Quench your thirst for curiosity with two feet

《Walking the Story Beyond the Map》 is a humanities exploration essay written by the author while traveling around the world.
This book views the act of 'travel' not as a simple form of sightseeing or play, but as a learning process that acquires the wisdom of life.
The author unfolds a record of humanistic exploration across the Americas and Europe, starting from the angelic sunshine of Los Angeles, passing through the foggy London, and reaching the Mediterranean-embracing Sicily.
He then travels to Asia and Oceania, exploring the myths of Turkic mythology, walking along Shikoku following Ryoma's path, and retracing the traces of civilization and humanity from Singapore to Sydney.

“The thirst for curiosity about the world is quenched not by water, but by feet.”
This sentence is the belief that runs through the author's journey and the attitude toward life that this book seeks to convey.
《Walking the Story Beyond the Map》 pursues the traces of time, people, and thoughts contained within the splendid landscapes.
Just as a single scene encountered during a trip can change the direction of one's life, this book reminds us of the value of 'a life realized in movement.'

Travel, like education, is a learning process that changes me.
Traveling is an opportunity for self-discovery, where I meet myself in unfamiliar places.
Tony Wheeler, author of Lonely Planet, the traveler's bible, said, "The essence of travel is meeting people, and the final step is meeting yourself."
By learning the process of discovering and reinventing yourself on your journey, you can return home with the precious gift of a "new beginning."
Don't they say it's better to have an idiot running around than a smartass at home?

--- From the "Preface"

Seattle's synonym is undoubtedly Starbucks, the world's largest multinational coffee shop.
I went to the first Starbucks store hoping to try a cup of organic French Sumatra coffee grown in a volcanic area, a favorite of Chairman Howard Schultz, but there was a long line of tourists.
It was a run-down, cramped store that looked like an early coffee wholesaler, far removed from Starbucks's boasts of being an "extension of the home's veranda" or a "writer's paradise."
There was no place to sit quietly, and it was a bustling market where everyone was rushing to buy souvenirs.
My wife barely escaped by buying four tumbler thermoses with the Starbucks first store logo on them as gifts.
A busking team, which usually performs on crowded streets, can also be seen playing the piano by setting up a spot at the entrance of a Starbucks.
--- From "Emerald City, Seattle"

Goethe arrived in Palermo, Sicily on April 2, 1787, after a three-day voyage from Naples, and was so moved by his praise that he called it “the queen of all islands” and “the most beautiful city in the world,” that I began my Sicilian travelogue in Palermo.
At the age of 37, Goethe went on a trip to Italy with his friends while serving as the Minister of Finance and Administration of the Duchy of Weimar.
On his first day in Italy, he wrote in his diary, "Today is the day I was born again." During his nearly two-year stay, he explored ancient architecture and interacted with many artists, which brought about great changes in his literature and life.
Goethe's only son, August, also went on a tour of Italy at his father's urging and died during the trip.
Upon hearing the sad news of his son's death, Goethe said, "I am proud that my son is sleeping in Rome."
--- From "Sicily, the Bread Basket of the Mediterranean"

The Anatolian Peninsula, 500 meters above sea level and corresponding to present-day Turkey, is the only place in the world where East and West meet, where Christian and Islamic holy sites coexist, and where myth and history coexist.
First of all, the Bosphorus that runs through Istanbul has a name taken from mythology.
The womanizer Zeus secretly had an affair with Io, but to deceive his wife Hera, who found out, he disguised Io as a white cow.
When Hera placed Argus, who had 100 eyes, next to a cow to watch, Zeus disguised Hermes as a shepherd boy and had him play a sweet flute to put Argus to sleep, killing him.
Hera took the eyes of the dead Argos and placed them on her beloved peacock to decorate it beautifully, and sent flies to the cow to torment her, making it unable to sleep or rest.
That's why the flies that torment cattle are called 'the whip of God.'
Io, unable to bear Hera's jealousy, fled to the Nile River in Egypt. The sea Io crossed was Ionia, and Bosphorus means 'cow's ford.'
The descendants of Epaphos, born to Zeus and Io, are Perseus, who cut off Medusa's head, and the unparalleled hero Hercules, and their descendants became the ancestors of Greece, Persia, and Africa.

--- From "Turkey, where myth and history coexist"