Hey, everyone! I’m back on the road again. If you haven’t been following along, I’ve just started my year(ish) long adventure around Asia, starting with a week in Taiwan. While I was moving around quite a bit during my week in Taiwan, the time went slowly. I was able to enjoy the country and despite thinking I probably should have stayed for a bit longer, I’m happy with the things I saw and where I went.

Taipei

After a 15 hour direct flight, I landed in Taipei, Taiwan at… Five in the morning. EEK! Luckily, I was able to get about eight hours of (occasionally disrupted) sleep, so I wasn’t a complete zombie getting into the city. First things first – your typical new-country-errands. I had to get a new SIM card for my phone, withdraw some cash from the ATM, figure out the public transit system, etc. Rinse and repeat. I’ll be getting very familiar with these chores over the next several months.

While taking the express train from the airport into the city center, I was shocked to see waves of rolling hills while looking out the window. Hills and… buildings. Lots and lots of buildings. I wasn’t sure where one town ended and the next began. Taiwan is very concentrated in that regard – or at least the parts of it I’d seen. I was happy to see so much natural beauty. It seemed like hills were surrounding all of the cities, like a protective barrier of nature.

Once I’d arrived at the Taipei Main Station, I only had a short walk to my hostel. Unfortunately, I couldn’t check in until 3pm. Ugh! I was able to drop off my bags, though, which was a major plus. I am trying to commit to one less bag this trip. I usually have my big backpack, a small backpack, and then a tote bag with electronics. This time, I’m fitting it all in the two bags. It’s working so far and is nice to carry one less item, especially considering I’ll be visiting so many countries.

Sidebar aside… I chilled at the reception couch at the hostel for a little while, just to kind of decompress from the flight, and then went for a walk in the neighborhood. Sometimes I’ll just book a hostel and have no idea which neighborhood it was in. I realized after booking the first three nights that where I was staying (Datong District) was super far from the Taipei 101 – which is the Taipei World Trade Center. I wanted to be close to it but it was really far away in terms of walking. I snuck some glimpses of the tower that first day, but was wondering if I made a mistake by booking the hostel location that I had. In retrospect, I’m so glad I stayed where I did. There were so many different alleyways, with random food market stalls tucked away. There was a kind of gritty charm to the area. And it was only ten minutes walk from the Ningxia night market, which was one of my favorite parts of Taipei.

My first impressions of Taipei were as such: so. many. SCOOTERS. So. Many. BUILDINGS!

And it felt busy. Busier than Chicago, yet Taipei and Chicago have just about the same population. I later looked up why it feels so much busier, and it’s actually because a lot of the cities around Taipei blend into each other, giving the illusion that Taipei is a larger city than it actually is.

There was also a sort of Big Brother vibe going on, I noticed very early on. Cameras were everywhere, at every shop, on every street corner. I kept saying to myself “surveillance state!” Vaping is also strictly prohibited in Taiwan, which – for me, was not fun. Although, people were definitely vaping. I think it’s one of those “it’s illegal!” things, but people still do it and aren’t often reprimanded.

I walked around a LOT that first day. After catching up with my parents to let them know I arrived safely, I wandered over to a park near the Taiwan National Museum to exercise. There was a very pretty structure near the museum, too, featuring water fountain displays. I had to laugh at times while in Taiwan because I was like – so, is this like a really old building, or does it just LOOK like it is? I never had any idea.

By the time I’d finished exercising and exploring that area, it was only 10am. Lord have mercy. Honestly, despite sleeping on the plane, I really just wanted to SLEEP. But if I did that, I would hit jet lag really badly, so I knew I had to stay awake. I decided to look up good views of the Taipei 101 and walked in the direction of a park that supposedly provided them. Disclaimer: the park I went to was NOT the right park and there was no view whatsoever lol. Thanks, ChatGPT.

Some good came from it, though, because I stumbled upon an outdoor mall that had some food stalls and other surprises – like a promotional piece for My Neighbor Totoro and… a TURTLE? It was a massive turtle (a tortoise?) and I had literally no idea what it was doing in the park. It was somebody’s pet, though, because it wore a fannypack on its back. It walked along, munching on grass. I watched it for some time and then grabbed food from one of the stalls. I also perused through a farmer’s market.

I had been walking for a while, so I finally returned to the hostel. What a morning! And it was only 1pm. I stayed at the hostel until check-in time.

In the evening, I went on another walk to see the Lungshan temple, which was a place my brother Dan had told me about. Dan gave me a ton of food recommendations and some other hotspots. I’m very grateful for that because at times, I’m a lazy planner. ESPECIALLY when it comes to food.

The temple was really neat. It was surrounded by lanterns and it even had a small hand-made waterfall off to the side.

