Next Stop: Korea

Hawaiian Airlines is launching its new service between Honolulu and Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. And I’ll be among the people aboard the inaugural flight, leaving shortly after noon today.

I’ll be representing the geeky, social media contingent, along with Burt Lum (“digital ronin” and my Hawaii Public Radio partner in crime) and Mari Taketa (of Nonstop Honolulu).

I certainly look forward to seeing what Hawaiian Air has to offer, and hear about its future plans for boosting routes into and out of Hawaii. But obviously, I’m especially excited about visiting Seoul. I traveled internationally quite a bit in the 1990s, but Seoul is one of the main cities that eluded me. Alas, I’ll have but three days to explore.

My primary objective is to simply share as much as I can about this unique experience. So I hope I’ll be able to! Although my iPhone would work there, AT&T’s international roaming offerings are hideously expensive. Fortunately, our destination is one of the most wired nations on Earth, and I’m hoping for pervasive Wi-Fi and other forms of internet access.

As I’ll likely not have much time to blog, I encourage you to follow me on Twitter, connect with me on Facebook, and keep an eye on my Flickr gallery and my YouTube channel.

Twitter will be a primary venue for the social media coverage of this inaugural flight, so to follow the conversation, be sure to track the “#HAKorea” hashtag.

This all came together very fast, and it’s a near miracle I was able to get everything sorted out in the two or so weeks I had to prepare. (I am particularly impressed with the Honolulu U.S. Passport office!) But I wouldn’t have had the opportunity at all were it not for the generosity of Hawaiian Airlines and its public relations team at Anthology Group (notably Patrick Dugan and Nathan Kam).

Other unsung heroes include my coworkers at my day job, which are allowing me some time away from the office despite just returning from vacation on the Big Island, and most importantly, my beautiful wife, who will be holding the family and household together in my absence… which overlaps with an unfortunately scheduled tenting and fumigation of our townhome complex.

A final tip of the hat to Aaron Namba of Bigger Bird Creative, who’s “Seoul Survivor Guide has been a great help, at least in making me feel a little less unprepared.

And now, I’m off!