Are you more excited about retirement than when you were the envy of the nation as a CEO of a large corporation?
He started out as a low-level employee and rose to become the head of Lotte World.
'The Myth of the Salaryman' challenges a new myth this time by walking the world.


With what kind of mindset and determination does one declare, "I'm more excited than when I was the CEO of a major corporation, and my prime is just beginning!"? Park Dong-gi, the former CEO of Lotte World, is the protagonist of the "salaryman legend," having started as a low-level employee at Lotte Group and risen to become the head of Korea's No. 1 theme park (Lotte World).
His story was amazing even during his tenure at Lotte Group, but it was after his retirement that it surprised those around him even more.
After retirement, he too briefly fell into the life of a 'retired CEO of a large corporation'.
It was a time when “I just met up with friends, played golf, and had a drink.”
If you live like this, you will get bored and it will be easy to just repeat, “In the old days” or “In my time”.
It is a boring and painful thing for both the person and those around them.

But, he soon changed.
He had never taken a vacation or gone on an overseas trip while working as CEO of Lotte World, but he had a habit of climbing domestic mountains whenever he had time.
So he threw away his life as a 'retired CEO of a large corporation' who was just spinning around on a wheel and set out to walk the world.
I challenged myself to trekking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and as soon as I returned home, I challenged myself to climb the Kagoshima volcano in Japan in just three days.
It was a decision and a schedule that forced me to change by forcing myself into a demanding schedule.
Most people 'resolve again and again' to change their lives, but most of the time they think too much and act too little.
However, former representative Park, the 'walking man', pushed ahead with his breathless schedule.


This book is a mid-term report on the second half of former President Park's life, with the goal of "traveling all the major trekking courses around the world before I turn 70."
He is not afraid.
“Even if you go to an unfamiliar foreign country, you will have no problems communicating and navigating traffic as long as you have three mobile phone apps.”
And he says:
“The golden age of my life is not when I am recognized by others, but when I am doing what I want to do.
So the golden age of my life has just begun.”

His three principles for walking the world are
1.
Let's roam freely without any conditions.
2.
Let's walk as much as possible
3.
Don't be too conscious of money
am.

The baby boomer generation is retiring in large numbers.
Wouldn't 'Park Dong-gi's 3 Principles of Happiness' be worth following?

“As I walk and walk, I begin to think that this road with nothing to see isn’t so bad.
Today, I decided to just walk in silence, and my mind became at ease and my steps became lighter.
I decided that today was a day to just walk without any expectations of the scenery, so I gathered my courage and left the village entrance. But the sight that came before my eyes took my breath away for a moment.
The image of the pilgrimage route that I had vaguely imagined in my head appeared.
The pilgrimage continues, and continues again, until it disappears dreamily beyond the horizon of the blue wheat fields.
Just looking at it makes me feel happy.
“It feels like all the hard work has been rewarded in one go.”
--- From "Day 5 of the Santiago Trek"

“I kept walking, enduring the unpredictable weather that changed from moment to moment.
Isn't there no other way to overcome this situation than to walk? Just walk without thinking.
The moment you turn your head and cheer when you reach your destination, everyone's eyes widen again when they see your back.
As if nothing had happened, the sky cleared for a moment and a hint of blue appeared.
Along with it, a refreshing panorama of white snow-capped mountains unfolds.
“I didn’t even know that, so I just walked forward, no, just looking at the tips of my feet… .”
--- From "Day 23 of South America Travel"

I never learned about such a wonderful, sophisticated, and ornate Islamic culture in school.
Since we learned world history from the perspective of Europe, the victors of modern society, Islam has almost disappeared from textbooks.
I came to the local area at an old age to learn about the splendid Islam that had disappeared from history books.

--- From "Day 2 of the Turkey Trip"

Pine trees of incalculable heights spread out before your eyes.
As expected, the size of the pine tree is enormous.
The trees are twisted in strange ways, as if to prove that they live for 3,000 to 5,000 years.
Although the middle of the trunk is rotten and decayed, the tree trunks are still straight and the colorful leaves show off their freshness.
It's hard to believe that he's been alive for thousands of years without dying.
The tree from the time of King Dangun is still alive today.
--- From "Kagoshima Trekking Day 5"

The highlight of the performance was the male solo called 'Heumi'.
The moment you hear it, the entire audience is instantly drawn in.
It sounds like the wind in a wide meadow, or like the voice of a wild beast roaming the wilderness.
It sounds like an untouchable, supernatural sound bursting from a distant wilderness where the bitter wind blows.
Was this the voice of the Mongols, conquering the world and galloping relentlessly across the vast land? Was this the roar of the great emperor Genghis Khan? The voice of a male solo singer lingers in my mind.
Even when I return to the hotel, even when the day changes, it doesn't leave and lingers.

--- From "Mongolian Trekking Day 3"

It is a 7km, 5.5 hour course that reaches ABC at an altitude of 4,130m.
The distance is not long, but it is a high altitude that everyone is walking for the first time, so there is a sense of tension.
Altitude sickness can come on in an instant without you even realizing it, so I always take careful steps, having heard the strong warning from experienced climbers.
(Omitted) It is an intuitive experience of touching the vertical Annapurna in the middle of the deep Himalayan mountains with your hand.
I feel a breathless tension in front of the huge vertical wall that seems to pour down on me.

--- From "Himalaya ABC Trek Days 7-8"