The charm of New York captured in a personally written and drawn diary

The second travelogue by author Kim Gyu-rim, who received much love from readers through her independent publication, “Tokyo Gyu-rim Diary.”
This time, I spent about two weeks in New York, capturing what I saw, heard, and felt in words and drawings. True to the artist's reputation for sharing her daily life through witty illustrations on social media, she published a book of diaries written and illustrated while visiting New York's stationery stores, neighborhood bookstores, and flea markets, rather than famous tourist destinations.
This book, which preserves even personal traces such as receipts and tickets from travel destinations, not only provides the joy of recording one's own travels, but also reminds us of the true meaning of travel.

1.
The cover of this book uses an image of the American stationery icon, the 'composition notebook'.
It's a notebook so common that most Americans have probably used it during their student years. The more I learn about its classic appearance, its history spanning over a hundred years, and the fact that many artists have used it, the more attractive it becomes.

2.
There are three characters in this book.
Don't be surprised if the content disappears and reappears intermittently, as some days I travel alone and other days I travel with others.
- Gyurim.
I'm going.
I often wear hairbands and I love stationery.
- gray mullet.
A coworker and friend.
I love experiencing new things in cool spaces.
The ability to upload to Instagram in real time at the speed of light is amazing.
@lovebrander
- Sir.
The spiritual pillar of the two and the editor of this book.
I chose New York for my one-month sabbatical.
I am very interested in photography and architecture.

3.
As you may have guessed, I am a stationery person who loves stationery.
On this trip, I focused on visiting about 18 large and small stationery stores, supermarkets, and bookstores.
If you're expecting a typical travel guide, you might not get the information you want.

4.
Since this was written while traveling, there may be some inscriptions or handwriting that is difficult to read.
Please understand that we have kept the revisions to a minimum to preserve the feeling of 'that time'.
---From "Notes"

I want to capture as much as possible from my travels, so I carry a notebook with me so I can open it up and write whenever I want.
By the end of the trip, it will be so full that it will fill up a book.
This book also began that way. "New York Gyulim Diary" is a personal record of what I saw, heard, and felt during my two-week stay in New York this summer. It feels like a reproduction of a diary I wrote in New York.
I felt a pang of longing to throw them away, so I diligently collected receipts and tickets, leaving traces of New York here and there.
Isn't the charm of records the ability to recall the thoughts and feelings of the moment, even after time has passed? Because it's a record of things that struck me at that moment, this book naturally bears a strong resemblance to my trip to New York.
It's also very interesting to me that my personal records are being published as a book.
I hope this book will inspire someone to start keeping records, and I'm sharing my little archives with you.
---From the "Introductory Note"

Actually, I didn't have high expectations for the city of New York.
Since it is a city that has been exposed so much in the media, I guess I wasn't particularly curious about anything.
I had never thought about going to New York until this chance opportunity brought me here.
But! New York was such a seriously awesome city that it was almost a shame we only just met.
As if to prove why it is one of the most iconic cities in the world, it left us with great shocks wherever we went.
It was really cool to see how they were preserving old hardware and then building the world's best technology on top of it.

The fact that really hip and trendy shops are operating within quaint and traditional buildings felt special, and more than anything, this trip made me constantly think about how I want to live.
Seeing people freely expressing themselves, respecting their individuality, and yet naturally mingling together, made me think that I, too, should live as myself, not as someone else.
New York, a city that shines even brighter with its shining personalities.
I want to live my life thinking and expressing myself confidently.

---From "Ending the Journey"