July 2021
July 2021
There¡¯s a reason it may seem as though Koreans can be fussy about (taking off on their due) summer vacations. Especially at the workplace where many salary people endure a waiting game to see when would be the best time to slip away, it is glaringly evident how Koreans must be thirsting after their annual break, all year long. As part of our engagement with Korean vacation customs, we sat down with Dr. Lee Si-hyung, a domestic star doctor known to ¡°prescribe rest¡± to patients.
Written by
Lee Jisung,
features editor
Photo courtesy of
Healience Seonmaeul
Most modern-day workersincluding but not limited to the hunchbacked desk worker and red-eyed customer service responder—will have had their moment of realization. ¡°I need rest.¡± When asked what brought Dr. Lee to his realization thereof, he begins by describing the mindset of ordinary Koreans during the days of rapid, nationwide industrialization. ¡°After the half-century of living with no distinction between day and night, we may have achieved the miracle of uber-developed infrastructure, but at the cost of not knowing how to let go,¡± said Lee. ¡°We are still gripped by the impulse to go farther, try harder, aim for more, more and more.¡±
While accomplishments are rewarding and exciting, he says, they always entail the risk of failing, in which case complaints are bound to pour out.
Healience Seonmaeul Village is a resort unlike any other, one reason being that its approach hinges on Lee¡¯s philosophies and research.
¡°We are barely able to stop ourselves, much less do we think to give ourselves a break,¡± he says. ¡°I struck up an interest in this field as per my own conjecture that some of our nation¡¯s many pivotal problems stem from the way we approach, or fail to approach, the concept of rest.¡±
How are Koreans failing to afford the rest they need for themselves? Stats attest to the lack of proper rest. According to SM C&C¡¯s survey platform results, merely 17.2% of workers claim to have indulged in sufficient rest during their summer vacation. The phrase ¡°vacation syndrome¡± has even emerged to denote the aftermath of feeling blue afterward.
Lee attributes this phenomenon to the fact that more so than our bodies, it is the modern workers¡¯ brains that need real respite. ¡°Of course, there are certain bodily needs to heal, after workouts or other exertions of the body; however, they can be overcome through sleep, whereas that is not so simple to resolve for brain fatigue,¡± he says. ¡°We must remember that the brain, a powerhouse accounting for one-fifth of our energy usage is in work-mode 24/7.¡±
Even while our consciousness is in rest mode, our brain is in Default Mode Network (DMN), exerting 60-80% of its energy. Lee says DMN status isn¡¯t just harmful as we can reap great benefit from it as a source of creativity or inventive ideas. However, it does explain why we may not feel entirely rested up even after we¡¯ve gone through the motions of going on vacation.
Ambassador of
Mindful Rest
Dr. Lee Si-hyung
Q. Please introduce readers to Healience Seonmaeul Village, a novel locale you¡¯ve established for properly indulging in respite, ¡°a place for healing and recovery of the body and mind through absolute immersion in rest.¡±
My drive for knowledge and research in my field left me restless, like many others. We need to be cognizant of how our physical bodies are also considered part of nature. In other words, our inner selves need nature. Surrounded by urban infrastructure, it is only a natural course that our bodies become and remain contaminated.
On the other hand, there is immense healing power in nature. Amid forests, serotonin, a hormone of happiness and restfulness, is easily activated. All of this goes to state that for a wholesome, high-quality life both in and out, nature is a non-negotiable, requisite factor.
Healience is a place, an environment that resolves what hospitals are often unable to, for those ridden with symptoms of overwork and restlessness. By the time a patient seeks a medical practitioner, it is already too late. Modern hospitals merely find artificial and manmade substances through which to ¡°cure¡± you, most likely transiently and in a way that hinders your immune system. The long-term approach to resolving the modern workers' health needs lie in nature, and in strengthening immunity. That's what Seonmaeul aims to do: to ingrain healthy habits and effects of pristine nature to enhance, ultimately, people's quality of life.
Q. What main values are espoused by the Healience Seonmaeul Village?
Humility, nature, and simplicity: these are the three elemental values Healience has been founded on, and still operates under. We opt for a humble state of being, and of maintenance. Living accommodations tend to be equipped with minimal manmade facilities to maximize the blessings of nature such as sun rays and the chirping of birds. That's why nature comes next, with which we are all about forming a genuine bond. That is how I believe humans can truly recharge themselves. The third, simplicity, ties in with the prior two: no fancy techniques are involved; as long as we are in touch with nature and stick to our humble ways, we can be content. Put differently, it may not feel altogether convenient. Since we¡¯re only as simple as nature, and like to stay humble in our existence or sustenance, there is a measure of deliberate inconvenience. This is totally intended because we all need those ¡°gaps¡± to reflect on ourselves.
