Day 5 – Solo Korea Car Camping Trip: Mokpo → Yeosu

2021.05.28(Fri)

This morning, I woke up early and headed to a laundromat in downtown Mokpo to finally wash the pile of laundry I’d been carrying around. What a refreshing feeling—it was as if all my worries had been washed away with it.

Taking the chance, I also gave my car a good clean before setting off for my next destination, Suncheon. I had heard about Waon Beach, a spot especially famous for its sunsets, and I drove there with high expectations.

After parking at the small public lot, I wandered around the park and village for a bit.

The village, home to about 400 residents, was peaceful and quiet.

Since leaving home, I’d mostly been eating simple bread on the go, but today I treated myself to a salad in the park. Wow… I had forgotten how delicious and fresh vegetables could taste. It felt like a feast for my body after so long.

Later, to help with digestion, I strolled around a little more. And with free public Wi-Fi available (what a win!), I spent the afternoon working and browsing the internet while feeling the sea breeze in the park.

Since work came up, I’ll share a bit about mine. My main profession has always been cooking—I’ve spent most of my life working in kitchens.

About a year and a half ago, when I traveled alone to Bali, I met a Polish friend at a guesthouse.

He was a graphic engineer who traveled the world with just his laptop, working from anywhere. Until then, I had always thought of “work” as something you did in one place, at fixed hours, completing assigned tasks. Meeting him completely shattered that idea.

He chose what work to do, when to do it, and how much to take on—all while traveling the globe. To me, it was shocking, eye-opening, and, honestly, incredibly cool.

At the time, it felt like a completely different world from mine. As a chef, maybe I could travel the world too, but I assumed I was bound by language barriers and by the limitations of time and space. I thought it was impossible for me.

But didn’t Napoleon once say, ‘Impossible is not in my dictionary’? The same goes for me.

After that trip, I began asking myself how I could earn money as a freelancer while traveling. I thought about the skills and qualities I already had.

What I can do: Korean, English, confidence, traveling, filming videos, and so on.

When I squeezed out even the smallest things, I realized I actually did have something to offer.

Now, I work as a freelancer—doing small translation jobs, and sometimes projects like ads, video work, or Korean voice recordings for foreign clients. Of course, the income isn’t nearly enough to live on yet. But the fact that I can open my laptop anytime, anywhere on this trip, and work when I want—that in itself feels like incredible progress, something to be grateful for.

I’m certain that if I keep building experience like this, one day it won’t just be a side hustle. It’ll be my main career, and I’ll be able to travel the world like my friend—working only as much as I want, when I want.

Waon Beach had a decent view, but with no markets or convenience stores nearby and nothing much to do in such a quiet area, I decided to change my destination to Yeosu.

I had heard about Shindeok Beach there—a so-called mecca for car campers and campers alike. More than that, I was simply curious about Yeosu itself, so I headed there without much thought.

I went without any expectations, but… wow. This place was a true scenic gem.

Though small in scale, it had everything: rolling waves, soft fine sand, and perfect weather as the clouds cleared halfway through the day. It was the kind of place where reading felt effortless.

I spent the afternoon reading, lost in the sound of the waves, until the growl of my stomach snapped me back. I bought some fried chicken, settled in, and had dinner while watching a movie.

Maybe it was because I’d shaken off all the bad luck yesterday, but today I felt overwhelmed—in the best way—by calm, peace, and gratitude all at once. It was a triple blessing of a day.

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4. Every individual is a precious being, carrying a unique lifetime that cannot be bought or replaced with money.’

: Therefore, we must never resort to blaming or condemning others.

There are people who, at times, look down on others—judging them by standards such as education, age, appearance, or family background, and dismissing them as inferior.

But to borrow from Adler’s psychology: humans are ‘not the same, but equal.’ In other words, we walk across a flat plane where no vertical hierarchy exists. Each person may walk at a different pace, in a different way, depending on their abilities, but what truly matters is striving to move ahead of who we were yesterday—not competing against others.

Even if someone may appear less capable in certain areas, in other ways, they may far surpass us.

After all, I myself have lived for over twenty years and have continuously learned along the way—so how could it not be the same for others? Everyone has spent decades seeing, hearing, and experiencing life in their own way. Each person is like a computer holding an immense and invaluable database, filled with entirely different contents.

The time, experiences, and values they’ve accumulated can never be dismissed. So we should never judge a person based on a single surface or moment. Honest criticism that helps someone grow may be fair—but outright condemnation is not.

And so today, I learned another meaningful lesson about life from my eighteen-year-old self, five years in the past.

As the evening sky turned soft lavender, I quietly brought the day to a close, watching the sunset in peace.

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