Check-in — After Checking In

Check-in — After Checking In

A room in a travel destination is the only refuge granted to us in an unfamiliar place. Instead of being left defenseless against a foreign landscape, we find a strange sense of relief in the small room where we rest for a night, looking out at the world beyond a windowpane. Just like the traveler, who has no choice, the destination too has no choice but to reveal its unrefined, inner self in that moment. Photographer Cho Jiyeong’s journeys begin by quietly gazing at this side of an unfamiliar city, encountered in just this way.

Words & Photos Cho Jiyeong

An ordinary trip begins by choosing a city, adding the places you want to visit to a list, and sketching out a rough itinerary. Along the way, the information you collect lets you draw at least a vague picture of what awaits. But when it comes to travel, the view outside your room’s window is always a game of chance. It is impossible to predict until you pull back the curtain, and you can’t help feeling as though you’re scratching off a lottery ticket.

In Japan, I often drew the view of a white tiled wall on the neighboring building. In Cusco, Peru, I won a view of red roofs stretching endlessly below. In Taiwan, I got a view of densely packed buildings much like Seoul’s, and in Italy, I landed views of laundry hanging charmingly from every window, or of vineyards spreading out in green as far as the eye could see.

I began this project after encountering one of those wall views. The moment I faced the scene outside the window, I felt as if I had seen the bare face of the city without any time to prepare, and I suddenly felt close to it. Since then, opening the window of my room and looking out has become deeply meaningful to me on every trip. It’s only when I open that window that the real journey feels like it has begun.