"An extraordinary walking story from an ordinary walking essayist."

A little bit of the city's intimate scenery and memories, seen slowly while walking for a long time
A record written while walking 3,500km in Seoul and its suburbs over the course of a year.

If you think about it, walking isn't that special.
People walk countless times a day, whether to get to work, for exercise, or just to clear their minds or get some fresh air.
It's all too familiar, but the working essayist has turned it into something out of the ordinary.
The walking essay "I Walk, Think, and Write" is not a simple record of walking, but contains the scenery, thoughts, and memories discovered from small steps.

His starting point is always Mapo.
Because that's home.
Leaving the nest, he explores Seoul radially.
Starting from Mapo, it passes through every corner of Seoul, including Hongjecheon, Samcheong-dong, Seochon Hanok Village, Jeongneung-dong, Itaewon, Seongsu-dong, Bongcheon-dong, Garibong-dong, and Godeok-dong, and ends at Namhansanseong Fortress, Jamsil, Guri, Gyeonggi-do, Bucheon, and Gwanggyo.
Sometimes I walk for four or five hours to get to a place that would take an hour by bus.
Some days I just happened to set out on the road, and some days I walked with determination.
I even went out because I wanted to eat tteokbokki.


As he walked along the road, he started from Mapo and passed through the dongs and gu of Seoul, crossing the border between Seoul and Gyeonggi-do.
We always keep our eyes on the destination, and we don't pay attention to the people we pass by along the way.
But for so long, the author, who had been walking along the well-traveled and untraveled roads, crowded streets, and alleyways, wanted to write down everything he encountered along the way.
He walked, thought, and wrote.

The author walked a whopping 3,500 km in one year.
Walking more than 100,000 steps a day is not as easy as you might think.
By achieving small goals one by one, the author discovered a new face of the city.
The thoughts that came to mind while walking, the scenery that passed by, and the experiences in unfamiliar places all became material for writing, and in the process, the author was able to take time to reflect on himself and redesign his life.

As the author's message suggests, "Records give us memories," this book makes us look back on moments that are easily missed in our busy daily lives.
It will be a warm companion for all those who want to look at the city they pass by every day a little more slowly and with a little different perspective.

One thing I've realized while walking is the power of consistency.
Work life was the same.
I worked steadily without thinking about moving to another place, and ended up working at the same job for over 25 years.
If these moments of walking, thinking, and writing were to accumulate steadily, it seemed like they would become another gold medal in my life.
So I decided to go crazy about walking for a year.

--- p.13

I was walking in the rain so hard I couldn't see in front of me, but strangely enough, I felt really good.
I don't know how long it's been since I last walked in the rain.
It was incomparable to the memories of deliberately getting wet when I was young, or of being exposed to heavy rain during military training. It felt like all the heat in my body and all the worries of the world were washed away.
How can I put this feeling into words?
--- p.66

Perhaps, in my memory, Bongcheon-dong was only confined to ‘Rooftop Room.’
I remembered the narrow alleyways and residential areas always shrouded in dim streetlights, and even the rooftop stairs were so dark that I had to grope my way up them.
Sometimes, when I was out on the rooftop at night, the windows of every house would twinkle like stars.
Memories of the past that came to mind like that gradually flowed out of my head and scattered into the raindrops.

--- p.110

Since I achieved my goal but not my purpose, I will soon go on a treasure hunt to taste that 1980s tteokbokki that is known to the world but unknown to me.
It's so good just to think about it, it seems like it'll be a dream tonight with its unique 'happiness'.

--- p.167

I followed the neighborhood elder at a slow pace.
All my life I've tried to get ahead of others and get ahead of others felt futile.
As I follow the life of an elderly person, I am lost in many thoughts.
I'm completely hooked.
If not for this time, when will I ever find enlightenment after a life of ignorance?
--- p.226

Lastly, I visited the Godeok Public Housing Complex 3 Apartment where I lived.
Building 302, where I used to live, the playground where I used to play with my friends, and the hillside behind the mountain were all gone, but the young me of 1984 was still there, standing there, waiting for me.
After a while, we met each other and greeted each other.
To the guy who tells me I'm all grown up, I chuckle and say, "You're still the same," and then go back to Mapo.
Today, 1984, was a very happy day.

--- p.257