From Desperado to Imagine!
A 37-day pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, accompanied by pop songs selected by Rolling Stone.

“The world was less hopeless than I had expected, and life was more worth living than I had imagined.”

Two years after completing the Camino de Santiago, the author has written a book filled with the wisdom of life and honest inner thoughts he has discovered along the way.
This book follows the Camino pilgrimage journey and aims to capture the author's authenticity through a unique writing style that reflects his life.
What makes this book special is that it is accompanied by the melodies of famous songs that soothed the author's emotions during his pilgrimage.
QR codes for related pop hit songs are embedded throughout each episode, allowing readers to enjoy the text and music together and experience the pilgrimage more deeply.
The 40 illustrations, which capture the pilgrimage scenery created by my older sister who accompanied me on the pilgrimage, give readers a moment to catch their breath.
This essay, filled with the author's deep affection for pilgrimage and his unwavering conviction that "I will definitely return someday," despite concerns about commercialization and overtourism, will truly resonate with those who love the Camino.

People express themselves through writing.
The choice of words in a sentence reflects a person's thoughts, tastes, and worldview.
The texture of words becomes like a habit, and the rhythm of sentences is imbued with the temperament of thought and action.
No matter how hard you try to hide it, the scent will always show through.
Rather than trying to hide the scent, I wanted to reveal it honestly.
Even though it remains a narrow vocabulary and crude sentences, it clearly contains the scent of my life.

Style is each person's unique trace, like a fingerprint or an iris.
The sentences I write are my incarnate self.
The writings of my youth were somewhat cynical, a mixture of pessimism and narcissism.
It is a shame that even though many years have passed, the shadow has not been completely removed.
The humorless tone will steal readers' smiles, and the tone of Lee Mun-yeol, whom I read as a child, is still unconsciously revealed.
I hope you will be generous and understanding if my boastful sentences cause discomfort to anyone.

There was a time when I cried while drinking makgeolli.
Hoping that white tears like rice water will fall.
Nights of youth when I would exhale cigarette smoke from deep within my lungs to confirm that I was breathing, and thus alive.
At the time, I believed that the world I was about to face would be dark and grotesque, but as I walked the Camino, I realized this.
The world was less hopeless than I expected, and life was more worth living than I thought.
- Park Jin-seok (Excerpt from "Preface: An Apology for the Sleepyhead")

Our pilgrimage as two siblings began with the support and encouragement of many, and we would like to express our gratitude through this article.
Even though they were sick, my in-laws, who told me not to worry and to have a safe trip, made my steps lighter and gave me comfort as I set off on my long journey; my husband, who stayed by my parents' side and looked after them while silently cheering me on for a long time; my beautiful daughter, who always supported my mother and was always on my side; my mother and youngest sibling, who said, "Where are you going so far away?" and told me not to fight and to have a safe trip; my younger sister, who never let go of her worries and concerns but did not spare her material and spiritual support until the day she left, threw us a farewell party with our brothers' soul food, our mother's homemade dumplings; my older sister and older brother, who prayed for my siblings from across the ocean; my friends and acquaintances who were always with me in prayer; and God, who made it all possible! It is thanks to everyone that my siblings and I completed our long journey safely and in good health.
- Park Jin-kyung (excerpt from “Preface: Acknowledgements”)

--- From the text