▲ Picture of people free traveling. Provided by vybratdarek.cz.

“Travel” was the answer that came in at number one to the survey question, “If you had an opportunity to go back to your youth, what do you want to do first?” This survey conducted by OhmyNews is just one example of how people yearn to escape from everyday settings to enjoy new atmospheres and meet new people through traveling. The “travel fever” has hit Korea, and it has changed to an activity that is conducted rarely from a hobby that people wish to do whenever they have the least bit of time and money. However, rather than traveling whenever one can afford it simply because it is a trend, one must look back on the true meaning of travel in order to create a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Traveling is definitely a hot trend— people of all ages and backgrounds are beginning to travel to numerous places, whether it is abroad or within Korea. According to Statistics Korea, the number of annual overseas travelers exceeded 10 million in 2005 and, as of 2016, the number is in the verge of reaching 20 million. Domestic travel at also in the core of the travel boom, with 40 million people traveling inside of Korea last year. Likewise, traveling is changing into an activity that is not limited to a particular location or age group, but something that can be enjoyed easily anywhere and by anyone.

▲ Provided by Statistics Korea.

Looking into the Trend

 

Before the 1980s having a trip to another country was thought as an act limited solely to the bourgeois. Rather than the modern conception that anyone can travel, according to Professor Kim Young Sun (Sociology), “traveling was a privilege.” He added that the great increase in demand for travel did not occur simply because of the sudden growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the 20th century. Rather, this boom for traveling is a result of numerous economic, social, and political factors that stormed in during the past few decades. During the mid-1900s Korean laborers worked for extremely long hours that left little time and money for rest. Considering the harsh working conditions of the period, it would have been obvious that almost no person from the working class had the idea of traveling to another place. However, from the 1960s the laborers began to work for rights and freedom of their own. Borrowing the words of Professor Kim, “People began to search for compensation in return for their labor.” From then on, leisure has become an important part of the lives of the public.

While there are many forms of leisure, people actively began to give compensation to themselves through travel. From the era that prompted this gigantic change in the concept of leisure until the present day, travel has risen to become the most wanted form of relaxation. Except for rare occasions, such as a global epidemic, this popularity for travel has rarely disminished and is expected to grow even more.

 

An important point to notice when looking deeply into this trend of “travel fever” is how the conventional forms of getting from place to place are changing. Other than those who are relatively young and have enough money, people used to enjoy traveling through travel packages. These travel packages, carefully planned out by the traveling agencies, including everything from a native travel guide to full courses that took the wealthy travelers to famous historic sites. However, this trend is clearly beginning to shift to a concept called “free travel.”

 

“Free travel” is travel that is done completely by the individual who is traveling. Instead of relying on traveling agencies, the traveler plans the whole journey, from booking an airplane to choosing all the places that one wishes to visit. In fact, according to Korea Tourism Organization (KTO), the number of people who traveled independently reached 43 percent last year while traveling through travel packages marked 37 percent.

 

Free traveling does require a lot of work. However, there are many of merits of free travel that intrigue the travelers to choose it over convenient travel packages. The advantages appear when one wishes to truly explore the destination and communicate with the local people. When traveling with a lot of people along with a guide who only leads people to the famous sites, it is extremely hard for people to experience the true beauty of the place and the people. Therefore, those who wish to receive these experiences are continuously increasing and they are achieving it through free travel.

 

▲ Poster of the television program Grandpa Over Flowers. Provided by tvN.

Industries Changing with the Fever

 

From travel agencies and airlines to even broadcasting stations, all parts of Korean industries are changing their forms in order to go along with this great boost in demand for traveling. Whether it is in the form of being directly in the travel industry or in the form of assisting travel, numerous forms of businesses are going along with this growth in the demand for a journey. It is also interesting to notice that the change in businesses is also promoting the fever for travel in return.

