[koreawish]

Hi everyone,

My husband and I are planning on traveling to Korea to pick up our son as soon as we get the travel call!

I'm wondering how long we should stay. The social worker told us we will meet the baby on the first day but will not be able to travel with him in Korea. Since we only get the baby on the last day my husband wants to get there and back as fast as possible - maybe two nights and one day. I have already traveled through Korea and know there won't be much to see in December. However, I'm worried about resting inbetween such long flights. We will be staying at Eastern. Any thoughts?

Thanks!!! Koreawish.

[madtownrph1]

I would definitely stay there longer than a couple nights. We just went to Korea in August and originally had the same idea as you guys. We ended up staying there for a week. You may get your baby sooner than you expect. We ended up being united with our baby girl three days before going back home. We did not know this would happen until right after meeting her at her foster family's home. We worked with SWS though. It was great having the extra time to start bonding with her before the long flight home.

[Amymomamie]

You may also want to check with your agency if there is a required stay. We worked with Eastern and we had to be in country for three business days. This was due to meetings with our son, his social worker and his foster mother and paperwork that needed to be processed while we were there.

We have a bio daughter we left at home that we were anxious to get home to so we left on a Saturday and returned on a Thursday. It was plenty of time for us to see the things we wanted to see in and around Seoul without us feeling like it was too long to be away from home.

[dmrjcr]

The time differences and long flights are killer so I'd recommend staying at least 4 nights or so. We left here on a Saturday morning so arrived in Seoul Sunday night, and returned on Thursday. That wasn't enough time. We got Alex Wednesday morning, but could have gotten him Tuesday if we chose to. Since we only had one day to see Korea, we decided to wait the extra day to get him.

[racytracy]

We were also with Eastern and had a 3-day stay required. Arrived Sunday morning (were supposed to arrive Saturday night but had flight issues). Monday we met our son, Tuesday we went to his foster home, Wednesday we went sightseeing/shopping, and Thursday we received custody en route to the airport.

Seeing where he lived his first 8 months and meeting his big brother was a fabulous experience I will always remember--he was so loved, my child, and it was heartwarming to see that. I wouldn't trade that memory for another day as his Mommy.

HTH,
Tracy

[teachamy]

I'm just wondering if you've decided how long you will stay? Just curious...
Good luck--hope your travel call comes soon!

[koreawish]

Thanks for asking! We decided to stay at least 4 nights thanks to everyone's input. One of the biggest reasons we decided to stay is so we would have some pictures and keepsakes for the baby. It's such a long way to travel to not expereience the country.

I can barely wait until the travel call. My agency says that we may be able to go by Thanksgiving but now they are giving me the 3 to 4 month line. Arrrgh!