Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label travel. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

"Free spirit coffee Jeep?"

The following story was adapted from the one I had shared on Instagram in the past.
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About the name — it was a scorching, July afternoon on a highway about five miles southeast of Incheon, Korea. 

In a sudden turn of events, I was in a minivan with a kind Korean family that I had only met upon entering the vehicle. We were going to visit a cave - Gwangmyeong Cave, in fact. Due to the excessive heat, so was the rest of city it seemed. 

We sat in stop-and-go traffic for hours. I studied the rows upon rows of strip malls and restaurants as we crawled past them. 

At the corner of a dusty, 
yellow mall was what appeared to be an abandoned coffee shop: 
outdated, coffee-themed signage in the window, 
random assortment of broken cafe tables and chairs strewn haphazardly inside. 

Painted above the business in faded orange letters: 
FREE SPIRIT COFFEE JEEP. 

What a concept. It tickled me. I loved it. It stuck with me. After returning to the city that evening (the cave itself is a whole different story) I googled the 4-word expression hoping to find some context for it. To this day I remain empty-handed. "Free spirit coffee jeep" remains a mystery. 

As for myself, yes, I do enjoy a good cup of coffee, and yes, I have been referred to as a “free spirit” once or twice, but I did adore each and every adventure in Korea and every individual with whom I shared them. —I think about Korea a lot, and no, I’ve never owned a Jeep, though I’m not altogether opposed to the idea. 

Jeep, jeep, jeep, jeep, jeep, jeep 

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