In the entertainment business, there has been a sudden increase in the number of television programs that film celebrities traveling. The most prominent example of traveling programs has to be the Flower series broadcasted by tvN and directed by Na Young Seok. This Flower series was in the center of the travel boom and was a very meaningful program in that it got rid of the barriers of age and location when it comes to travel.

In other words, the first of the series, Grandpa Over Flowers completely got rid of the old-fashioned stereotype that long distance, overseas travel is limited to young people who have the energy to travel for lengthy hours. In fact, according to Hanatour, the number of overseas travelers of people aged over 60 increased substantially after this program was aired. Before, the elders usually traveled inside of Korea or to China or Japan because of the short distances. However, after seeing the elderly traveling just like the youth, the elders have begun to break that concept and are increasingly traveling to distant places like Europe and America.

▲ Professor Kim Young Sun (Sociology). Photographed by Lee So Young.

Social commerce industries, combined with airlines, are also pouring their efforts to grasp the attention of the travelers who seek low price when traveling. As social commerce businesses are catching the recent trend of independent travelers without the assistance of travel agencies, these businesses are also changing their forms of marketing. Specifically, there are numerous bargain sales known as Ttaengcheori, or extremely low-priced airline tickets on these commerce sites. When buying these tickets numerous people can go in and out of Jeju Island for only 30,000 won. Through these promotions, people are beginning to perceive travel through airplanes as travel that is both convenient and cheap.

Transportation industries are now no longer simply focusing on the medium of travel, but are also expanding their businesses by planning their own travel packages. The most famous example has to be the Rail-ro, organized by Korail, in which travelers under the age of 28 can ride on any train simply by buying a Rail-ro pass. Through this new industry, numerous youngsters with a limited amount of money are freely having a trip to all parts of Korea. According to Korail, although it sold only 8,000 tickets when it was first released in 2007, recently millions of students are making use of this package item each year.

In addition, according to Kyunghyang Newspaper, Rail-ro is not only assisting the travel of young people but is also helping the development of other industries within Korea. As students seek to visit beautiful places that have not been explored before, they are now easily traveling to various regions within Korea through the Rail-ro ticket. Specifically, Gokseong-gun is expecting an increase of their regional economy by 40 million dollars through this industry as more travelers are beginning to visit the region with this ticket. Furthermore, as Rail-ro is continuously expanding the number of partnerships with lodging industries all throughout Korea, both the traveler and the businesses are benefiting from Rail-ro.

▲ Poster of Rail-ro. Provided by Korail.

Not a Pleasure for Everyone

The number one purpose of travel has to be enjoyment. However, as the demand in travel is increasing by great amounts, various drawbacks are also beginning to emerge. The first problem that should be dealt with is related with manners when traveling. As more and more Koreans are beginning to travel to famous sites all over the world, it would be important for the travelers as representatives of the country to create a good image for the natives. However, rather than having an image of travelers with good manners, foreigners are even calling Korean travelers as “ugly Koreans” for their unpleasant manners that do not go along with the culture of the locals.

This unpleasant term came with incidents, such as native stores banning the entry of Koreans because of their bad manners. The most popular example is how some Korean travelers attempt to leave their trace to every place they visit. In other words, it is extremely easy to find Koreans in famous historical sites where people have jotted down their names. Although it might be a memory for the vandal, it is the place where the locals live and the embarrassment is left for other Korean travelers who visit the place. Talking even in places where there is a “silence” sign, and eating Korean food in restaurants where no food is allowed, are other common examples that the “ugly Korean” travelers present.

Of course, there are many Koreans that do travel with manner and there are actually only few Koreans who are badmannered. However, the few travelers are the ones that shape the image of our country. Without a proper understanding of the other culture and basic manner to the location of the visit, the entire image of Koreans might also be damaged. Therefore, according to Professor Kim, the travelers should “study at least a little bit before taking off to another country, and have respect to the people and the place.” 

