2022 Korea Bridge Tours Tour 1: June 21 – July 1, 2022 Tour extension to Jeju Island July 1-3, 2022 Tour 2: July 3 – July 13, 2022
ASIA Families, Inc. is pleased to announce that we are planning two Korea Bridge Tours during the summer of 2022! ASIA Families is a DC based organizaton that supports adopted persons from Korea, and brings extensive knowledge of the language, culture, and internatonal adopton experiences. ASIA Families has facilitated several outstanding homeland tours in the past which have received rave reviews. In the words of previous tour partcipants:
"I would do this tour again in a heartbeat....the best experience that I could have ever hoped for!" “"The best part of the trip was the personalized tour to my children's birth cites with super-helpful volunteers and the opportunity to meet our child's foster mom.” “All your arrangements were so perfect -- not touristy, but rather diverse and a good experience of Korean culture...We loved going to the elementary school.” "Afer meetng our host family, it felt like we had known each other forever. Our whole family had so much fun being with them. It was so easy and comfortable, and so hard to say goodbye."
Explore Your Roots in Korea We work with every family on the tour to arrange a visit to Korean adopton agencies (ESWS Holt Korea, SWS or orphanage) and when possible a visit with the adopted person’s foster family.
Experience Korea as a Tourist — and as an Insider You will visit the traditonal tourist sites in Seoul, such as Gyeongbokkung Palace, Namdaemun Market, Insadong antque alley (Tour 1 only), traditonal and modern sectons of cites. In additon, you and your family will visit places not on typical Korean tour itneraries such as an alternatve school for teenagers who are refugees from North Korea (Tour 2 only).
Build Life-Long Friendships in Korea During the tour, you will spend an evening with a host family. For many partcipants, this is one of the most memorable parts of the trip: spending tme in a Korean home or apartment, sharing a meal, and enjoying the boundless hospitality for which Koreans are famous. You will also get to know local Korean volunteers who assist with various aspects of the tour. Share Your Experiences in a Supportive Environment Travel with adoptve families as well as adopton professionals and members of the Korean- American community, who understand and support each other through a journey that you will treasure forever.
Korea Tour Details Dates Tour 1 Tuesday, June 21 – Friday, July 1, 2022 (11 travel days)
Optonal Tour extension to Jeju Island July 1-3, 2022 (Departure from Korea- July 4, 2022 for Tour 1 partcipants, Arrival to Korea – June 30 for Tour 2 partcipants)
Tour 2 Sunday, July 3 – Tuesday, July 13, 2022 (11 travel days)
Tour Cost Our Korea tour cost will be approximately $3350 per partcipant. This fee will include all lodging, most meals except those on free days, charter bus transportaton, all admission fees to atractons, and post adopton service assistance during your trip.
The tour fee doesn’t include your round trip airfare to and from Korea (Approximately $2000- $2100 per person), side trips expenses, gifs you take to Korea, personal shopping, and mandatory traveler’s insurance cost (Approx $75-$150 per person depending on your state).
Jeju Extension Trip Cost (July 1-3, 2022) We are excited to ofer an opton trip extension to Jeju Island. The approximate cost to add Jeju to your itnerary will be $700 per person for all meals, lodging, airfares and transportaton. *If you are joining the Jeju trip and you are a member of Tour 2, you are responsible to arrive to the hotel in Seoul on your own a night before July 1. Of course we will be providing detailed instructons on how to get to the hotel from the Incheon Airport.
Airfare and Ticket Booking In January 2022, we will provide you with a designated travel agency's contact informaton to book the non-stop Korean Air fights from Washington Dulles Internatonal Airport together and receive a group discount rate. Korean Air costs approximately $2000 -$2100 per person with the group discount. Please note partcipants are not obligated to travel with other tour partcipants on the same fight, however previous ASIA Families tour partcipants have expressed how much they enjoyed travelling with other group members and getng to know them on the 13 1/2 hour-long fight. You are welcome to book your trip on your own just forward the fight confrmaton to us so we can arrange an airport greeter.
