Recently, Professor Lee Hoon and his pupil, Park Chang-hwan, a doctorate degree student of Hanyang University (HYU) was awarded the grand prize in The Tourism Science Society of

Korea(TOSOK)’s International Tourism Conference held from February 12th to the 13th . The research paper selected was titled ‘An Analysis of Travel Experiences after the Retirement of Baby Boomers’.

Q. The paper is titled, ‘An Analysis of Travel Experiences after the Retirement of Baby Boomers’. Why

did you choose this topic?

A. Lee:  Since the era is moving towards an aging society, the majority of the people born from 1955 to 1966, known as the baby boomers, experience retirement as the turning point of their social life. Retirement, a forced leisure, can cause problems for them since they undergo the challenge in identifying themselves through leisure activities while they used to define themselves through work and groups they belonged to in the past. We focused on how travel experiences affect the baby boomers on how they self-reflect and build their identity.

Park:  To add on to the reasons as to  why we focused on travel experiences specifically, is that there is plenty of time and options available for retirees to

 ravel. The baby boomers are released from mental pressure about their jobs, while tourism allows them to contemplate amongst themselves.

Q. Can you briefly introduce the main idea of the paper?

A. Park:  I’d like to summarize the paper with an old saying, 'A journey makes a man pure, but mighty.' Traveling makes a man filled with joy and lets him reflect on himself.

Lee:  We interviewed 28 people about four subtopics. First, we observed that the subjects’ attitudes and methods of travel changed from a family and work oriented mindset to a self-centered one. Next, they had fresh experiences from their journey due to the abundance of time and focus on oneself. Finally, their perspectivtowards their life after retirement changed from following the social norms to pursuing their individuality.

Q. Mr. Park, what is your plan for your further studies?

A.  I am developing ‘An Analysis of Travel Experiences after Retirement for Baby Boomers’ into my doctorate degree thesis, so I will continue this study further. Furthermore, I’d like to expand the research into leisure as whole and look into specified discourse between the society and individuals.

Q. Professor Lee, would you leave final comments to HYU students?

A.  The society keeps pushing the individuals to have industrial minds and be competitive. However, I believe that the most important thing is to ponder upon the fundamental questions about humanity and happiness. I hope the students reflect on themselves and the  world and combine these macroscopic

views with microscopic efforts to find their goals. why we focused on travel experiences specifically, is that there is plenty of time and options available for retirees to travel. The baby boomers are released from mental pressure about their jobs, while tourism allows them to contemplate                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        amongst themselves.

Q. Can you briefly introduce the mainidea of the paper?

A. Park:  I’d like to summarize the paper with an old saying, 'A journey makes a man pure, but mighty.' Traveling makes a man filled with joy and lets him reflect on himself.

Lee:  We interviewed 28 people about four subtopics. First, we observed that the subjects’ attitudes and methods of travel changed from a family and work oriented mindset to a self-centered one. Next, they had fresh experiences from their journey due to the abundance of time and focus on oneself. Finally, their perspective towards their life after retirement changed from following the social norms to pursuing their individuality.

Q. Mr. Park, what is your plan for your further studies?

A.  I am developing ‘An Analysis of Travel Experiences after Retirement for Baby Boomers’ into my doctorate degree thesis, so I will continue this study further. Furthermore, I’d like to expand the research into leisure as whole and look into specified discourse between the society and individuals.

Q. Professor Lee, would you leave final comments to HYU students?

A.  The society keeps pushing the individuals to have industrial minds and be competitive. However, I believe thath is most important thing is to ponder upon the fundamental questions about humanity and happiness. I hope the students reflect on themselves and the world and combine these macroscopic views with microscopic efforts to find their goals.

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