About rustic living, countryside experiences

Nowadays, many people are searching for a chalet vacation with the concept of a cottage. The search term “rural experience” or ” countryside experience” has also increased. I think it’s because children have fewer opportunities to be exposed to nature, so the demand for experiential learning has increased, and the desire to be with nature has grown. It’s called the rustic life.

In recent years, there have been more rural house travel programs, represented by ‘three meals a day’. There have been rural house-based entertainment programs such as ‘1 Night 2 Days’ and ‘Family Vacation’ in the past, but whereas in the past, there was a strong sense of spatial variation by filming in a different place away from the city, recent programs seem to emphasize ‘life’ in that space rather than actual variation.

The term “rustic veg out” and “odoichon” (living five days in the city and two days in the countryside) have emerged as new lifestyles because of the slower pace of the countryside and the emotional fulfillment that comes from living close to nature.

The term “rustic life” has even been coined to describe a rural lifestyle that enjoys the raw nature and charm of the countryside, but without losing the ease and comfort of city life. It’s a new way of living that isn’t completely disconnected like leaving the city and moving to the countryside, but rather a way of living in the city and adding simplicity to your life. It’s a word that Professor Kim Nando Kim, who is incredibly good at creating marketing terms, has chosen as one of the top 10 trends for 2022.

In fact, as I traveled around Korea, I could experience the increase in cafes that emphasized ‘countryside view’. There were cafes with rice field views, or cafes that I couldn’t understand why they set up a cafe here.

I also became interested in Odoichon while camping. At first, I thought it would be nice to have a country house nearby where I could easily pitch a tent, but it evolved into a desire to have a second house in the countryside within an hour of my home. What sparked my interest was the story of a former company senior who built a house in Yangpyeong. He lived 20 minutes away from my company, but one day he suddenly bought a piece of land in Yangpyeong, built a house, and moved away.

Since then, I’ve been looking for cottages for sale from time to time, but Yangpyeong and other places east or south of Seoul are too expensive, and it’s too far to go to Gangwon-do… So I’ve been keeping an eye on Yeoncheon. A rural life near the Hantan River… Isn’t it nice just thinking about it?

I’ve had the experience of tearing down and renovating two houses unintentionally, so I have a expectation that if I find a house I like, I’ll be able to renovate it and enjoy the rustic life.

My parents still live in the countryside, and my grandmother lives in rural Yeongcheon, Gyeongbuk, so it’s still possible to live the real rustic life if you want to.

This year, my family and I went to my grandmother’s house for a weekend in the fall. For my son, it’s his great-grandmother’s house, and he calls her ‘King Grandma’ and is so happy every time he goes there. He had a great time experiencing all kinds of things for two days. When you go to the countryside, it’s a given that you’re going to ride in the back of a truck or a tiller. It’s a rustic off-road experience.

We arrive in a rattling truck to a nearby hillside. There’s no one else to harvest the chestnuts that have been planted, so the first one to pick them is the owner, and now Mr. Gosari’s son picks them too. He’s quite skilled at picking chestnuts while avoiding the sharp thorns.

After the night harvest, my son heads to the garden. There’s nothing you can’t find in the garden right outside the back door of the house. Even vegetables that he normally doesn’t like to eat, he’ll try once he sees them in action.

I don’t remember exactly,

On this day we harvested pumpkins, pomegranates, chestnuts, peppers, lettuce, persimmons, sesame leaves, apples, and more. The highlight was my son’s excitement when he picked and held a radish.

My grandmother’s house in the countryside is too far away (Yeongcheon, Gyeongbuk), so I don’t get to experience it often, but I think it’s definitely more enjoyable and emotionally satisfying than paying for a field trip to the countryside near the city.

My dad also started apple farming in the countryside, so I’m going to start a fun side project, starting with ‘Tri Apple’ branding based on the triangular land.