Memory of Travel
An interview with illustrator Park Yongha, who layers memories and stories onto moments captured on his travels
Interviewer Pyo Youngso
Interviewee & Illustrations Park Yongha
Photos Shin Gyucheol
*Illustrator Park Yongha was formerly a copywriter. After repeatedly quitting jobs and traveling, he began drawing based on records of his travels. He runs the online store Enrique Shop under the concept of a “shop selling paintings of holidays.”
What was the first work you drew inspired by travel?
There's a beach called El Sardinero in a city called Santander, in northern Spain. It's long been famous as a royal resort area. I'd booked accommodations before arriving, but when I actually got there, it turned out to be a shabby motel on the side of a highway. There was nothing around, it felt desolate, and it was quite far from downtown. Anyway, I left the motel and trudged toward the beach under the blazing sun, and a wave of self-loathing hit me—what kind of amazing ocean was I suffering all this for? But when I arrived, the beach was so beautiful that all those thoughts vanished. It was a deep, indigo-blue sea. There were a lot of couples and families around, and sitting alone amid all these happy-looking people, loneliness washed over me. To forget that loneliness, I swam far out into the sea. The painting that holds that memory is ‘El Sardinero.’ It was the first piece I painted inspired by travel, and it's also my favorite among all the works I've made.
Were you interested in drawing before?
The only art experience I had was a brief stint in the art club in middle school. After that, I lived a life completely unrelated to drawing, until I bought an iPad when I quit my job at an advertising company. The thought of “let's at least doodle something” led to drawing. Your work is striking in that it doesn't just depict a simple scene—it contains a story. Is this style connected to your experience as a copywriter? When I was traveling, I had no intention of drawing at all, so I didn't set out with a story in mind from the start. But once I started drawing 2 and holding exhibitions, I found that having a description alongside the artwork seemed to help viewers appreciate it more. That's when I began thinking about more concrete stories. Personally, I find travel stories that capture emotions anyone might have felt or could relate to in a foreign country more resonant than ones that simply show off personal experiences. When I extract the story for a piece, I want to convey a universal emotion that anyone might have felt in an unfamiliar place, even if just once. In that sense, I think my experience as a copywriter has helped—since a copywriter's role is to capture insights about brand experiences from the consumer's perspective.
2 In 2021, her first solo exhibition, titled “Holiday,” was held at a piece a piece, a multipurpose cultural space in Seochon.
I'm curious about your working process.
I started drawing in the spring of last year, but unfortunately, I haven't been able to travel since then. When I used to travel, I never took photos with drawing in mind—back then, I had no idea I'd end up living as an artist. (laughs) My work mainly involves placing illustrations onto photographs, so I spread out all the travel photos I've taken and look back through the journals I wrote while traveling to find a story. If there are, say, a hundred photos from one location, I pick out the ones from that experience that can be incorporated into a drawing. If there's no photo that matches perfectly with what's in the journal... then it simply doesn't become a piece.
How are the characters that appear in your paintings created?
They're made up randomly. The writing about the trip is based on fact, but I feel like the characters would be too boring if they were fact-based too. A painting has to be pretty and it has to be fun, after all. Regardless of the actual story behind the photo, I improvise characters that suit the story I've pulled out—a family, a child, a couple, whatever fits. Going forward, I'm thinking of making the characters a bit more defined. I have people around me—former bosses or coworkers—who follow my work with interest, and they've advised me that instead of improvising characters like I do now, I should establish a few specific characters, give them names, and build stories around them. They say that would open up possibilities down the road, like books or merchandise. I agree with that, and I'm thinking of preparing for it slowly.
I'm also curious about your travel history. When did you first set off traveling?
