[A DIY Study Abroad Starting with Just a Pen] Ep.1 Like a Movie

[Pen Artist Ha-jung Lee Series - A DIY Study Abroad Starting with Just a Pen] Ep.1 Like a Movie

Even back in Korea, I loved walking around every corner of Seoul. There was hardly an alley I hadn't been to. Naturally, my own travel style began to form.

In today's terms, you could call it a mix of P and J. I pick just one place a day and head out. Once I get there, I wander the neighborhood aimlessly, without a plan.

A travel style is something that naturally shapes itself as you take it one step at a time. All while imagining myself from a third-person perspective, standing there like a scene from a movie.

Come to think of it, looking back on this trip, a movie was probably what started it all. The protagonists who just took off somewhere to find their 'true selves'. I was always jealous of that.

Unfamiliar Inspiration

For a long-term traveler, saving every penny was crucial. Sure, I used public transport, but unless it was more than an hour away, I walked everywhere.

The tobacco shops you pass by. The old pubs where only the grandpas hang out. The unique signs of the city and the exotic smells that changed with every step.

Moments when everything entering my senses felt so unfamiliar. For someone who had been wandering for years, this was the ultimate stimulation.

On the flip side, it was also the absolute source of inspiration for my work. I'd take photos as I walked, and when my legs hurt, I'd sit in a park and draw. It was a wellspring of creation where I could take in input and immediately pour out output day by day. For someone making things, it's a day where adrenaline just keeps flowing without a chance to dry up.

Traveler by Day, Designer by Night

After finishing my travels for the day, I return to my hostel and open my laptop. Typing away, I spill out the emotions and gazes I felt that day, and the memorable images unique to that city. Leaving a record was in itself a part of this journey.

I decided to try every method I could. Text, photography, drawing, video. I made it all. Since I didn't know what kind of designer I wanted to be, doing everything I could was a desperate attempt. 'Right. I'm on a DIY study abroad.'

Like a Movie

My personal blog bio says "Like a Movie". Maybe it's because I want to look at myself from a third-person perspective, just like a movie.

I imagine myself as a single still cut—traveling by day, and making something in an unfamiliar place by night. The images that come to mind—now that I think about it, this is still incredibly important to me.

Just as images come together to make a movie, every single moment of the trip was a process of creating my own story. I hoped my unique story and colors would be revealed through the trip itself and its outcomes. And eventually, I wanted my journey to become a movie-like scene for someone else. Just like how a scene from a movie made me want to leave.

Hoping to find 'my' color—something that is perhaps life itself to a designer.

(Fin.)