A digital nomad guide to Seoul by a Seoulite

I started my digital nomad life 2 years ago. After about 10 months of work-travel life, covid-19 broke out globally (hope it is over by the time you read this) and I had to fly back to Seoul. Fortunately I still got my remote job, so I could experience Seoul in digital nomad’s shoes for the first time. If you are a digital nomad already in Seoul or considering Seoul as your next destination — you are at the right place! Seoul used to be top 5 for best city to work from on Nomad List for quite a while. (Currently it is down to 54th, probably due to the brutally cold weather during winter.)

Seoul city received pretty high ratings across all aspects by digital nomads on Nomad List

Seoul is one of the best cities for digital nomads. So how can we get the best out of this city?

Let me share some tips based on my past 10+ months of digital nomad-ing in Seoul. Digital nomad life is like working with a moving home. Work environment becomes more important than anything else. Here in Seoul wifi is pretty much omnipresent and has undoubtedly high speed, so the question comes down to what kind of places to work from. While some people prefer hopping from one coffee shop to another (Seoul has some GREAT coffee shops — check out some curated lists here and here), some focus best at home. I find myself getting inspired and thus producing the best output when I am at those unique and lively coworking spaces surrounded by like-minded people working for startups. In between work I get to learn more about the local community as well.

What are the options for workspace in Seoul?

1. Coworking Space — Cow&Dog

You may easily find big names in coworking space like WeWork or JustCo, also the largest local player Fast Five in every busy area of Seoul. However, they do not have daily/weekly membership for people (like me) who are constantly moving around. I much prefer spaces like Cow&Dog. Located in a trendy neighborhood Seongsu, Cow&Dog has a modern and open space that was specially designed and constructed as a coworking space from the beginning. Their coworking membership for the first floor ended and it is now being run as a cafe. Yet it is still a popular spot to work from as the furnitures and design still remains the same regardless of change of business. On top of it, similar vibe still can be felt as the other floors still play a role as hub for social ventures and freelancers.

2. Study Cafe — BOOK AND REST

If you need a place where you can just get your heads down and do your work without disturbance, try looking for a “book cafe” or “study cafe”. They are coffee shops for people to read, study and work, no talking. The seats inside are mostly individual seats for a single person. BOOK AND REST is one of my favorites in the Gangnam area. With a great variety of drink and food, they also let you get your 2nd coffee with a discount.

Instagram photo @booknrest

3. Coliving Community — Seoul Nooks

I never realized how much energy I had been wasting “commuting” to a co-working space or cafe before I started to get into the habit of working from home thanks to Seoul Nooks. I found Seoul Nooks through an 1-day home office sharing program and decided to move in right away. It is a three story house (which is rare to find in Seoul) that has everything I was looking for from a coworking space. The living room with a long communal table turns into a dedicated workspace for people who work from home at 9am — 6pm. People who live here share similar interests in traveling and startup works. The host herself was a digital nomad for years and is now building a community for world travelers and digital nomads here in Seoul Nooks.

Now there is a wooden world map on one side of the wall that inspires digital nomads to pursue their dreams :)

This article was written by Yejin, a digital nomad programmer who is keen to innovate education through technology. She’s staying at Seoul Nooks since November until her next destination: Bali, Indonesia.