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| Yoo Chae-won, 29, an author of a book titled "Cycling Eurasia and the letters on the road," poses for a photo during an interview with The Korea Times at a restaurant in Seoul, Sept. 20. Korea Times photo by Jung Da-min |
By Jung Da-min
Going on a bike trip after quitting their job is what many office workers dream of. But as much as it sounds tempting, it requires through preparation, not to mention strong willingness to make it happen.
Yoo Chae-won, 29, the author of a book titled "Cycling Eurasia and the letters on the road," published Oct. 1, successfully finished her project to cycle through Eurasia from China's Shanghai to the U.K.'s London from June 2 2018 to Jan. 26 2019.
To deal with financial problems regarding the project, she made full use of her career as a journalist with TechNode in China, an English outlet focusing on Chinese startups and tech businesses.
During her three years and six months of working as a tech journalist under the byline of her English name "Eva Yoo" in China, Yoo got to interview the leaders of China's leading tech industries such as Alibaba, Huawei and Xiaomi.
"I wanted to keep my personal connections in the industry while also realizing my cycling project," Yoo said, during an interview with The Korea Times at a restaurant in Seoul, Sept. 20.
That was how Yoo launched her "Seek Road" project, which included her plans to interview business people in the countries she would pass during her cycling trip over Eurasia while also holding seminars for people in startups to share her experience. Before working as a tech journalist, she also worked at a South Korean IT startup.
Her idea drew sponsorship from Chinese tech companies for the project.
"The fourth year with Technode felt like a comfort zone to me, I could easily expect what would happen next as I got used to the cycle of the tech industry in China," Yoo said.
"I wanted to challenge myself and wondered if I could get people's support if I quit my job as a journalist and launched my own project."
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