A travel writer, Tai Won-june, traveled around the world with his mom, who had gotten tired of her life, on her 60th birthday. He wrote his unique journey in two books 'Mom, Let's Just Go without Hesitation' and 'Mom, It is Finally a Happy Ending'. These two books have become best sellers and have touched many people's hearts. The number of people who just took journeys with their parents rapidly increased after the influence of these books. CBT reporters listened to his fascinating travels that mesmerized him. -Ed.


U.S.A

  The story of his journeys starts in Seattle.
  Tai Won-june went to Seattle when he was in middle school. He joined a youth camp in Seattle, and there, he felt some culture shock. There was an evening self-study time in the middle school, and he spent most of the days in school, doing nothing else but studying. In contrast, the other students in Seattle enjoyed a variety of extracurricular activities such as bowling, tennis, rock climbing, hiking, horse-riding and water-skiing. He was not only jealous of them but interested in experiencing entirely new things, so he made a resolution to go on an overseas trip. After his return to Korea, he got a part time job in a factory during his middle and high school years, and he traveled around the world during every vacation in college. ‘Domestic travel when pennies are saved up and international travel when dollars are piled up’ is his principle. “I always have gone on backpacking trips by myself. I spent only 3 million won in Europe for a month. I want to experience as many things as possible with a minimal budget. For instance, if I have 3 million won, I will spend 50,000 won every day for 60 days instead of spending 100,000 won every day for 30 days.”

Korea

  He became a traveler due to his full-time job and his mother became a maniac for traveling.
  Tai Won-june and his mother went traveling for 300 days throughout Southeastern Asia and Europe. They recently went traveling throughout Central and South America for another 200 days and just returned from the backpacking trip in April this year. Tai Won-june had worked for a company before his journeys, but now he is working full-time as a traveler. He is publishing much content, such as books, articles and columns, delivering lectures and appearing on TV shows, and all of his writings and talks are related with traveling.
  His mother belatedly recognized what she truly likes and is going on lots of trips. She recently has been to Hong-cheon to view the autumn leaves, to U.S.A with her sisters, and is planning to go to Jeju-island in December. Anyway, both of them are continuing to travel.
 
France

  You can see only as much as you know? You can know as much as you see!
  There is a saying, “You can see only as much as you know.” Your travels would be much more affluent and interesting if you have a lot of background knowledge on heritage sites, history, and culture. Tai Won-june also agrees with it. However, he says that you can realize different kinds of joy when you just go on a trip without any background knowledge.
  Tai Won-june said, “I was really impressed when I first saw the drawing of David, ‘Coronation of Napoleon’, in a middle school art textbook. I thought that it was a drawing that can be hung from the wall, but when I went to the Louvre later, I found out that it is such a huge one that it can cover the wall. It was shocking. The Eiffel Tower, for instance, can be seen from other points of view if you go there in reality. You can recognize how tall it is and be surprised by its marvelous size when you pass through the tower. In conclusion, travels with much background knowledge would be great, but travels with a lack of it could also be meaningful.”

Thailand

  He recommends Thailand as the first place to backpack for college students.
  Tai Won-june said that one of the most frequent requests he has received is to recommend the best country for traveling. It is the hardest question to answer for him since people’s preferences have no standards and each person has a different priority. Nevertheless, he recommends to college students to choose Thailand as the place to backpack.
  “Thailand has many good points for travelers. You can save your money because Thailand is geographically near Korea and the prices are very low in this country. You can gather an enormous amount of information there because it is a country where a large number of travelers assemble. There’s even a saying, “You won’t be able to get traveling requisites in other countries if you couldn’t find them in Thailand.” In addition, since Thailand has never been colonized by other countries historically, Thais are leisurely and friendly.”



<Some advice for college students’ successful trips>

  Rediscover yourself through traveling
  Travel alone if you are a college student. First of all, you will be comfortable without others whose opinions might conflict with yours. Secondly, you will enjoy the confusing situations where you have to be responsible for yourself for the basic necessaries of life. This challenge of overcoming every barrier will not be as hard as you think. The potential inside of you will come out and you will like it.

  Go on a local-friendly trip
  We generally have different attitudes about each country and unconsciously evaluate them. However, you should not forget that we are just visitors and that the hosts are the natives. We don’t have to appraise their culture; we should respect it. If you start to evaluate the countries, your journey will be unpleasant. Also, go on a local-friendly trip, which means spending money in a way helpful for the locals of that country. You can eat and sleep in the chains of internationally renowned restaurants and hotels. However, it wouldn’t be very difficult to have your meals in traditional markets and sleep in hostels operated by the natives.

  The roads are splendid learning places. You will realize that some parts of wisdom you have intensely endeavored to gain can only be useful back in your society. Something that you often took for granted is unreasonable in other countries, and they will bewilder you. You can also have a sense of shame when you realize how deeply your prejudices are rooted. Try to be in a state of ignorance and take the culture and value of those roads. This way of traveling will present you not only with joyfulness but also inspiration.

By Lee Sang-yi
sy36@cbnu.ac.kr
By Min Tae-kwan
tk36@cbnu.ac.kr