![[2030 서울탈출기]③ I opened my eyes to surfing and beat PD… How they eat and live in Gangneung](https://pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202103/13/fd873464-f062-436b-b810-28bd06d22632.jpg "[2030 서울탈출기]③ I opened my eyes to surfing and beat PD… How they eat and live in Gangneung")
Now, returning farms and villages are not just stories of retirees and the elderly. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 2030 accounted for 44% of the population who returned to farms and villages last year, accounting for about half. What kind of life do those who have just entered society leave the city? 2030’Professional country workers’ say they can work, earn money, realize their ego, get married, and raise children without living in Seoul. The JoongAng Ilbo lifestyle team introduces five people who have met while traveling across the country for a month.
Indulge in surfing and unpack in Gangwon-do
Gwi-ri Han, 39, who worked as a PD at CJ ENM, quit working life that lasted for about 13 years while passing through the GS Corporate Culture Team, and opened a guesthouse’Week Enders’ in Gangneung in 2019. Located in the old downtown area of Gangneung, Weekenders is a renovated two-story inn built in 1974. At the breakfast restaurant and cafe on the first floor, Mr. Han’s partner Yeom Seung-sik, 40, serves healthy food such as spreads (jam) made from Gangneung Chodang tofu. Representative Yeom was also a guitarist of the rock band’Gate Flowers, Jeoninkwon Band’ who traveled to Hongdae in Seoul. Since entering the world of surfing seven years ago, the two who have traveled to and from Gangwon-do on weekends have settled in Gangneung and opened accommodations for urbanites who crave the sea like themselves.
Weekenders’ specialty is’Retreat Program’. Every weekend during the peak season, guests gather for two days and one night to do yoga, surf, and share Gangneung food together. Even if you come alone without preparation, you can fully feel and recharge Gangneung.
Yeom Seung-sik (40) and Han Gwi-ri (39), co-presidents of the guest house’Week Enders’ located in Gyo-dong, Gangneung-si, are interviewing the JoongAng Ilbo. After leaving Seoul, he settled in Gangneung in 2019 and opened a guesthouse and cafe. Gangneung = Reporter Jang Jin-young
- Why did you leave Seoul?
- Han_ Above all, surfing was the trigger. One day, I floated on the sea and looked at the land, and the life on the land looked smaller than the vast sea. The experience was overwhelming.
- Yeom_ I fell in love with the sea while traveling to Gangwon-do with CEO Han. After living in Bali and Jeju for a month, I thought I could live outside of Seoul.
The two fell in love with surfing about 7 years ago, making friends with the sea by traveling between Bali, Jeju, and Yangyang. One day, I wanted to live on the beach, and I opened a space in Gangneung. Gangneung = Reporter Jang Jin-young
- What was the reason for establishing the site in Gangneung?
- _ Usually, the lodging space here should be a place that is as accessible as possible because the city dwellers are guests. Even though KTX is located in Gangneung, I found an old inn building in the old downtown area close to the station, and I wanted to’here’.
The first floor space of Weekenders, which was converted from an old inn. It is operated as a cafe and bar called’Broken Hearts Club’. Some guests eat, and regular customers stop by to enjoy a drink. Gangneung = Reporter Jang Jin-young
- How about actually escaping from Seoul?
- Han_When I lived in Seoul, I used to surf every weekend, but since this is my daily life, I am satisfied with the exception of being less surfing.
- Yeom_ When I lived in the city, I was a enthusiastic user of early morning delivery. I was used to urban services, so I wondered if it would be uncomfortable to live in a rural area, but it wasn’t as uncomfortable as I thought when I actually lived there. Now, I wonder if I have to get the goods so quickly in the early morning.
Han Gwi-ri’s ultimate goal is to become a yoga instructor in her 70s. Gangneung = Reporter Jang Jin-young
- How to eat and live.
- Yeom_It is a lodging business, but rather than simply giving up space, it provides a kind of’package’ service so that city dwellers can experience a leisurely moment. After check-in, all the guests gathered together to go to the beach to surf and yoga, then come back to eat dinner together, and the next morning to do yoga and eat breakfast at Gyeongpo Lake. It is a’Retreat’ program. The response from those who have experienced it is very good.
- As far as I live, I think that there may be more opportunities in’local’. Seoul is saturated, and even if you do something, you have to be fierce to survive, but there is not too much in the local area. The content created by Seoul residents from a different perspective from natives is also attractive.
- Escape from Seoul, one recommended.
- Compared to Korea_Seoul, the income is small, but the satisfaction is high because I spend my time as much as I want in the environment where I want to live. Besides, these days, there are some online shopping and delivery services, so no matter where you live, you can live without giving up what you want.
Gangneung = Reporter Jiyeon Yoo [email protected]
