Yahoo News Joanna Gaines Is Already ‘Craving’ Another Big Family Trip to South Korea (Exclusive)
The 'Fixer Upper' star reflected on her extended family's epic trip to Seoul while speaking exclusively with PEOPLE in June
Rob Kim/Getty
Joanna GainesJoanna Gaines is looking forward to the day she and her family can travel back to South Korea.
The Magnolia Network founder, 46, opened up about wanting to return to Seoul following her big family vacation there in April 2023 while chatting with PEOPLE about her new Magnolia paint collection with KILZ.
Though she took the trip with her husband Chip, and their five kids — Drake, 19, Ella, 17, Duke, 16, Emmie, 14, and Crew, 5 — more than a year ago, she says watching the lasting impression it left on her family makes her want to go back as soon as she can.
“I mean that was a trek to take that many people, but we're all craving it again,” Joanna tells PEOPLE, referring to the 14-hour flight involved in the trip from their hometown in Waco, Texas.
“But knowing that even my youngest, it made such an impact on this little boy to where he still sees it, he still smells it,” she continues. “He still wants to go back like, oh, that's such a gift, especially for my mom to witness.”
The Fixer Upper star’s mom, Nan, was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. She later met Joanna’s Dad, Jerry Stevens, in 1969 when he was stationed there while serving in the United States Army.
Both of her parents tagged along for the special trip, along with Joanna’s two sisters Mikey and Teresa.
Related: Joanna Gaines Shares Glimpses of Her Five Kids as She Reflects on Big Family Trip to South Korea
The Stories We Tell author went on to explain how her youngest son, Crew, still refers to the trip.
“Crew often says, ‘I miss Korea,’” she shares. “In fact, when we went to New York last week and we got out of the car, he said, ‘I just love Koreans,’ and ‘this reminds me of Korea.’”
She continues, “He even said one day, 'I'm going to marry a Korean woman with black hair and eyes like yours, Mommy.' And I'm like, 'Oh my gosh.' I mean, this is my [almost] 6-year-old. So that trip for sure impacted him."
Joanna has previously been open about how difficult it was for her to embrace her Korean heritage growing up. During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE in November 2022, the design expert revealed that she shunned her roots when she was younger because she was often teased for things like eating rice in the cafeteria at lunch.
"We were literally the only Asians in our entire school," she told PEOPLE, referring to herself and her two sisters. She said she also remembered being called names by her classmates.
"It was deeply personal because that was half of my story. I realized if this isn't accepted, maybe I need to hide it and play more into the other side of who I am," she added.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Though her journey was not always smooth, Joanna said traveling to New York for a college internship is what helped her realize that her heritage is what makes her unique.
"I saw more people that looked like me than ever before," she explained. "I left really understanding the beauty and uniqueness of Korean culture and for the first time I felt whole, like this is fully who I am and I'm proud of it."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