▲ Relative deprivation can be caused by traveling. Provided by img.etoday.co.kr.

Problems other than the traveler’s manners still do remain like the syndrome named post-vacation blues. This syndrome is a type of mood that travelers experience after a long trip. They show symptoms such as stress or futility after they return to their daily lives that seem to be extremely boring and unsatisfactory after the long vacation. Likewise, there are drawbacks to the name of “travel fever.” Therefore, it would be important to look back on what travel truly is and why we travel. Only then can we succeed in becoming travelers that satisfy both the individual and the host of the destination.

Why Do People Travel?

Even though travel became such a hot issue in current society, not many people can clearly define what travel is. In the past, most people thought that going abroad is only considered as a real travel, as the very definition of travel is to make a journey, typically of some length or abroad. However, recently, the meaning of travel started to cover a broader range, since a significant number of people think that simply going to another city by bicycle, or even by feet, can also be a travel, only if it has clear orientation or values.

The changing perception about travel shows that there is much more value imposed to the purpose of traveling, than just a journey to an unknown place. Now, by the word “traveling,” people have higher expectations than the simple freshness of visiting a faraway place. “It is true that the basic desire for travel is the longing for novelty, or departure from an everyday life,” said Professor Kim. “However, now, people travel for so many different reasons—self-reflection, simple leisure, reestablishment of relationships, and so on,” he added.

▲ Planning is the most important elements of traveling. Provided by peacockfeatherz.com.

Among all, what causes travel to be especially popular in current society is the prevalent atmosphere of extreme competition and workload in school or workplace. According to JobKorea, 79.4 percent of officers responded that they are experiencing burnout— a psychological stress characterized by exhaustion, lack of motivation and enthusiasm. Under this circumstance, people try to place themselves in a whole different atmosphere where they can escape from reality, and travel makes it possible. “Travel is one way to find an active, true ‘freedom to’ one’s own life—not a passive ‘freedom from,’” says Professor Kim. “Especially for the young generation, traveling can be interpreted as having the freedom to go wherever they want to go—and this is one way to express revolt to the older generation and to the rigid society.”

Even though so many people are going on a travel as mentioned previously, and although it can be an effective solution for certain social problems such as burnout syndrome, people often tend to forget what they truly want to achieve in their journey. Many of them simply follow the fads, or blindly search for the cheapest or easiest way. These ways of travel can be effective, but only focusing on this might significantly reduce the happiness during the process, leading people to be stressed to or have bad memories about travel, further causing them to stop traveling.

Worse still, travel can often turn into a means of showing off. Not focusing on one’s own desire or passion but only on other people’s eyes or what others are saying, some people purposely choose to go to a luxurious place, by a luxurious transportation, stay in extravagant hotels in order to show off. Therefore, one’s travel can easily turn into an endless showingoff competition, a travel just to show others that they have “been there.” With the development of Social Network Service (SNS), people are now more expected to show their daily life, which further incites this phenomenon. In this situation, one’s journey might lose its original value, and often cause them to spend beyond their abilities.

Furthermore, this pattern of conspicuous traveling may lead to relative deprivation to those who cannot afford to travel. “After traveling abroad became liberalized in the 90s, people are observed to feel more deprivation than before,” commented  Professor Kim. Also, in current society, many books, movies, and television programs portray travel as an ‘essential gateway for youth to self-fulfillment.’ However, for those who do not have time or money to do so, it would lead to much despair and sense of deprivation. Therefore, even though it will be hasty to generalize that this pattern of traveling is always negative, it has the high potentiality to lead to undesirable consequences related to the happiness of society as a whole. Then, what would be the desirable ways of traveling?  

How can We Travel Well? 

Thousands and millions of people travel to similar destinations, but each of their goals is never the same. What one sees and experiences during the journey is also different depending on characteristics of each individual. Therefore, the same travel can be a remarkable and fruitful experience for some while, for others, it can be remembered as a nightmare. Since people get different virtues from their travel, some of them might gain more virtues than others.

