Are you new to the island, looking forward to dodging the monsoon weather and heading to the beaches this summer? Not sure which beach to check out? Here’s some information that might help get you started.

1. Samyang Beach - Located to the immediate east of Jeju City, this beach is accessible by city bus and is famous for its black sand. The black sand is known for its dermatological properties, and “there are even trenches so that you can be buried in the sand - it’s great for your skin,” commented English instructor and Jeju resident Anj Schroeder. Anj added that Samyang is best visited in the peaceful early hours of the morning.

When Gecko’s opened late last year, it was a revelation. It was like being lost in the desert and God pouring manna down from heaven. It was one of the first (another being LaVie) restaurant on the island to offer a menu of genuine Western food in a great, home-style atmosphere. For years, other establishments on Jeju had offered what they claimed was Western or Italian food, but never seemed to get it right. When friends told me about a new place on the island with actual American and European food and drinks, I was skeptical.

After a long winter was almost over, advice from a friend and a visit to a Japanese onsen finally prompted me to check out the world of saunas and jimjilbangs on Jeju. I had been missing my bathtub in Canada and my muscles were sore, but I was feeling a bit shy about getting naked in front of a lot of local strangers. The morning after my first trip to the Deabo Sauna in Sin-Jeju, however, I woke up without one of the chronic headaches I’d been getting for the last two weeks. My body and mind felt tension-free and clear. I danced better in class. I was hooked.

Gorgeous island paradise is commonly used to describe this heaven of an island on which many of us are lucky enough to call home. Indeed it is, and with so many wonderful sites to explore, there is no better time to get started than when the weather is warming up and the sun is shining bright. That’s right folks—summertime! You can always take one of the gazillion taxis on the island or the crowded bus line to get around, but it’s not nearly as fun as having the wind whipping through your hair and the cool breeze running across your face as you’re zipping down the open road on your very own scooter or motorcycle. But, I don’t have a scooter or motorcycle. There’s a simple solution to your problem. His name is Mr. Sang Jin Lee, and he is one of the Lees you need to know.

Here I was in some unknown suburb of Reykjavik, Iceland, having an impromptu Playstation Singstar competition with my new Icelandic friends. Previously we had been out together at a birthday meal and I had bought my most expensive glass of wine ever ($40!). Fast forward a day later and I was skating across Reykjavik pond with an Austrian girl who had been building a large walk-in camera from old schematics in Vienna. Later still, I would have a guided tour of the city from a balding Icelandic man who seemed proud of how small all of Iceland’s largest institutions were. Fitting then, that my first Couchsurfing experiences were where, in 1999, American Casey Fenton first formed his idea for the Couchsurfing project.