When I first saw pictures of the Dreamy Camera Cafe (꿈꾸는사진기) (Facebook), I knew I had to go. Yes, it’s a 5+ hour train/subway/taxi trip from Busan, but I really wanted to see it in person. 

On the outside, it’s a two-story cafe resembling a vintage German Rolleiflex film camera next to a one-story house, in the middle of a no-where. You might think of it as just another gimmicky Asian coffee shop. But it’s not. It’s a combined dream of a small family that will encourage you to live your dreams. 

If you take the time to write down five dreams to pursue, one of the family members will take a small polaroid picture of it for you to take with you, and then they’ll keep your written goals in the cafe, on the wall or in an album. It’s such a sweet concept and the family seems genuinely kind. I wish them lots of success.

When visiting, it’s really easy to see that people all over the world love this place and the owners really love it too.

To give you an idea of their personalities, here’s a letter they shared when they recently changed their hours to be closed every Sunday and Monday:

I moved to the countryside to spend more time with my family. And I wanted to share my family’s dream with many people so opened this cafe. At first I never thought people would be this far along and expected this cafe to be peaceful.

But one day the Dream Camera Cafe shot to fame. So my family time together increased rapidly.

Many people had a great envy of making money. But it was totally the opposite, actually.

I was glad many people came to my cafe, but when I talked more with my guests it made me even more rewarding.

I was too busy to talk with my guests and wanted to spend more time with my family but my kid was always alone.

At first the place was for the husband who like taking pictures, the wife who want to live in the countryside and the daughter who want to have her own puppy.

But now the husband works during weekdays and helps his wife on the weekends so he is tired all the time, the daughter stay home alone, the wife always feels sorry for her husband and her kid. 

The life with our Dreamy camera cafe was often hard, exhausting but your energy when you are talking about your dream and the happiness from your satisfaction in my cafe bucked me up.

Most of all, I didn’t want my kid of tender age to be lonely. So this is the conclusion. “At least once a week, our family needs time together.”

I decided to have the 5-day workweek. Until my kid doesn’t feel lonely, the Dreamy cafe close on Sundays and Mondays.

I’m sorry about changing of business hours and regular holiday. The Dream camera cafe support your dream. Now my family’s dream is “the happiness with family.” We are making a happy family life, in action, not just in word. So we can share more happiness and more dreams with you. Please excuse us for the way things are right now. Thank you.

Address: 341-13, Jung-won-ri, Yongmun-myeon, Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do

Hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm

Directions: From Seoul, take the subway (line 1) or Mugunghwa train to Yongmun Station (용문역). Head out exit 1 and take a taxi by saying “중원리 꿈꾸는 사진기.” I couldn’t find any taxis, so I relied on Kakao Taxi to call one to me. It’s a 7 km ride, but the taxis don’t like using the meter because it takes them out into the middle of nowhere. Metered, the ride is probably 10,000₩. Not metered, the taxi driver will probably ask for 15,000₩.