23 Hours on the Highway and the Moving Date of Chuseok
Back in the mid-1990s, a trip from Seoul to my grandmother's house in the countryside usually took about five hours. But during —Korea's harvest festival and autumn Thanksgiving—that same drive turned into a grueling 23-hour test of human endurance.
The highway rest stops along the way were so completely overwhelmed that just attempting to pull in for a bathroom break and get back on the road took nearly two hours. Families quickly learned not to bother. Instead, we packed the car with boiled eggs, fruit, water, and snacks, sitting in an endless line of red taillights stretching into the dark horizon.
Unlike Western holidays like Christmas that stay fixed on a specific date, follows the traditional lunar calendar and shifts every year. In 2026, falls on September 25th, which corresponds to the 15th day of the 8th lunar month.
What could possibly compel millions of people to pack into their cars and willingly walk into this nationwide traffic gridlock on the exact same day every single year?
The Cultural Root: Clan Villages, Migration, and Returning Home
To understand the madness of Chuseok traffic, you have to look at how quickly Korean society changed over a single generation.
For centuries, Korea was an agricultural society centered around rice farming. Extended families lived together in clan villages (jipseongchon, ), where generations of relatives grew up, worked the land, and raised children on the same soil.
During Korea's rapid industrialization in the late 20th century, millions of young people left these rural clan villages and moved to Seoul and other major cities for jobs and university degrees. They built modern urban lives, but their deep family roots remained back in the countryside.
Because city life was fast and demanding, —celebrated under the brightest full moon of autumn—was far more than just a three-day weekend. It was an overwhelming emotional pull for tired city workers to return to their hometowns and step back into "mom's embrace," no matter how long the drive took.
The Reward: Late-Night Welcomes and Kitchen Chaos
Stepping out of the car late at night in a pitch-black country village after 23 hours of stop-and-go driving was pure relief. Even at 2:00 AM, my grandmother and aunties were still awake, watching the road for headlights and wondering out loud, "Is that our son? Are those our grandchildren?"
Inside, uncles and cousins who had driven in from other cities were already gathered around low wooden tables. Even though the full moon was still a day or two away from reaching its peak, everyone sat together over drinks, laughing and swapping "war stories" about which highway bottleneck had been the worst.
By the next morning, the quiet house turned into a bustling kitchen operation. The air smelled of hot oil and sizzled with savory pancakes (jeon, ). Relatives sat together shaping sweet rice cakes (songpyeon, ), boiling cuts of beef, and catching up on a year's worth of missed conversations.
From Traffic Jams to Vacations
Today, the famous 23-hour traffic jams are largely a thing of the past. Modern highways, high-speed train networks, and changing social attitudes have made holiday travel much smoother. A growing number of younger families now use the long holiday to travel abroad or stay home in the city for a quiet rest instead of making the traditional pilgrimage back home.
Yet, even as habits change, the core spirit of Chuseok remains familiar. At its heart, the holiday is about pausing a busy life, washing away the season's fatigue, and sharing good food and warmth with the people who matter most.
Reactions & Next Steps
- Continue Reading: Why Solo Dwellers in Korea Still Say 'Our House' — how shapes the language of home, family, and belonging.
- Related: Ten Months in the Womb: Why Korean Taegyo Was Never About IQ — the emotional side of Korean family life before a child is even born.
- Related: When Do Koreans Switch from Jondaetmal (존댓말) to Banmal (반말)? — how age and closeness change speech when extended family gathers under one roof.