Then, what should one do to make their travel experience more fruitful? First of all, a trip should have a clear orientation. It does not mean that all trips have to be meticulously planned, second by second. Rather, it means that a journey should have certain aims from the start. The goal does not have to be fancy—food, photography, a selfreflection, building new relationships, friendship, and even having no plan can also be a goal. Rail-ro, for example, also suggests many different themes and courses to help the youth decide what they are going on a journey for.

Second, travel should be planned by the travelers themselves. It does not mean that a package trip is bad, since it has some advantages for busy urbanites who cannot spare much time on planning for traveling. However, planning the travel by oneself and putting it into practice can be one of the biggest virtues of traveling, even though many people often overlook this fact. Most of the time, blindly following the fads in travel destination or relying on friends or family to do the work will hinder oneself from truly feeling the place they are about to explore.

Therefore, the process of traveling—deciding the destination, booking transportation and hotel, making a plan—is equally, or even more important than the actual journey itself. During the process, one can build responsibility, learn how to spend or manage their money, and feel a sense of independence. It is especially important for the youth going on a trip by themselves for the first time, without supervisors like parents or teachers. Furthermore, when one does it with friends or family, it greatly helps them to build healthy relationships. 

Of course, these are not the perfect answers to achieve all goals one sets for their travel. Good destination, fellow travelers, unexpected events during the journey—there are numerous factors apart from one’s desire that determine the overall outcome of the journey. However, if one perceives everything as a challenge and enjoys the process, even though it might be tiresome sometimes, their travel will certainly be memorable and meaningful.

▲ Hygge Kitchen in Jeju Island. Provided by stayfolio.com.

When Travel Becomes Life 

A trip is usually temporary—most of them last for a few days, or weeks, or sometimes few months, only if one has enough time, money, and drive to do so. However, it does not mean that all travels have to be temporary. For some, who love the endless virtues travel gives, travel becomes their life. The example of Choi Su Young, Kim Seoung Wook, and their house—Hygge Kitchen in Jeju Island tells an inspiring story of people whose life became an endless travel.

Choi and Kim, who had originally worked in a financial company and catering business, left the workplace without hesitation and started the whole new traveling life right after their marriage. They spared all of the marriage fund to become campers. After several years of camping around Korea, they settled in Jeju Island and established a restaurant and a guest house. The name of the place, Hygge is a Danish word, which means “creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people.”

“In fact, unlike many other couples, we do not have a stable career nor any children,” said Kim, the husband and the manager of Hygge Kitchen. “However, with family members supporting our decision and our confidence about a clear picture of what we want to achieve, my wife and I could stand by firmly,” he said. Still, in our society, getting a stable job, settling down with partner and children is one of the primary goals that people consider as virtuous. However, Choi and Park do not regret nor have doubts on their decision, since they realized that happiness cannot be achieved by following what others perceive as virtuous—it is most important to follow the voice in oneself.

“For those who have the desire but are worried about traveling, I want to say that trying and challenging is a different thing. Trying is just making an attempt, but challenging is more about being willing to give up something stable for the sake of novelty,” said Kim. “When we grow older and have more things to keep, we become reluctant to challenge.” Therefore, Kim and Choi believe that traveling is especially important for the young minds, since it can encourage them to broaden their views and it can certainly return in the future with greater values.

Departure and Rest, though two conflicting words, are what effectively summarize the meaning of travel. All people dream of deviation at some points of their life—and travel is what makes it possible, even though temporary. At the same time, they rest. All the tiresome daily life goes away, and they focus on a new routine with lovers, friends, families or sometimes just by themselves. Therefore, although everyone would see or feel differently on their travel, one thing is common—travel is one certain and effective way to break the norm, rest, and in that process, encounter or refresh certain values in life. That is why people cannot stop themselves from finding a new place to start off.