[One Sip of a Book] Travel Is the Act of Breaking One's Narrow Worldview in a Strange World

Some sentences encapsulate the entire content of a book on their own, while others instantly resonate with the reader and create a point of connection with the book. Here, we introduce such meaningful sentences excerpted from the book.

"Whenever I return home after a journey, I find myself loving and cherishing everything around me a little more. Travel has always made me want to become a better version of myself." This is a travel essay by Kim Namhee, a travel creator with 23 years of experience. She shares the insights and reflections she gained on her journeys, believing that without travel, she would have become a much narrower and less admirable person. "Travel, in the end, is an act of diving into an unfamiliar world and breaking down one's own narrow worldview." The book also shares intimate personal stories, such as awe for those who continue living lives unchanged from yesterday, the emptiness she felt after losing her mother and traveling, her concerns as the leader of an after-school walking group for travelers, and the challenges of dreaming of a new life in a new place.

The more I travel, the more the common sense and truths I once knew are shattered. The more I walk, the more questions arise, and I begin to doubt what I have learned. The longer I spend time on the road, the more I realize how deeply I am connected to others, and to the Earth itself. Whenever I return home after a journey, I find myself loving and cherishing everything around me a little more. Travel has always made me want to become a better version of myself. Truly, I long to become a kinder person, and to be someone who causes less harm to the Earth and to others. That earnest desire is what leads me to travel. - Page 10, from "Prologue"

Travel is, ultimately, a process of writing one's own world history textbook. History is often a one-sided story written from the perspective of the victors. Through travel, we meet people we could not encounter in our daily lives?those who have lost, minorities, outsiders?and hear their stories in their own voices, experiencing their lives firsthand. It is a time to meet real people with names, voices, and warmth, not just anonymous figures in history books. Each time such experiences accumulate, one's own world history is rewritten. The knowledge that the world has instilled in me is broken down, and in its place, a world interpreted through my own perspective emerges. That is why "travel does not simply begin with moving from one place to another, but with stepping outside the fortress of one's accumulated thoughts." - Page 58, from "The Last Word of Travel Was Always the Same"

In my younger days, I wanted to put as much distance as possible between myself and others. The closeness felt suffocating at times. Back then, I thought I could live perfectly well on my own. Lacking the courage to go very far away, I wandered outside just to breathe. The longer I spent wandering, the closer my heart grew to others. I was drawn to those who, despite carrying their own sorrows and wounds, did not give up on life. I developed compassion for all living things that struggle to survive and ultimately manage to keep living. Just as a wandering life was desperate for me, I came to realize that for some, enduring life inside is just as desperately necessary. I also learned that whichever path one chooses, every life requires courage. Only after my big dreams faded did I begin to notice the small, trivial things and the resilience needed to endure them. It was only late that I realized the long hardships and sorrows of life, as well as its fleeting joys and pleasures, are present everywhere in equal measure. - Page 102, from "I Visited That Island"

"Europe has a responsibility for what we did in the past. We must accept refugees." I remembered an author’s words that to live as a European is to live indebted to another world. Perhaps such attitudes are nurtured through travel. After all, travel is an act of diving into an unfamiliar world and breaking down one's own narrow worldview, as well as a process of accepting the existence of others as our neighbors. The more experiences I accumulate in foreign countries that have accepted me as a stranger, the more naturally I learn to accept unfamiliar others as well. - Page 198, from "Everyone Lived a Passionate Life"

"You made us walk in circles for over four hours to get to a place we could have reached in ten minutes, didn't you?" We say this, but everyone knows. Walking on your own two feet is an act of imprinting the scenery onto your body. The landscapes you read this way become deeply etched in your soul and are not easily forgotten. - Page 256, from "How Long Can We Keep Traveling?"

The quiet of the night as we sat around a campfire, drinking tea. The clusters of stars and the Milky Way in the night sky. The strong men who gladly helped us wrestle with the stubborn tent that wouldn't open. Zebras and wildebeests, lions and giraffes, herds of elephants, rhinos, and hippos. My heart racing every time I encountered a life form that was not human. Looking back, every moment sparkled. Not once did we feel bored. Those were days when we truly felt alive, and it felt like traveling for the very first time in our lives. Hardships during travel make things difficult for us, but the most vivid travel memories are usually those born from hardship. We are left with memories to talk about for a lifetime. - Page 320, from "For the First Time, It Felt Like My First Journey Ever"

Just Go First | Written by Kim Namhee | Suoseojae | 340 pages | 17,500 won