My first trip was a year-long journey I took in my mid-twenties. I took a ferry to China, then traveled through Eurasia, the Middle East, and Europe, took the Trans-Siberian Railway, and then came back by ferry to Sokcho. I boarded the ferry to China without any concrete plan, but I met friends traveling for similar reasons there, and the trip ended up stretching on. Since I was a student without much money, I decided I wouldn't take a single flight and would travel only by land and sea, which is part of why it got so long. Did you decide your next destination on a whim? Yes. I'd pick up information at guesthouses in whatever place I'd arrived, or look through Lonely Planet guides at secondhand bookstores. I also found accommodations after arriving locally, and because of that, I think I actually had more chances to make friends with locals. From my second trip onward, I left with a rough idea of which region I wanted to travel through, though I still decided the detailed itinerary on the ground.
What was your second trip like?
In my early thirties, I traveled through the UK, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco, then went on to Latin America. In Central America, I visited Guatemala, Mexico, and Cuba before moving on to South America, where I stayed for seven to eight months. In total, it took about a year and a half. After I came back, I ended up running a café by chance, and after closing that café, I traveled through Southeast Asia for three months—that was my last trip before the pandemic.
What's your usual travel style like?
I prefer long trips over short ones—at minimum a few months, and up to a year and a half at the longest. Rather than setting out with a detailed plan, I just decide roughly which cities I want to visit and set off. Then I move around quite energetically on the ground. I stay long-term at hotels or hostels, wake up early, and explore every corner. I make sure to visit all the notable, must-see spots in a region if I possibly can. I'm not really the type to relax leisurely at my accommodations.
So what do you consider most important when choosing where to stay?
Location is the most important thing. I don't put much weight on facilities, which is why I tend to stay mostly in hostels. Though these days it does bother me a little that the people staying at hostels tend to be much younger than me. (laughs) And I prefer nature to cities. I prioritize places with beautiful natural scenery, and I do a lot of outdoor activities like trekking.
What's the most memorable trekking experience you've had?
3 The Torres del Paine trek. I walked for three nights and four days, camping along the way. It's commonly called the “W Circuit” because you set up a base camp lower down, hike up to a point (a peak), come back down to spend the night, and then climb to another point the next day. On the second day, I climbed up to the Mirador Británico, and I remember being so overwhelmed by the sheer majesty of the towering peaks surrounding me on all sides that I stood there in a daze for a long while. For reference, the name Patagonia is said to originate from when Magellan arrived in South America and encountered indigenous people with large feet, which seemed to him like giants—hence “pata” (foot) and “gon” (big). True to its name, it felt like being surrounded by a dozen or so giants—the scenery was spectacular. The highlight of Torres del Paine was Las Torres (the Three Towers), which I visited on the fourth day. I hiked up for a long while with a flashlight before dawn and waited in front of the lake for daybreak, but as the surroundings simply grew lighter with nothing else happening, I was about to head back down. Then the peaks began turning a deep red from the top down, as if molten metal were being poured over them. That moment is the one I remember most vividly. At Torres del Paine, every single view before my eyes was breathtaking, like the expression “laying postcards at your feet.” It felt like untouched, primeval nature. For someone who loves nature like me, it was an incredibly precious experience.
Were there any funny episodes or memorable moments during your treks?
There was one during the 4 Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峽) trek in China. It's a route along a roughly 16-kilometer stretch of the 5 Tea Horse Road (茶馬古道) that passes through a great gorge, walked over one night and two days. The Jinsha River (金沙江) flows through the gorge, and from the trail above, the current looked gentle. But when I got closer to the riverbank, the water was actually quite rough. While I was taking photos there, I missed my footing and nearly had a serious accident. I remember how terrifying that threatening current felt in that instant. I also recall the sight of a pig carcass off to one side, apparently washed down from upstream, stuck against a rock and spinning round and round in the same spot, unable to float away.
3 A national park in southern Chile visited by more than 250,000 people annually. Covering roughly 180,000 hectares, it encompasses mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers, and is a popular hiking destination.
4 A great canyon located 60 kilometers north of Lijiang (丽江), Yunnan Province, China. In Chinese, it is called Tiger Leaping Gorge (虎跳峽).
5 An ancient trade route running from Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southwestern China, through Tibet, to Nepal and India. It sits at an average elevation of 4,000 meters and spans roughly 5,000 kilometers in total.
Is there anything you always bring along when you travel?
