Loved by 4.8 million domestic readers
Ekuni Kaori's new essay collection

“Even though loneliness and freedom are the same thing.”

Kaori Ekuni, who has been loved by 4.8 million readers in Korea for numerous works including “Between Coolness and Passion” and “Tokyo Tower,” has returned with a new travel essay collection.
The places she traveled, the air she smelled, the food she tasted, the people she met, and the animals she encountered all come to life vividly.
It is filled with colorful anecdotes that are as bouncy as Drops candy in a cute can, such as what happened on the train to Africa that left as soon as my feet touched it, and an episode I experienced at an amusement park I stopped by after attending a reading.
Ekuni Kaori's uniquely calm and delicate writing style depicts not only her travel experiences but also the small details of everyday life without any exaggeration.


『Travel Drop』 contains three poems, 36 short stories, and one bonus piece related to travel.
The tension and unfamiliarity that can be felt not only in travel destinations but also in everyday life are also the subjects of this essay.

When a familiar street feels unfamiliar,
When you feel unfamiliar, like you've come to an unfamiliar place.
A moment when familiar memories and unfamiliar curiosities intertwine, transcending time and space.

This collection of small, rambling stories, delicately captured and illustrated by Ekuni Kaori, tells a simple, unadorned story.

Another me has been here all along
Now that we're back together, it feels like things are back to normal
It feels very free.
Besides, this journey has just begun.
_From the text

The weather forecast said a typhoon would hit Kyushu, and the event was canceled.
It was an unavoidable decision, considering the possibility that the flight might not take off on the day and the safety of guests coming to the event.
But I can't buy butter bread.
I was completely exhausted.
I don't know when I'll be able to go to Kyushu again.
Then suddenly I realized something.
Even if the plane doesn't take off, the Shinkansen runs!
---From "Butter Bread"

I have many favorite stores in New York, Seoul, and Fukuoka.
But it's reassuring to know that there's a store you visit first when you travel.
When you go there, you feel like, "Oh, I'm here again."
For example, even if you go after a year, the gap of one year disappears and the last trip and this trip are connected.
Rather than saying I've returned, it's a very freeing feeling, as if another me has been here all along and now we've met again and gone back to the way things were.
Besides, this journey has just begun.

---From "First Time Visiting a Store"

There was a zebra there.
Hippopotamus.
Lion too.
African animals living in Rome, who have probably never seen Africa.

---From "Roman Kenya"

Maybe I just like the time for transit itself.
That place is neither the starting point nor the destination.
Time is neither after departure nor before arrival.
A space-time that suddenly appeared somewhere in the middle, and it was a foreign country, too.
When I'm in a transit airport, I feel like I'm there, but not there.

---From "Memories of Transit or Frankfurt Airport"

Yes, it was the tension I felt while traveling.
Everything you see is unfamiliar and intriguing, but if you look around too much, you scold yourself for being unsightly, you tend to be critical so as not to pander to others, you don't want to be caught unfamiliar with the place, and yet there's also the strange feeling that you can't and won't get used to it.

---From "30-Minute Journey"

No matter how much I walked, I couldn't find Hwarang.
It's by the river so there's no chance of taking a wrong turn, but no matter how many times I went back and forth along the same path it never showed up.
I didn't see any restaurants on the same street as Hwarang, so I knew I was going to the wrong place, since Hwarang couldn't have disappeared overnight.
Where and how did I take the wrong path?
At first, I thought I should just stay calm and look for it without panicking, but after an hour of walking around, I felt like screaming.

---From "The Prints I Wanted to Look at All Year Long"

A few minutes later, the arctic fox stood there motionless, staring at the car until it started moving.
He didn't seem scared, but he didn't look relieved either.
I think he was probably weighing it somewhere between caution and curiosity.
When to run away.

---From "Animals"

I really want to say that customs have meaning.
Although it is called a 'Hakata Udon Bar', you can drink Miyazaki sake and eat Kumamoto food, which is probably not the case in the original country.
A fictional Kyushu like an amusement park.

---From "Kyushu@Tokyo"