Hello, Kind Stranger: Ten Writers on the Road

From 2013 through 2015, the last year of Tistory’s prominent-blogger program, I was named one of its top travel bloggers three years in a row. Travel followed naturally from that. Before then, I had hardly traveled. Making a living took up most of my time.

When I first came across this book, around 2013, I had little spare money or peace of mind for travel. Most of my thoughts went into how I would manage the life in front of me.

Ten Journeys in One Book

I picked up Hello, Kind Stranger when I had little room for the romance of going away. Ten other people’s journeys offered a way to feel something of travel from home.

The ten contributors went to different places for different reasons. I recognized the musicians Lee Juck and Jang Kiha among them. It felt new to encounter them on the page as writers.

The essays tell what each person thought and felt along the way. Photographs appear here and there, giving the reader something to go on when imagining a place.

The contributors and their journeys include the following.

1. Eun Hee-kyung, novelist — Going to Australia to see a lover called wine, and getting drunk on the view
2. Lee Myung-se, film director — On the bridge over the River Kwai, rinsing the mind in the current
3. Lee Byeong-ryul, poet — Oh, the people who love December
4. Baek Young-ok, novelist — Tasting a nineteen-year-old’s dream in Hong Kong
5. Kim Hoon, novelist — Learning how powerless we can be in Micronesia
6. Kolleen Park, musical director — Plunging into a blue that is almost transparent
7. Park Chan-il, chef and essayist — Mobile lunchboxes and virtual ekiben
8. Jang Kiha, musician — How much will I miss this place when I go home?
9. Shin Kyung-sook, novelist — A stop for the world’s travelers and a request to look after the stranger
10. Lee Juck, musician — Festival days in Québec, where the past is still present

Seeing Somewhere New Through Someone Else’s Eyes

It is easy to daydream about leaving for somewhere unexpected. Reading an account of a place I have never been gives my imagination a great deal to do.

I find myself thinking about a trip I might take when there is more time and room for it.

Even imagining a break from a repetitive routine, and a brief encounter with something unfamiliar, can be exhilarating.

The book gives you the company of ten travelers and enough room to follow their experiences at your own pace.

Book Information

Hello, Kind Stranger

Authors

Lee Byeong-ryul and nine contributors

Publication date

9 November 2012

ISBN13

9788993928525

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