This Chuseok, also known as Korea's Thanksgiving holiday, in late September, was one of the longest, six days in total. For working Koreans such as me, at the tail end of the Korean baby boomer generation, six days amounted to a full summer holiday. Suddenly with time on my hands and fatigued from work, after searching numerous online travel platforms, I walked into an old-fashioned travel agency with my hair wet after a workout. 'Do you have any slots where people have canceled?' The agent there kindly provided me with some last-minute options. 'You can fly to Vietnam, or opt for the small cities with hot springs in Japan,' - major and popular destinations were all sold out at that point.