Around the world in 8 months
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Yoon jumps in front of the Volcan de Agua in Antigua, Guatemala. / Courtesy of Yoon Jie-min
Discovering “real” tourism on a solo 260-day journey across world
By Yun Suh-young
May 16, 2014
Ten months ago, an aspiring "professional traveler," Yoon Jie-min, 28, sat in front of the reporter on the terrace of a pizza place in Jongno, central Seoul, explaining her plans for an upcoming 240-day trip around the world. It was two weeks before her departure.
She had pledged to backpack around 70 cities in 25 countries for eight months, showing the reporter her ambitious plans neatly presented in a PowerPoint presentation on a printed handout. It was then that she was asked to regularly contribute her travel stories to W, a biweekly lifestyle magazine published by the Korea Times. Since then, she has written about the cities she has visited for the magazine every time she moved from one place to another.
March 16, 2015
Ten months later, back in Seoul, the same two people sat face to face on a sunny Monday afternoon, on the terrace of a coffee shop in the middle of Seoul. The topic of conversation was the same - her travels - and again we were looking at a PowerPoint presentation, this time a roundup of her trip.
But if there was one difference - she had changed.
Brooklyn Bridge, New York, The United States / Courtesy of Yoon Jie-min
Yoon had come back as a completely different person, more confident and strong as ever, exuding an aura that nothing could get in her way.
Her travel plans had been scrapped along the way, and her expected route had become all tangled up. But she adapted, moved spontaneously and flowed to the rhythm of life.
Her audacity came from the experience of being alone in an alien territory, learning to adapt to the situation and finding a way.
Yoon ended up traveling to 19 countries in Europe, North America, South America, Australia and Asia, which had strong reputations in the tourism industry.
Tourism in a new perspective
The reason Yoon had headed out on a somewhat reckless journey after quitting her job was because she wanted to learn about “real” tourism through the eyes of a traveler. Yoon was a civil servant in the tourism business department at the Seoul Metropolitan Government for nearly two years until she decided to quit and head off last year.
“I was always asked questions such as, ‘Where is the best place to visit in Korea?’ ‘Where would you recommend for tourists?’ ‘Is there any place special to go?’ I thought I was doing my best to promote this city and country, but I started to doubt whether I was doing it right whenever I got these questions,” Yoon said.
Obispo street, Havana, Cuba
“I wondered why we couldn’t properly promote our hidden gems the way other countries did. In order to know how other countries promoted tourism, I had to be a tourist myself, which is why I set off.”
She met with tourism officials and professionals from 30 tourism boards, and participated in two global conventions.
What she learned from other countries was that people are proud of their country and with what they have.
“Locals would take me to places that are parts of their lives. They consumed their culture so naturally,” she said.
“Koreans, however, take foreign tourists to places that they liked on previous visits, or try to cater the tour based on foreigners’ preferences. I realized we weren’t showing them what we were proud of. We were showing them what we thought they wanted to see. We weren’t confident about ourselves.”
Porto, Portugal
She recalled her best time was in Mexico where she was captivated by the people, culture and history.
“Mexico doesn’t seem to have a strong reputation for tourism, but the people there were very proud of their country. When I asked the Mexican Tourism Board what they thought was their best achievement, it wasn’t the changed logo or success of a campaign. They said the greatest harvest from tourism was the economic growth of small cities and how these communities did well. The answer shocked me,” said Yoon.
“In terms of national tourism boards, I was impressed by the policies of Switzerland and Australia. Switzerland had a strong philosophy of focusing on promoting nature and its unique culture. Australia impressed me with their system. When the main tourism board attracts tourists to the country, the regional offices then take care of the actual tourists who come in.”
She pitied Korea’s tourism as a former city government official, saying that the government took too much control over the industry.
Above is a map of Yoon’s route to 19 countries – Australia, the United States, England, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Canada, New Zealand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia and Thailand.
“People think tourism is unrelated to their lives, but it’s because many of the tourism policies are catered only toward foreigners. For instance, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, where I worked, published guidebooks only for foreigners. This kind of policy creates negative images about tourism itself, as something that only foreigners benefit from,” said Yoon.
“Like most Asian countries, I think Korea also has too much government involvement in the tourism industry. It should be left to the private sector for people to autonomously drive the industry. Public sector’s role should be limited to forming guidelines and regulations.”
In the case of the United States, many of the projects are run by private associations and organizations, she said.
“I wish we could involve more locals to promoting our tourism, but to do this we need to change the way Koreans perceive tourism to something that closely impacts their lives.”
Personal revolution
The trip not only changed the way Yoon perceived tourism, but also the way she saw life.
“I realized how much I stressed the importance of accumulating assets that I could show off to other people. My degree, my job, my salary were what I had clung on to. What was painful during my travel was the fact that I was moving further away from these the longer I traveled. It was difficult to admit that it was no longer important,” Yoon said.
“But the way I viewed life slowly changed as I moved on. All the things I thought were so important in my life weren’t actually a big deal. I started gaining groundless confidence that I could do anything. I could start from scratch and it didn’t make me fearful.”
She said it was always the first step that was difficult, but after that one step, everything follows.
“When we bungee jump for the first time, the scariest moment is right before you jump. When you actually leap, it’s nothing. Traveling to new cities is the same,” Yoon said.
“On the outside, now I have nothing left - no job, no money (I spent all my savings), no boyfriend (got dumped during the trip) - and I’ve aged and got uglier (with blotches on the face from tanned skin peeling off). But I’m not afraid. Because I know now that I can stand up on my own.”
Next step
Yoon plans on a second trip, this time around her home country.
“It’s going to be like a sequel project. I want to see if I can apply the things I’ve learned from my trip abroad, to Korea,” she said.
Her next trip is planned for June and it will be a two-part journey for two to three weeks each.
“I realized that I don’t know my country well, although I used to work promoting it. I think I’ll learn what we lack and what we need to improve through this trip.”
She plans to travel like a foreigner, using only English language guidebooks like “Lonely Planet” and public transportation to see if there are any inconveniences for tourists.
“I feel it’s my calling to share my experience with people. I think the data I gather from my next trip will be helpful content for the development of the tourism industry in Korea,” she said.