month since our move here. We are still hotel living but settling in nicely in our new home.
Week 1 was spent leaving Germany 🇩🇪 on the 13th of May, taking the 12-hour red eye flight from FRA to Incheon International Airport, arriving on the morning of May 14th.
Immediately, after landing, anxious and tired, in which I only was able to get 2 hours of sleep on our Lufthansa flight, I couldn’t help but immediately feel at ease as soon as I was greeted by the lovely, smiling airport staff at the airport, all of whom were extremely helpful to our family of three on our first tour in Asia.
My anxiousness immediately, slowly dissipated as we had the opportunity to explore the airport, had our first meal of Thai food 😆, grabbed our first convenience store snackies as we waited on our shuttle to arrive after baggage pickup of our 7 checked-in suitcases, 2 carryon backpacks, and 2 carryon suitcases.
We spent the week getting acclimated into the new time zone, yet my sleep cycle was completely off the entire first week. My husband had some in-processing to do to get us settled, so we wouldn’t quite be arriving into our new home location until the 2nd week.
However, we were able to experience our first shopping mall in Korea, eat our first Korean meal at a Katusa dining hall, learn a few cultural lessons to be had, see some rice paddies and get overwhelmed at our first Olive Young Store; and experience heat, sun, and humidity all at once. 😆
Still overwhelmed with our move, we hadn’t quite recovered from leaving Germany 🇩🇪 , but we were ready to make our new home country our new “home” for the next few years.
Stay tuned for week 2 to find out where our new home will be in South Korea 🇰🇷!
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth, and we are an American family living abroad having moved from Germany, to South Korea just almost a month ago. Follow along @hellograciemo for more updates on getting settle in our new location and also reminiscing on some of our European adventures.
#americanlivinginsouthkorea #southkorea

Just a few snippets from our last few days in Germ

Just a few snippets from our last few days in Germany I didn’t get to share from a few weeks ago!
We ended our last few days giving the keys to our home to the new renters, having our last spaghetti eis in our village, saying goodbye to our German family neighbors, friends and coworkers, having one last dampfnudel, visiting our favorite castle ruin for a quick photo op, packing up our lives in 7 check-in suitcases, 2 backpacks, and 2 carryons and squeezing them all into our small rental car, spending our last night in Frankfurt with an overnight at the airport hotel, took the train to the city for one last dinner at a Biergarten in the heart of Frankfurt am Main, and a red eye flight to our new destination.
I left with sadness in my heart, but hopeful for a new beginning in our new home.
We’ve been busy trying to settle in our new location for the last 2.5 weeks.
Although I miss Germany a whole lot, we are ready to settle in and enjoy our new surroundings!
More to share real soon!
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family who used to live in Germany 🇩🇪. We recently moved a few weeks ago and will be sharing where we moved to soon. Follow along @hellograciemo for more.
Don’t worry Germany and Europe content is here to stay as I still have more to share!
#americanlivingingermany #germany

I’ve been holding off sharing, but a week and a ha

I’ve been holding off sharing, but a week and a half ago, we officially said Auf Wiedersehen 👋😢 to Germany 🇩🇪 … it was the day I’ve been dreading.
7.5 years of living in this beautiful country, the longest my family and I have lived in one location.
We started off as a family of four. My oldest was 12.5 years old, my youngest 6.5 years old when we first moved to Germany in December of 2018.
Our first overseas tour, we didn’t know what to expect, and we didn’t think we’d be living in Europe for this long. We’re used to moving every 3-4 years courtesy of my husband’s job.
We raised our two girls here, explored Europe and parts of Asia, and found our love for the slow European life.
We met so many wonderful friends that became family, only to have to say goodbye to them as they moved back stateside, and finally found our village once again as we were leaving.
Our German neighbors became family, and will forever hold special places in our hearts. We built a village within our village. We still couldn’t speak the language, but luckily they knew English and taught us a few German words.
Germany is where we learned to slow down, enjoy our surroundings, and appreciate life even more without the busyness.
It’s where we bought our second home, a place we knew we’d love forever, a second home away from wherever home is after 6.5 years.
So, our European adventure ends here (hopefully for now), a bittersweet ending. I think I cried so many times that at the end of it all, I just knew I couldn’t cry anymore.
We started as a family of four, then left as a family of three while my oldest is back stateside enjoying her own adventure.
Who would’ve thought a girl who grew up from South Georgia 🇺🇸 would have the opportunity to live in Europe? I’ll never take this wonderful opportunity for granted!
Thanks for all the memories Germany! Until next time 🇩🇪 , Tchüss! 👋
Now we head off to our next adventure… stay tuned!
P.S. I still have much to share from our life in Germany and all of our travels from Europe, so those content will not go away. :)
#americanlivingingermany

Draisentour (Railbike tour) in Rhineland Pfalz reg

Draisentour (Railbike tour) in Rhineland Pfalz region of Germany 🇩🇪
What is it: Rail bike with family or friends.
Location: The route runs between 📍 Altenglan and 📍 Lauterecken all day in one direction, no oncoming traffics.
On odd numbered calendar days, the tour begins in Altenglan. On even numbered days, you will begin at Lauterecken.
Season and Opening Times:
Season is from April to October
from April to June; and August to October opening days are Wednesday to Sundays. July open daily.
Recommended times to start: between 0900 to 1500
Total milage of tour: about 20km one way or 12.4 miles. The route can take up to 2.5 hours without stops, but can take up 3-5 hours with stops such as picnics and playground breaks. If you do stop, you have to remove the bike from the rail for others to pass through.
Railcar Options:
There are several options to choose from: 4-people rail car where two people pedal the cart and the other two can relax and enjoy the ride. This can be manual or E-bike option. The Conference rail can accomodate up to 7 people and three people pedal. Electric rail cars are also available. Finally a 20 person carriage.
We chose the 4-person option with two pedalers. Ours had manual pedaling but with an electic assist control button (kind of like an e-bike) to assist. I highly recommend this option with kids.
Price: for the e-bike option we paid €65 for our 4 person rail car on a weekend.
Absolutely recommend this for a summer/fall activity in Rhineland Pfalz if you are near Altenglan or Lauterecken!
We did this in September 2024
Find more info here: https://www.draisinentour.de/draisinentour/
and here https://www.yumpu.com/de/document/read/69114633/draisinentour-erlebnis-pur/6
Are you adding this to your Rhineland Pfalz list?
#Germany #draisentour #rheinlandpfalz

**you’ll want to watch till the end** If I could

**you’ll want to watch till the end**
If I could take these windows with me, I would.
The windows inside German homes are nothing like what I’ve seen Stateside.
They are essential for German homes, especially when airing out the house.
German homes are very well insulated and therefore, it’s important to open the windows (also called “Lüften”) for atleast 5 minutes daily or more to prevent molds, reduce humidity, and clean the air.
What do you think of these windows? Would you also want them in your home?
If you’re new here, 👋 my name is Moneth and we are an American family living abroad. We have lived in Germany for over 7 years and here is one thing I love about my German home. Follow along @hellograciemo for more!
#germany #germanhomes

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