Who is Juno?
Hello! Nice meeting you here. My name is Juno Kim, I was born and raised in Seoul, Republic of Korea. My Korean name given by my father is Jiyeon(智娫), meaning ‘bright wisdom’. I try to live up to the name every day. But you can call me Juno. No, I didn’t take the name from the movie Juno. It’s from the Roman goddess of all gods, Juno (her Greek name is Hera). She’s the goddess of love, marriage, childbirth, family, and women. She also created the Milky Way with her breast milk. Either way, both names have pretty high standard expectations!
How did I start Runaway Juno?
I left my job as a mechanical engineer in Seoul in 2011. It was the most difficult decision I’ve ever made and with that, I entered real adulthood. As a Korean who grew up in a conservative household, my career departure created enough shock to change everything in my life including my relationship with my own family. If you’re reading Runaway Juno, you’ve probably heard of the story already. I switched my career from engineer to travel blogger and never looked back. It was an unknown world but an exciting one for sure.
Travel changed me for the better
I started RunawayJuno.com back in 2009-2010. With all my experiences in traveling, destination marketing, and photography, I’m now running a consulting agency Ovibos Consulting as well as running Runaway Juno.
Seeing the northern lights always brings me back to my childhood, when I dreamt about this moment. Skiing on Namibia’s vast desert made me realize once again that humans are only a fraction of this big world. I traveled to Machu Picchu twice and I walked all the way on my first time. Two months in India taught me about myself and the world more than any book could have done. I met some of the happiest people in the world in the mountain Kingdom of Bhutan. After 7 years of full-time travel, living out of a backpack, and working on the road, I found somewhere I want to call home. I’ve been based in Anchorage, Alaska for the last 4 years. Yeah, all the talk of glaciers, the Arctic, and northern lights, now I live in it. But more importantly, I’ve grown. I have a deeper understanding of people now that I would have never learned if I stayed home working as an engineer. I also grew to respect my own culture and realized the importance of family.
Traveling the world was also the strongest affirmation that the world is a better place than we see on the news. There are people who are kind, generous, compassionate, wise, and inspirational, all over the world no matter what country they are from, what kind of skin color they have, or how old they are. I’ve been on numerous publications, podcasts, and newsletters to talk about the rise of anti-Asian racism. You know one of the greatest solutions? Travel.
How do I travel so much?
I travel and work. At the same time, mostly. My work is location-independent or you can say that I’m a digital nomad, though I have a home now.
- RunawayJuno.com
- Social media consulting & training
- Outreach specialist
- Photography
- Brand ambassador and influencer
- Affiliate sales
- Marketing and business development consulting at Ovibos Consulting
- Unique and boutique travel on Unquote Travel
If you want to learn more about my work, please visit the Work With Me page.
Thank you!
The Runaway Juno reader community has grown over the past 14 years. When I was going through the toughest life-changing decisions, this virtual community was there for me as the strongest supporter. Thank you! Runaway Juno wouldn’t have been the same without you.
