A life of walking on the land

You might say that I go too far to define a city as "means of transportation" and "underground spaces." Likewise, people living in a city can hardly be with the nature. Then, what are the meaning of “walking on the land” and “feeling the nature”?

Last spring, I walked on Dullegil on Mt. Jiri for 13 days with my friends. Dullegil is a 250-km walking trail that starts from Hamyang to Hadong in South Gyeongsang Province, Gurye in South Jeolla Province, Namwon in North Jeolla Province and comes back to the starting point. It was early spring and we had trouble with endlessly changing weather conditions. It was minus 6 Celsius degrees when we began our journey and the temperature rose to 22 Celsius degrees. There were days when it rained all day. At that time, I was out of my job by fourth times, and needed the moment to gain some strengths for myself. Finally, I came back with full of vitality, which was a gift from the nature. When I close my eyes, I still can feel harsh winds along the ridge where I could see Cheongwang peak and Jungbong peak, breeze of Hwagae with full of apricot flower scent, drizzles that gently touches my face in Omi village of Gurye, soft sunshine in Changwon village of Hamyang, chattering of birds in Baekwoon valley of Sancheong, and stars in the sky in Agyang villageof Hadong.

I slowly walked on the trail for 13 days and my body was used to that rhythm. After I came back to Seoul, I felt dizzy whenever I took the bus for a while. It was a natural reaction to the city life moving pretty fast. I went to the underground heavy-footed. Taking a subway train and having a meal in an underground restaurant were quite burdening. Living in a basement apartment, taking the subway to home, and working in an underground office… Such city life is isolated from changes of nature, including sunset and sunrise, wind blow, snow, and temperature changes. Thus, it is quite difficult to live healthy in a city.

I often climb Mt. Unnam in Gimcheon where I live now. Unlike Seoul, I walk from home and enjoy wind bath. On a very hot summer day, I didn’t meet a single man until I get to the top of the mountain. I took off my shirt and went half naked as it was a desolate mountain path. I was mesmerized by the cool mountain air touching my bare skin. Since then, I often take out my shirt and feel the breeze, which is a small luxury given to me when I climb the mountain.

People are originally used to walk. Many people living in a city walk less and ride more, and spend much time on underground, not on the land, isolating themselves from the nature. Let’s make a little twist and intentionally attempt to make a new try. Walk for a while about the distance of one or two stops, instead of driving or taking subways. The less nice trees along the street may show you a sneak peek of the season and small flower beds may present you beautiful scents. How lucky you are! Feeling the sunshine and wind by walking on the street can be an unexpected pleasure and vitality.

(Written by Park Han-kyu)