I started my journey of self-discovery at the age of 'fifty', and I am living the fun 'seventy'!

The past years have been spent in a state of flux, living faithfully as a daughter-in-law, wife, mother, and the work entrusted to me.
After making a pledge to enjoy life at the age of 50, he rediscovers himself through travel and finds the value of life and daily life in his book, "Life Becomes Interesting After 50."

A trip to an unfamiliar place is a break from the repetitive routine of daily life and a shining moment.
The journey that began in my fifties became the greatest joy and happiness that brought me joy in my seventies.
A happy life is one with many good memories that will not be forgotten even after a long time has passed!

“I want to tell the young people who are working hard today, and those who are growing older with me, to prepare for what they want to do and what will give them strength and drive in their lives.”

Unlike me, my mother was a person who saw the light.
If memory is an object, then when you shine light on it, a shadow is bound to appear, but my mother was the type of person who fixed her gaze on the light.
Mom, there's a shadow here.
Why do you ignore the shadow?
The things that tormented us were blatantly there like shadows, but Mom focused her eyes on the light, not the shadows.
When you look at the light for a long time, it feels as if all the bad things and suffering will go away.
I was curious as I watched other mothers.
Where does the gaze of a mother looking at light come from?

I think I found the answer while watching my mother's travelogue.
Reading about the joy of fully enjoying the time given to me and the way I was absorbed in the scenery that travel provided, I felt how much my mother loved life.
An article that records the passion that cannot be given up on wanting to see even one more thing with one's own eyes, even if one's feet hurt and one's body gets tired, and the lingering emotion after encountering beauty.
This travelogue was a yearning for an unknown life, and an experience that turned my hopes into reality.
A mother's light comes from her love for life.
It is a record of love that would not have been possible without love for life.
---From "Recommended Articles"

The saying comes to mind: "What is the way to capture and own the beauty we see on our travels? Record it."
I learned that recording something is a process of weaving time.
I chose the most memorable travel destinations from the 20 years of travel I've been on since receiving a package from my father in 2005, and compiled the scattered travel records into a book.
Stories connect and connect people.
A trip to an unfamiliar place is a break from the repetitive routine of daily life and a shining moment.
Traveling gives us a new perspective on our daily lives and allows us to see everyday problems from a new perspective.
Traveling gives strength to daily life by making the daily life we ​​return to more valuable.

---From the "Prologue"

Dark tourism refers to travel to places with dark histories, such as wars and massacres, or to disaster sites.
After Krakow, we visited Oświęcim, which is about 54 kilometers away.
It is better known by its German name, Auschwitz.
Auschwitz.
The sites of tragedy, such as [Killing Fields] and [Ground Zero], are resources with stories and living educational sites.
People's footsteps and sympathy are creating a tourist destination.


I am standing right there in Auschwitz.
It is said that about 2 million Jews were massacred there, where the original form was preserved because the German army, which had retreated hastily as the Soviet army advanced, was unable to destroy it in time.
Originally, there was a political prison camp here, but it is said that the Nazis rebuilt it on a large scale during World War II to massacre Jews, Soviet political prisoners, and Gypsies.
The Auschwitz ruins have now been converted into a museum and are open to the public.
The main gate of the camp bears the German phrase "Arbeit macht frei," meaning "Work makes you free."
I couldn't hide my sadness as I passed by the door with this deceptive sign.


Ah! What were the feelings of the inmates as they passed through this door?
--- pp.44∼45

St. Petersburg gave me a great impression, just like the fantasies I had as a child.
As the saying goes, St. Petersburg is a symbolic space that chronologically condenses Russia's high-level spiritual and cultural heritage, and the city itself is a huge museum.
The city of St. Peter, St. Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great in 1703, is called 'a feat of Russian spiritual life.'
Built on a barren swamp at the mouth of the Baltic Sea, this planned city is a hybrid of "Orthodox Russian soul and European modernity."
The entire city of St. Petersburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is said that there are over 500 bridges crossing the Neva River.
A canal flows slowly between low, quaint buildings built in the 18th and 19th centuries, overlooking the river.

In St. Petersburg, I heard more about Pushkin than about Dostoevsky, and I learned that he was a writer loved by all Russians.
To me, he was a writer whose name I remember most as a child, a poem I memorized with great effort: “Even if life deceives you, do not be sad or angry.”

--- pp.72∼73

One thing that is special and cannot be missed in Spain is the food.
You can't miss out on the pleasure of eating delicious food while traveling.
As a coastal region, Andalusia is known for its seafood dishes, including shrimp and octopus.
In Spain, each region has its own representative dish.
At the restaurant 'El Huerto de Juan Llanas', where you can have a romantic dinner overlooking the Alhambra, you can truly experience the special flavors of Andalusia, created by Spain's unique hot and dry climate.
The grilled octopus with garlic sauce I had at the Parador de Granada restaurant with a view of the Generalife was simply fantastic.

Gazpacho, a cold soup from Cordoba, and paella, a Spanish fried rice dish, are readily available everywhere.
Eating tapas made with various ingredients alongside the Spanish cocktail sangria is one of the unforgettable memories of a trip to Granada.
Dining in a wonderful restaurant next to El Greco's house in Toledo, or enjoying delicious food and chatting late into the night in a restaurant in Seville, which has the most restaurants in Andalusia, are pleasures that only travel can offer.
The story of Spain is endless.
--- pp.143∼144

I was a little excited because I heard that a little fox, like one from The Little Prince, would occasionally appear and knock on the tent and ask for food.
Perhaps it was because of that expectation that I decided to spend the night in the desert, even though it was uncomfortable.
I waited all night in the uncomfortable tent for the little fox from The Little Prince to come down, but I never saw him.


When I was in middle school, I read Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince" and was so moved by the exchange between the prince and the fox in the desert.
After reading The Little Prince, the meaning of ‘taming’ came to me in a different way.
The fox's explanation of friendship in The Little Prince, a short sentence full of wisdom, still lingers in my mind.
Have you ever seen stars in the desert? They are truly awe-inspiring beauty.
I remember lying on the rooftop with my mom on summer nights when I was little and looking at the stars.
It was a star that seemed like it was going to pour down.
It seemed like the first time I had seen so many stars since then.


The time I spent gazing at the countless stars in the sky in the Bahariyah Desert felt mystical, as if it were not of this world.
I remember shuddering with emotion as I recalled the saying, "The richest people in this world are not merchants or landowners, but those who have experienced a powerful sense of wonder under the stars at night."

--- p.214

A small house that preserves Beethoven's will.
I sat down for a moment on the chair in front of the piano where Beethoven used to play.
I once again thought that it would not be an exaggeration to say that it was the hearing loss that had brought him such great misfortune that we were able to hear profound music that we could never hear before or even after Beethoven.
Because great geniuses always sacrifice their personal comfort and suffer in the depths of suffering, to shed light on humanity.
I left there and walked along Beethoven's promenade to where his small statue stands.
It is said that while walking along this road, he came up with the motif of his 6th Symphony, 'Pastoral'.
Although he could not even hear the bells of the nearby St. Michael's Church, his mind was listening to the singing of birds and the sound of the flowing stream.

After returning from my trip, I couldn't sleep deeply for several days, dreaming of wandering the alleyways of Europe and searching for something.
Moving with luggage was tiring, and my toes were swollen from greedily visiting so many museums that I couldn't sleep well at night, but when I came back, I thought it was a dreamlike time of rest and freedom.

--- p.286