Far from the hot places and famous restaurants,
Chewing over and quietly reflecting on the time spent in an unfamiliar place
The travel attitude of 'quiet travel'

“Some travel destinations are not written about in articles.
“I want to keep it only in my heart.”
A discerning journalist's carefully curated travel stories

Nowadays, travel is so abundant that it can be said that 'leisure = travel', and articles about travel are also very common.
Traveling tends to give us a different kind of excitement from our daily lives, and that's why even non-writers want to write travel essays, and they can.
On the other hand, if someone who has to travel for work and whose job is to write about their travels writes a travel essay, what can we expect from their essay?

There are many more benefits to a quiet journey than this.
A physically calm environment is absolutely essential.
This is especially true when living in Seoul, a megacity with a population of 10 million.
I want to be free from all the noise, including the noise of cars and music coming from outside the store.
I want to disconnect from the distracting neon signs and the ever-brighter screens of my mobile devices.
In an era where even ordinary people, not just celebrities, broadcast their travels in real time, a quiet journey can also be one where you don't make a fuss about your every move, but instead mull it over and ruminate on it quietly.
Traveling, which allows us to appreciate the joy of boredom and the virtue of space, is becoming increasingly precious.
---From the "Prologue"

The act of imagining others adds quite a bit of interest to travel.
I'm not a novelist, but I have a hobby of imagining the lives of people I pass by while traveling and writing stories about them.
A person sitting by the window of a cafe with a lonely expression, a traveler who is alone in a group of tourists, a hotelier who mans the front desk late at night in a small lodging in a faraway land away from home.
Those who inspire imagination are all those who appear lonely.
---From "Falling asleep in perfect silence"

That winter, I spent ten days exploring four national parks in California on my own.
Expectations were highest for Death Valley.
It wasn't my first time in the desert, and I've been to many desert areas since then.
Deserts come in a variety of shapes and colors, and there are many ways to enjoy them.
For example, I rode a camel in the Inner Mongolian Desert in China, and climbed a 500-meter rocky mountain with an ancient fortress in the Dead Sea Desert in Israel.
In Dubai, I experienced 'dune bashing', which involved racing through the desert in a four-wheel drive vehicle.
I went on a stargazing tour in the Al Ula Desert in Saudi Arabia.
Leaning back on the cushions and listening to the clear-voiced female guide's stories, I felt like I was in the Arabian Nights.
All these deserts were fantastic, but Death Valley was different.
Above all, I was completely alone.
---From "In the Middle of the Desert Where Stars Whisper"

There is no desert like Death Valley in Korea, but there are many remote areas that are as vast as deserts.
Yeongyang Island in Gyeongbuk Province, which is listed as an International Dark Sky Park along with Death Valley National Park, is one such place, as is the deep, deep mountain village at the foot of Mt. Bangtaesan in Gangwon Province.
In Hongcheon-gun and Inje-gun, the first and second largest counties in Korea by area, there are places that were unaware that a war had broken out during the Korean War.
I visited all seven villages called '3dun 4gari' for reporting, and there were some places that didn't have electricity in the 21st century.
---From "When Our Life Before Us Ends"

I am sensitive to accommodation.
We thoroughly consider things like noise between floors, room lighting, and sanitary conditions.
If that's the case, then you should go to a place that meets these conditions even if it costs a lot, but you don't.
I enjoy the process of searching for places with good value for money, and I get a thrill when my hunch turns out to be right.
My wife is a little different.
I'm not a slacker, but I prefer proper, verified accommodations even if it means spending more.
So, I've had quite a few quarrels while traveling because of accommodations, but I've liked some accommodations so much that I've visited them more than once.
Haenam Yuseon Gwan is one of them.
A few years ago, I visited back-to-back, two or three months apart, in late winter and spring.
---From "The Power of Forest and Water"

I didn't have high expectations for the aurora, but the laser show that lit up the sky was truly magical.
I took pictures diligently, fussing like a puppy seeing snow for the first time in its life.
Then suddenly I came to my senses.
'Why am I just looking at this scene through my camera viewfinder like an idiot?'
I calmed my mind and took a step towards the tripod where my camera was hanging.
And I sat on the camping chair and looked up at the sky.
Next to me, tourists from Japan, Australia, and Mexico were busy taking commemorative photos and exclaiming “amazing.”
I forgot the minus 15 degree cold and watched the aurora dance, then became absorbed in my thoughts again.
'How can I put this moment into words?' My occupational disease kicked in.
No, it was a natural course of action since I was on a business trip.
My head started spinning again as I tried to think of sentences to write in the article.

---From "If you don't see the Aurora on your Aurora trip"