About Me

(A picture was taken when I was in Canada, 2011 just before starting cycling the world.)

Who am I?
I am Jin from South Korean.  I love to look at the night sky, read books, take pictures, climb, hike and so on. I also enjoy everything about astronomy (the night sky, shooting stars, the sun and moon, galaxies, NASA, etc.), nature (trees, animals, the rain, the sun), people (especially people smiling and laughing), camping, traveling, and much more!

When did I decide to travel by bicycle?
While I saw the Northern Lights in Yellowknife, Canada, I tried to hitchhike to another planet to find a new life. (Literally, I raised a thumb to the sky) But then suddenly I was afraid of leaving the earth because there would be no oxygen or people in another planet. So, I changed my mind and decided first to explore my planet.

Why traveling by bike?
A car is too fast and walking is too slow. Bicycle touring is perfect to see the world. I want to begin my exploration of the universe by peddling a bicycle.

How do I afford to travel financially?
I had a working holiday visa in Canada for one year. So I made money in Canada. Although I didn’t have enough money to begin an extensive journey, I couldn’t wait any longer because I believed I could make money on my way. So I just began my journey. You can watch my video about How I afford to travel the world on youtube.

Did I have other traveling experience?
I have twice bicycle toured in my own country. Both times were short trips, each about eight or nine nights. I didn’t have a bicycle that I just rented one at that time. I have also hitchhiked four months across Canada by myself. Before I began this trip, I lived in Canada for a year. But I’ve never cycled overseas before. So this world trip is really the first cycling trip overseas.

What do I want to get from this trip?
I enjoy meeting, talking, and listening to people. I think every person has their own philosophy. I want to learn from others and I want to see what is going on the earth before traveling elsewhere in the universe. I want also to grow and be a better person.

How long will I cycle?
I start on September 1, 2011 from San Francisco, US. In the beginning, I didn’t know how long I will do. I thought it would take three to four years. But I’ve done almost 8 years as time is running so fast. I might end up cycling in 2020. But due to Coronavirus, I paused on Dec 2020 and I am staying in Australia at the moment with the hope of border opening.

What is my real dream?
This trip is my first step toward my real dream. Because of my love for astronomy, my real dream involves space travel. However, I think traveling around the earth is much easier than traveling the universe.

My last destination of this trip?
I do want to travel Korea as my last destination. I have never been back home since I started cycling because I got a dream to go back home, South Korea through North Korea by land to show we can be one country. There is no political message that I wanted to only see part of Korea as Korean. How sad it is that I survived from six continents and saw all amazing things, but I cannot travel just right half of the Korean peninsular. I tried to fulfill my dream in August of 2020, but I failed. I was suffering from depression due to all borders closed and being stuck in Australia, and failing to reach my goal. I decided to become an app developer to make my dream virtually. I will try to make the app of Travel North Korea once I have learned to code enough. You can check my website of programming. I have registered several apps on Android. You can download them here.