I bought a wristwatch before my first trip, and it's been one of the things I take with me on every trip since. The strap broke while I was traveling once, so I bought a new one in Morocco and had it replaced. I have nicer watches, but this one gives me a sense of emotional stability, so I always bring it. I always bring my laptop too, and since I've lost my laptop and phone a few times while traveling, I also carry a small notebook—mostly to jot down travel information or quick notes. And then there's my camera. I take a lot of photos when I travel. On longer trips I just bring one lightweight digital camera, and when the itinerary is relatively short, I bring my DSLR as well.
Is there a place you'd like to go back to?
The first would be the Caribbean coast of Mexico. The ocean there is truly beautiful. Sea turtles would even swim up to you while you were in the water. It's somewhere I'd like to go back to someday with someone I love. Second, I'd like to go to Brazil. I visited Brazil when I was already a bit worn out toward the end of a long trip, so I only made it to Sao Paulo, Iguazu, and Rio de Janeiro, which I regret. If I go again, I'd like to explore the places I missed that time. Third is Iran. On a night bus crossing the Iranian border, all my cash was stolen. All I had left were traveler's checks, but I was told I'd have to go all the way to Tehran to exchange them for cash. At the bus terminal in the border town, I was standing there not knowing what to do when an Iranian student approached me. He said he was also heading to Tehran to see his younger sibling and invited me to come along. He even bought my bus ticket. Once we got to Tehran, he took me around and looked after me so well. When we parted ways, I told him I'd definitely come find him again before leaving Iran, but in the end I never managed to meet him. I probably couldn't find that friend now, but I'd still love to go back.
Did you manage to exchange your traveler's checks in Tehran?
No. The traveler's checks I had were American Express, and since Iran and the U.S. weren't on good terms at the time, there was nowhere that would accept Amex checks. (laughs) In the end, I had to cross into Türkiye to exchange them.
Has anything changed since your first trip?
On my first trip, my budget was tight, so there was a lot I couldn't do. Looking back, I really regretted all the experiences I missed out on just to save money. It felt like I hadn't spent any time on myself. So on the trips that followed, I made a point of doing the things I'd missed the first time around—things I couldn't see because the admission was too expensive, or food I couldn't eat because I was trying to get by cheaply. Another thing I regret is the travel records I never kept, or that got lost along the way. That's why now, whenever I travel, I try to write at least a short diary entry every day.
Is there anywhere you've wanted to go but haven't yet?
Right before the pandemic hit, I had plans to travel through Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine, but I never got to go. Once traveling is possible again, those are the places I want to visit first.
Is there anything besides travel that inspires you?
Aside from travel, I'd say movies and books. My favorite genres are actually thriller and suspense, but when I want inspiration, I make a point of seeking out stylish films instead—like the work of Wes Anderson, Paul Thomas Anderson, or Tom Ford. 6 I also get ideas from flipping through photo books by Duane Michals or 7 Helmut Newton, 8 Saul Leiter, or picture books by Jean-Jacques Sempé.
Then what inspires you to travel?
Quitting my job. Escaping reality. (laughs) Sometimes I look at the cover photo of a guidebook like Lonely Planet and think I'd like to go there, but I don't think there's anything specific that inspires me to set off on a trip.
What does sustainable travel mean to you?
A destination doesn't belong to the traveler. I think we should travel in a way that does as little damage as possible to the place, for the sake of the people who live there, their descendants, and future travelers who will visit after us. Ultimately, I think it's best when locals can take ownership and manage their own daily lives independently. So I try to respect the local people and avoid being a burden as much as I can.
Lastly, what's the best thing about traveling?
Up until my twenties, I think I was confined within the frame of just myself. I think traveling is a process of understanding what lies beyond myself. Through that process, you come to understand others, and to understand other people in general.
6 An American photographer (b. 1932). Known for his photo-sequences, which capture change over time using a fixed camera.
7 A German-born photographer (1920–2004). Renowned as a giant of 20th-century fashion photography for his boundary-breaking, provocative work.
8 An American photographer and painter (1923–2013). From the 1940s on, he used color film to capture the street scenes and everyday life of New York City.