We quit our jobs to travel the world. Now my wife and I run her family's farm in South Korea.
A former Samsung employee shares his experience of quitting a corporate career to travel the world before eventually returning to South Korea to manage his wife's family farm. Despite his journey, he advises others against quitting their corporate jobs impulsively, citing the realities of rural life.
Why it matters
The story reflects a growing trend of 'career-quitting' and the search for work-life balance, while offering a grounded perspective on the challenges of transitioning to agricultural labor.
Kang "Kay" Soo-il and Lily quit their jobs to travel; now they run her family's farm in South Korea. Provided by Kang "Kay" Soo-il Eight years ago, Kang "Kay" Soo-il left his job at Samsung after feeling burned out. He reconnected with Lily, a childhood friend; they married and spent two years traveling the world. Now they run her family farm in rural South Korea — but his advice to corporate-job quitters: "Don't do it!" This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kang "Kay" Soo-il, a 39-year-old South Korean national who quit his job and traveled, before returning home to run a farm. It has been edited for length and clarity. Eight years ago, at 31, I was living in a Korean city south of Seoul, and working as a software developer and designer for Samsung Electronics.
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