Young workers taking more short trips abroad, fewer long vacations

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Young workers taking more short trips abroad, fewer long vacations

Published: 08 Nov. 2025, 07:00

WOO JI-WON
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

From left: Juliena Seong arrives at an airport to board a flight to Kuala Lumpur after carrying her luggage all day. Seong poses for a photo during her trip. [JULIENA SEONG]

After clocking out of work at an office in Gyeonggi on a recent Friday, Juliena Seong rushed to Gwanghwamun in central Seoul for a late work meeting, followed by a hoesik (work dinner).

While her colleagues kept the drinks flowing, Seong held back — in just a few hours, she would be boarding a flight to Kuala Lumpur.

Saying her goodbyes around midnight, she hurried to Incheon International Airport, dragging the suitcase she had been carrying since morning. A few short hours later, she was more than 30,000 feet in the air.

As soon as she landed in Malaysia's capital after a seven-hour flight, her whirlwind 48-hour escape began. She slurped laksa (spicy coconut noodle soup), snapped photos beneath the iconic Petronas Twin Towers, went shopping and even managed to get her hands on a few Labubu dolls.

But soon came the time to return to reality. After a final plate of nasi lemak (a coconut milk rice dish) late Sunday night, she hopped on a flight back to Incheon, landing at 7 a.m. Monday.

And that was only the start of the long day ahead of her. She went home for a quick shower, got dressed and headed straight back to the office.

"I've taken short overseas trips like this several times," said Seong, now in her third year at a 9-to-6 job. She has flown to nearby destinations such as Kota Kinabalu and Nha Trang — each about five hours away — on similar schedules: finish work on Friday, fly overnight and return late Sunday or early Monday morning.

Juliena Seong heads to the airport late Sunday to catch her flight back to Korea. [JULIENA SEONG]

"I usually take a half day off because I can't take the whole day off because of work," the 27-year-old said. "I don't really feel tired going to work right after because I sleep on the plane. Of course, I get exhausted by Monday night, but I can rest after work."

Despite the tight schedule, she says the benefits far outweigh the fatigue.

"I mean, I'd love to take longer vacations, but with limited leave days, I try to make the most of the weekends. I can visit various countries in those spare times, and traveling between work gives me energy — both by recalling past trips and looking forward to the next one."

Like Seong, a growing number of workers, especially younger ones, are heading overseas for weekend escapes, using as few vacation days as possible.

According to data from travel platform Trip.com, round-trip flight bookings by Korean travelers departing on Friday nights and returning on Sunday nights or Monday morning increased by more than 88 percent from January to October this year, compared to the same period last year.

The data also showed that China was the most popular weekend getaway destination, followed by Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand — all of which take between an hour and a half to six hours to reach.

Not long ago, traveling abroad was considered a big undertaking, something that required planning and a fair amount of willpower, even for nearby destinations. But these days, for many young workers — who have stable incomes but little time off — short, high-efficiency overseas trips have become a common weekend activity.

For some, such quick overseas getaways have practically become a lifestyle.

Choi Ah-young shares an Instagram video on how to travel Hong Kong for four days using only one vacation day. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Choi Ah-young, a 31-year-old office worker, traveled abroad nine times last year and plans to visit eight destinations by the end of this year — including Shanghai, where she spent three nights and four days using just one vacation day.

Rather than using all her vacation days on one long trip, she plans them strategically to travel as often as possible, taking short but smart vacations that require only one or two days off each time.

The growing flexibility in working hours since Covid-19 has also helped.

"My company has flexible working hours, so leaving early or starting late is fine," said Choi, who also runs the Instagram account jjjoah0, where she introduces herself as a "vacation-day traveler" and shares tips on traveling while making the most of limited leave. "That makes short trips much less tiring. Also, to make the most of my limited vacation days, I have to put up with the fatigue."

On social media platforms like Instagram, posts featuring office workers taking weekend trips abroad without using vacation days have become increasingly common and popular.

An Instagram video shows an office worker arriving at Incheon International Airport on Friday night after work, left, and changing clothes in the airport restroom. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

One short Instagram video of an office worker documenting her jam-packed four-day trip to Cebu went viral, drawing 2.7 million views and more than 29,000 likes as of Thursday, with thousands of comments asking for her itinerary.

In the video, she takes an 8:30 p.m. Friday flight to Cebu after finishing work at 6 p.m. Upon landing around midnight, she changes into a swimsuit at the airport, heads to Oslob to see whale sharks at 3 a.m., visits Tumalog Falls at 5 a.m., and goes to Kawasan Falls by 7 a.m. On Sunday, she swims, tours the city, snaps photos at Sirao Garden and even squeezes in a massage before catching her Sunday night flight home.

Recognizing the growing demand for no-vacation-day weekend travel, travel agencies are launching products to match.

HanaTour’s travel packages that depart on Friday night and return to Korea late Saturday night or early Sunday morning [HANATOUR]

In September, Hana Tour introduced four-day "Night Goblin" packages to major Chinese cities Shanghai and Qingdao. The program departs Friday night, covers major landmarks and returns early Monday morning. Another version includes Shanghai Disneyland and a visit to a beer museum.

While visa-free entry has helped fuel weekend overseas getaways, according to Lee Hoon, a professor at Hanyang University's Graduate School of International Tourism, for many millennials and Gen Z, travel is no longer a luxury or a once-a-year indulgence, but an efficient and essential way to recharge.

According to Booking.com's June travel behavior report, 45 percent of Korean respondents aged 18 to 44 said taking several short trips is more efficient than one long vacation, while 52 percent said they plan trips specifically to lift their mood.

Office worker Choi agrees. "If I used all my vacation days for one long trip, I'd only travel once a year and spend months waiting for it. But by taking shorter trips more often, I always have something to look forward to and that motivates me in my everyday life."

Lee added that travel is an effective way to relieve stress.

"Young workers today face high levels of stress, including at the workplace, and travel provides one of the most effective ways to relieve that stress," Lee said, citing studies that have shown that people who travel report significantly higher happiness levels.

"Travel isn't just about escaping reality. It's about recharging and restoring, receiving energy to come back stronger to reality."

BY WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]