Back from Taiwan
I write these words 31,000 feet above sea level, en route to San Francisco from Taipei. (And I edit these words jet lagged in Austin).
Two weeks went by in a blink! My time in Taiwan has changed me – and the changes slowly unravel as thoughts, questions, and glimpses of inspiration.
This was an incredibly important trip. Spending time with family, learning a new culture, struggling with a language, and discovering more of myself, I’m convinced that international travel is life-changing and necessary.
I’m sure that many of the following messy thoughts will percolate and shape into more coherent writing in the future, but in the spirit of sharing, here they are, half-baked.
Places 🇹🇼
I was so lucky to have visited a number of places on the island of Formosa, touching both the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
- Taipei (so much energy, lots of history, night markets)
- Jiaosi (hot springs)
- Kaohsiung (a southern port city, one of my favorites from the trip)
- Taitung (a small city on the rocky Pacific coast of the island)
- Alishan mountain (an incredible national park with the biggest cypress trees I’ve ever seen and an epic sunrise train ride)
Observations in no particular order 🚄🥘🏮
- Traveling mostly via high-speed train and bus, I was in awe of the public transit in Taiwan. I never needed to step into a car (although we did, we didn’t have to).
- Things in Taiwan are extremely cute. There are cartoons and animations everywhere. As Jackie said multiple times during the trip, “It’s like living in a theme park!”
- Taiwanese food is delicious. There’s an emphasis on subtle flavors – no extra sweetness, saltiness, or spice. While I love the food since it emphasizes the flavor of its core ingredients, I still love strong flavors. I’m Desi, after all. 😁
- Night markets are fantastic. The food is diverse and the everyday items sold there are affordable. They remind me of Itwaar Bazaar (Sunday Market) in South Asia, except that they are open every night. I wish the concept of outdoor markets was more common in the US.
- Everything is clean. That goes from back alleys to train station bathrooms, parks, streets, and hiking trails. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an entire country as clean as Taiwan. Culturally, folks might be a little germophobic, but I’m truly not complaining.
- It’s important to know Chinese to effectively navigate Taiwan. While most people could get by with English, I had an amazing time because I was able to interact with locals (via Jackie). My Chinese definitely needs more work.
- Cities in Taiwan contain an equal level of urban convenience and love of nature. I love the parks and the people who work out or practice Tai Chi in the mornings.
- Taiwan has a slower, friendlier, and more contented pace. This could be a blessing and a curse. Taiwan is so infused with comfort and convenience I could see someone’s ambition declining in favor of simple living. Neither good nor bad, this is one of the most thought-provoking observations I experienced on the trip.
- Taiwan is on a fault line, but I never thought that I’d experience a moderate-sized earthquake when in the mountainous central region of Taiwan. We (and everyone/everything else) were totally fine, but it was still wild to experience.
- The wealth gap in Taiwan isn’t discernible like it is in other countries. While there certainly are people who are more or less well off than others, it’s not significant enough to be obvious. How beautiful is that?
- People in Taiwan generally care about each other and care about their environment. As a capitalistic society, it’s far less individualistic than that of other global powers (ahem, America). This marriage of ethics, thoughtfulness, sharing, togetherness, and commerce gives Taiwan an extremely unique culture and position.
Things I’m Bringing Home
- A desire to be globally resilient, and a desire to travel more frequently to Asia. I don’t quite know what life changes would be needed to enable this (if any at all).
- Questions around history and geography. Travel is fantastic fuel for figuring out what to read about next.
- I’d like to be conversational in Traditional Chinese and be able to read at a second or third-grade level. This is something I’ll keep working on because I know it’s a very useful language to know.
- Gratitude. So much gratitude. Gratitude to travel, read, learn, and gratitude for family and their happiness.
I have more to write about but figured I’d keep this letter focused on the trip. Hit me back with what I missed these past couple of weeks!
Until next time! Saalik