Trip Extensions On previous ASIA Families tours some families have chosen to visit sites not on the group schedule including visits to their children’s birth cites. If you wish to make a side trip away from the group schedule or extend your trip, we will be happy to assist you in making arrangements. However, you will be responsible for the additonal costs of such trips.
To Register Please fll out the online registraton form and a $500 non-refundable deposit per family. The registratons will be accepted on a frst-come, frst-served basis. Once you complete the online registraton, you will receive an email with payment instructons. *ASIA Families will refund the deposit if US or Korean government prohibits internatonal travels between US and Korea. *In the case of the tour cancellaton due to unforeseen natural disaster or travel restrictons by the State Department, the deposit will be refunded to the partcipants. * In all other cases, the tour deposit is not refundable.
Tour Fee Payment Schedule The full payments are due to February 1, 2022.
If you cancel your partcipaton within the 60 days before the travel dates, we will refund you 50 percent of your prepaid tour fees. If you cancel your partcipaton with the 30 days before the travel dates, we will not be able to refund the fees.
After registering, Afer you have registered, please keep in mind:
Apply or Renew All of Your Passports Korea doesn't require you to have any immunizaton shots or a separate travel VISA. However, all passports should be valid through December 2022.
Contact For more informaton on the 2022 tours, please email Grace Song at [email protected] and Lydia Kim at [email protected].
Tentatve Itnerary for Tour 1
Tour 1: Seoul, Daegu, Yeosu (Stops in Hwaseong & Jeonju)
Date Actvity Tues, 6/21 Departure Day Wed, 6/22 Arrive in Korea (Seoul) Thurs, 6/23 Agency Visits, Citzenship Ceremony, Performance, Myeongdong (Seoul) Fri, 6/24 Express Bus Terminal, COEX (Seoul) Sat, 6/25 Scavenger Hunt, Host Family (Seoul) Sun, 6/26 Hwaseong Fortress, Bullo-Dong Tomb, Suseung Lake Show (Hwaseong & Daegu) Mon, 6/27 Mabijeong Mural, Big-O Show at The Expo (Daegu & Yeosu) Tues, 6/28 Hyangriram Hermitage, Yeosu Fish Market, Yi Sun Shin Square (Yeosu) Wed, 6/29 Jeonju Hanok Village, Making Chocopies, Rest Areas (Jeonju & Seoul) Thurs, 6/30 Free Day, Farewell Party (Seoul) Fri, 7/1 Departure Day
Tentatve Itnerary for Jeju Extension
Jeju Extension: Hamdeok Beach, Jeju City
Date Actvity Fri, 7/1 Flight/ Departure to Jeju, Dongmun Market Sat, 7/2 Jeju Stone Park, O’Sulloc Museum, Baengnokdam Farm Sun, 7/3 Hike, Flight/ Departure to Seoul
Tentatve Itnerary for Tour 2
Tour 2: Seoul, Gyeongju, Busan (Stop in Andong)
Date Actvity Sun, 7/3 Flight/ Departure Mon, 7/4 Arrive in Korea (Seoul) Tues, 7/5 Agency Visits, Kimchi Making Class (Seoul) Wed, 7/6 Volunteer Service, Namdaemun Gate, Performance (Seoul) Thurs, 7/7 Seok Gu Ram, Ssambap, Bul Guk Sa, Dong Gung Palace and Wolji Pond (Gyeongju) Fri, 7/8 Cheon Ma Chong, Alternatve School for NK Defectors (Gyeongju, Busan) Sat, 7/9 Jagalchi Market, Host Family (Busan) Sun, 7/10 Nakdong River Ferry to Buyongdae, Jjimdalk, Rest Statons (Andong & Seoul) Mon, 7/11 Insadong, Gwanghwamun, Parent- KAD Q&A (Seoul) Tues, 7/12 Free Day, Farewell Party (Seoul) Wed, 7/13 Departure Day