Train Journey: Writing and Scenery on Guam

Tumon Beach, Guam offers white-sand beaches, a variety of shops, restaurants, and water sports. You might expect a flashy tour video, yet a simple notebook reveals how the destination feels to a traveller. Armchair travel, post-pandemic, is now possible. Yet critics find the digital trend misleading and unfulfilling.

The Sightseer's Screens

A notebook provides a tangible connection to distant lands. In our case, it promises an "unforgettable experience in paradise" at Guam's Tumon Beach, per the armchair traveler jangyunyoungisme. The latter is a calm moment on a train, glancing at passing landscapes, the notebook tucked between hand and arm. Sitting there with a drink, they jotting down notes as the world rolls by. Unlike conventional digital explorations, where a destination unfolds via static images or curated videos, a s present-case notebook brings together the storytelling of a book and the immediacy of a camera. Instead of a forced narrative, anyone can edit their own story from the events they witness. Yet, these notebooks are not all the same — the style, structure, or events in jangyunyoungisme’s notebook may not align with the expectations of others. Each notebook is a custom product of its user.

Tumon Beach, Guam

Guam is used as a gateway, or even a way to bring back some vivid moments on the island. Even as a tourist, it's rather easy to find spaces that convey the promise of adventure, as well as relaxation. This lures travelers to Tumon Beach. White-sand beaches, shopping centers, diners, tourists places to eat, go on a dive. Once visiting, it's simple to imagine it as a tropical paradise — palm trees, the smell of salt, the taste of cold water, and the sounds of kids playing nearby. Yet, the green landscape always tells the opposite story to the one jangyunyoungisme feel - of concrete structures and rampant tourism.

Indexing Paradise - Saying Goodby to Storytelling

There’s a difference between narrative and experience. The former sequences events. The latter is more like a map: it doesn’t tell you your destination, nor does it sequence events. Rather, it connects you with the present and how you feel. jangyunyoungisme’s notebook maps out feelings of the train ride, Its layouts are experiential, not sequential. The notebook allows you to re-experience wherever you are.

The Art of an Armchair

Notebooks might suggest the past - paper, pens, and ink. But the idea of an armchair traveller is one that's rooted in the present. A train's rocking, the scents outside, the feeling of the notebook in your hands - one that you’d never feel while sitting in a bedroom chair. The creator of the notebook is the biggest difference between an armchair traveler and a conventional tourist. The creator chooses what goes on the page - they pick and choose the key points, the emotions, and the layout of the page.

Experiencing by Approximation

If you want to experience a place, you should go there. But if you want to experience what you've heard about a place, then sitting down with a cup of tea and a notebook, and the images and descriptions of that place might take you there. Cooling sand, the smell of salt water, the taste of cold water, and the sounds of people playing nearby—rather, a train, the smell of tea, paper and ink, and the sound of chatter outside the train. It still feels like the feeling of being there in Tumon to a certain extent.

Buy Now, Experience Later

Travelers can do a lot with a notebook - they'll be able to craft their own travel experiences, to experience the places they want to visit, be it physically or by means of the senses.

• Choose the right medium: If you want to be an armchair traveler, you can pick up a notebook, or a journal, or a planner. You can also use a digital notebook.
• Pick your destination: Armchair travel allows you to choose where you want to visit, and how much you want to experience.
• Look through the pictures and write: Armchair travel demands a certain level of creativity. This is your chance to express yourself and showcase your personality.
• Engage the five senses: You can also live out your dreams by using all five senses, by describing the details that set the scene.
• Read your entry: You can also read through your entry and see how vivid the memory really is!

Looking Beyond the Train Window

If you are bored by the same thing, or if you want to travel to a completely different land, or if you cannot afford to travel right now, or if you cannot travel because of any reason, you can always pick up that notebook and write about it. When you pick up a notebook, you’re not just picking up a notebook. You’re picking up an experience. You’re picking up a universe. You’re picking up Tulon Beach on Guam and relaxing your mind. You’re picking up the feeling of the place, the moment, the enjoyment. You’re picking up a memory. You’re picking up a journey.