Emas's world

In Emas's world the most special place on Earth is where my friends live. In Emas's world the most valuable lesson we can learn on this planet is humanism. In Emas's world we never make plans, we simply go with the flow of the day. In Emas's world, it doesn't matter at all what other people think of you, just give your best to be proud of yourself. In Emas's world, the happiest moment is when good friends surround you.

More than two years has passed since I started traveling around the world. During this time I have done almost everything. For example, I swam with whale sharks in Cebu, went skydiving in New Zealand, and dared to eat a cuy in Peru. This journey has taught me a lot. The greatest lesson? The hearts filled with humanity that you meet. I still remember how it all started. It was long before packing my bags and heading to the airport for the first time. In Seoul, my hometown, I have a friend who is more like family to me. I've shared all my moments with him. We have laughed and cried together since we were kids. We both like unique things, so we made unique plans. One of them was to travel around the world. In South Korea, there is mandatory military service. I signed up right after finishing high school. But that's when our roads parted. He decided to sign up two years later when I had already finished the service. And that's when I started the preparations for the trip around the world. When the moment to set off finally arrived, I waited for his call, but there was no sign of him. I felt really bad, and I didn't know what to do. When I was already checking in, I saw a man in a uniform approaching me. It was him. I couldn't avoid it, I started to cry. It turned out that my friend had hurt his leg during the military training, and that he hadn't told me because he didn't want to make me worried nor interrupt my preparations for the trip.

Now, on 20 May 2014, I'm in India, my last stop. Today I'm going to take a bus to Mumbai. The heat is almost unbearable, and I'm going to spend 16 hours travelling in a bus with no air conditioning. But I'm excited because I'll be the only foreigner in the bus, and I came to India to see how people live here. This is how I have set out the whole trip. To go to a place and become one with the local people. And to be happy. I'm sure that 70% of illnesses are caused by your mental state. If you are happy, you are healthy. I never take any medicine, and I'm always in good health. If I had to give advice to someone, I'd say: "Always be happy. Life is short. Never ever make yourself ill."

I've travelled the five continents, visited unexpected places, and most importantly, I've made many friends who will stay with me forever, in my mind and in my heart. Many things that I never even imagined happened. I remember when I met this crazy French guy in Las Vegas, already a year ago, and he introduced me to his friends. We traveled in the United States together for about 10 days. When we said goodbye, I knew that we would meet again. But I never suspected that our roads would cross one year later in Paris. There, in his company, I felt like home. It's one of the best things that has happened to me during this trip. I can't even describe how happy I felt. Well, maybe I can: when I'm happy, I drink; when I'm sad, I never drink. I was in Paris for 9 days. I didn't pass even one day without drinking.

This trip has changed my life. Life is a choice. And we are here to create our own life, not just to live it. I've met many people who sold all their things: their houses, their cars, just to be able to travel. Even people who quit their job to travel. Also those who had no money, and worked hard for a while, saved up, and moved on little by little to make their dream come true. That's what life is, a choice. Mine was to travel around the world for two years. And to try to understand what kind of a person I really am. I would live this experience again and again. And most of all, I'd go back to the places where my friends are, the people who offered me their hospitality, without asking anything in return, and hardly knowing me. Because in Emas's world the best place to be is the place where the good friends are.