Q. How would you recommend readers to rest?
Mindful meditation: it's doable wherever, effectively so. Focus on the here and now instead of fussing about what has yet to happen, or already has. Accept your thoughts and let them flow through you like a tranquil stream. Even a quick minute or two can do you wonders. You will notice an instant change.
The COVID-19 pandemic has driven travellers toward more private spaces. For instance, in Korea where the typical office worker¡¯s car is not equipped for the needs of a camper, van camping—or in Korean, chabak—has become a mainstream source of enjoyment, even as a simple getaway. In this section, we talk to Wookbba, a YouTuber who pioneered the previously niche trend in Korea¡¯s camping scene.
Written by
by Yu Pureum,
features editor
Photo courtesy of
Wookbba
Wookbba seems so acclimatized to the act of camping in his videos because of his many years of enjoying chabak, decades before the term was even coined. More than 20 years prior, Wookbba followed his dad to fishing sites, which naturally led to camping in his van or mode of transportation.
Wookbba claims not to have developed much of an understanding for why he had to sleep in the van, nor knew to enjoy it, until one night when his father was fishing and while he himself laid down to sleep. He found himself magically surrounded by a mix of insect and frog sounds, with the sparkling stars greeting him from the distant, dark sky. For some reason that he cannot put his finger on, ¡°That day, that very moment continues to live on in my heart. In a very vivid way,¡± he says. ¡°I still don¡¯t know why it made me so giddy, but I was. That, I¡¯d say, was my first chabak experience and to this day, the most memorable of all my chabak nights.¡±
© youtube
Candid glimpses of Wookbba and his family camping out in nature account for most of his YouTube channel.
Though Wookbba¡¯s youths revolved around memories as such, much of his adulthood flew by without camping—until one day his father announced his plans to live as a lifelong fisherman with a chabak lifestyle. ¡°Once he purchased an ideal car for it, I began continuously borrowing the car for van camping trips with my wife,¡± he says. ¡°Upon my father¡¯s remark on how we¡¯d use his car like it was mine, I used my sedan to go here and there, which turned out to be of great inconvenience.¡± After investing in an SUV, they commenced their proper chabak chronicles.
Van Camper,
Vlogger and Happy Father
¡®Wookbba¡¯
Q. You take your family with you at times; other times, you go alone on van-camping trips. What are the differences?
Oh, solo-camping is so comfortable. All I need are food to prep handily for myself, minimal luggage and a spot with a great view to complete the set-up of an ideal solo vancamp experience. Starting from the obvious—being with family triples the luggage, plus the workload as there needs to be space for three people to comfortably sleep in. Obviously, there are pros and cons. While being on my own lets me vent my stress from work in a tranquil manner and environment, it does get lonely. On the other hand, bringing my family with me is laborious on all accounts, but seeing my wife and my kid enjoy themselves is such a great reward, enough to recharge me instantly.
Q. What made you become a YouTuber?
During my chabak preparations, YouTube was severely lacking in information for people like myself. So I made the intuitive guess that others like me would find a channel like mine helpful. It was another task to actually learn videographing, video-editing and other associated tasks. My content was so, so rough in the beginning but I did have an audience, people who consumed, enjoyed and benefited from my content. That propelled, and still motivates me to keep managing my channel.
Indeed, though the upsurge of interest in chabak has also heightened the amount of attention or clicks on my channel, it feels rather unreal in the sense that before the coronavirus, never would I have imagined such a phenomenon.
Q. What are the perks of chabak for you?
The fact that you can leave whenever, with a simple set of minimal equipment. Unlike auto-camping where tents need to be set up, and all sorts of equipment accompany the process, during chabak the van, your mode of transportation, simply acts as a tent, meaning chairs and tables don¡¯t need to be purchased in advance nor set up at the destination. In fact, what¡¯s more exhilarating than the feeling of making yourself at home at whichever location of your liking? It¡¯s a wondrous experience, to stop by a beautiful vista that unfolds and take the panoramic setting as your place to sleep for the day.
Q. Vacation season is right around the corner. What would you recommend to families planning a chabak trip?
It¡¯s incredibly hot these days; even from early on, many anticipate a brutally hot summer. Hence, shades and streams would be the best bet. Oh, you can also get help in warding off heat from novel products, like a portable (rechargeable) hand fan or rechargeable refrigerator designed for summer camping. Oh, I also would like to remind everyone that leaving no trace on the grounds you stayed on is extremely important for everyone.