People were able to walk around the temple. I noticed once I’d entered that a number of people seemed to be in prayer and were throwing what looked like stones on the ground. I later asked my friend Jasper if he knew what that was about. He explained that what they were throwing were two crescent-shaped blocks of wood. People pray for guidance and then throw the stones. If they face the same way, it means bad decisions. If they face opposing directions, it’s a good decision and approval from God. Cool! I also want to note that Jasper, who speaks Mandarin, helped me out with a few phrases during my time in Taiwan. Ni hao, which means “hello”. Xie xie, which is “thank you”. And bu hao yi si, which is “excuse me”.

I capped off my first (long) day in Taipei by checking out the Ningxia night market. It wasn’t as large as some of the other markets, but a LOT of people were there eating food. I tried a couple of things that first night. First, I had stinky tofu, which… really, really smells. It’s stinky! I met some other travelers who were so put off by the smell, they didn’t want to try it. However, despite the weird smell of it cooking, it tasted amazing. (And once you know what the smell is, you smell it everywhere.)

I also had an exploding egg yolk fried taro ball. It is honestly one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. It’s basically… I guess an egg yolk inside what I’m guessing is pulverized taro molded in the shape of a ball, and then they deep fry it? I have no idea. That vendor was the only person who sold it. I went to a number of night markets in Taipei and that was the only stall. It was divine.

And then… finally… SLEEP.

National Palace Museum

The next morning, I took the bus to the National Palace Museum. Luckily I got my brother in time – I thought it was the National Taiwan Museum I was meant to be going to hahaha. NOPE! The National Palace Museum is cool because it has all sorts of very old artifacts from China.

I had some leftover coins from the market the night before and was able to use them to get to the museum. Cash was king during my stay in Taiwan. I think cash will be king pretty much anywhere I go. I always prefer credit cards lol. Minor inconvenience for me.

Anyway. I spent about three hours walking around the museum. They had exhibits on ceramics, weapons, paintings, old scriptures, and more. Some of the pieces were so old, like 15,000 B.C. How insane is that? I’m not sure if the Field Museum in Chicago has pieces quite that old, but could be wrong.

And some of the pieces were just gorgeous. I really liked the ornamental carvings.

After the museum, I walked to a park I’d seen along the bus ride in. Once again, I wasn’t sure if the structures I was seeing were actually old or if they just looked old. I looked it up – they just look old haha. Still a very beautiful park, and I spotted a white heron, too.

When all was said and done, it was around 4pm when I stopped back to the hostel. My goal of the night was to get an “oyster omelette” from a Michelin-rated spot (Dan’s reco). The restaurant opened at 4.30pm and already there was a line of about thirty people. Jesus! But the line moved quickly and before I knew it, I had a Michelin meal before me, for, I don’t know, probably $3 USD or something. That’s one thing I haven’t mentioned. The food in Taipei was SO cheap and SO delicious. I found it hard to hit my daily spending limit each day because all the street food was so cheap.

I also had to get myself another exploding egg yolk taro ball lol.

After eating, I stopped back at the hostel to unwind for a couple of hours. And then I hit it again! I walked down to the Ximen district, where I stumbled upon… ANOTHER night market! There, I had some fried chicken. I also got boba from a place that hand-fries their boba. When drinking it, the boba tastes warm. It was really very yummy. I should have gone back more than once but it was like an hour walk from the hostel and I’d already been walking so much.

Ximen was the first time I was getting a taste of the more modern vibe of Taipei. Lots of bright lights, hip clothing stores, advertisements, etc.

Elephant Mountain

The next morning, I took the bus closer to the Taipei 101 to hike up Elephant Mountain. This would be my first day getting a proper view of the world trade center.

I arrived around 10.30am and was surprised to see that the trail already had a lot of people on it. This quickly became the trend in Taipei, and much to my dismay, it seems this is going to be a major trend across Asia. All of the hiking trails, the national monuments, the tourist attractions… are going to be incredibly oversaturated. DAMN IT!!!

There weren’t really that many people at Elephant Mountain anyway, not compared to some places I’d go to later in the week.

I read the hike was about an hour and a half, but I think I summited the top of it in maybe thirty minutes. Along the way, I found a small little snail on the handrail. Cute!

The views of the tower and the Taipei skyline were really rewarding. It took a lot of steps to get to the top. I mean, a LOT of steps. But it was well worth it and a super short hike. A nice workout, too. On the way down, though, my quads were feeling it. I had to really stretch out my legs (which I’d done so before starting the ascent) to loosen them up. I’m not sure what it is about hiking with stairs that messes up my legs/knees so much!

After the mountain, I walked through the area around the Taipei 101.

I saw a sign for a “Pokémon Center” and wondered what it was, so I went into a store and sure enough, it was All Things Pokémon. I can’t say I’ve ever seen anything like it before.

Afterwards, I went to get beef noodle soup at a place my brother recommended. It was great but I had the soup at two other places and I think the one near my second hostel was the best I’d had.

I also stopped by the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall which does a changing of the guard every hour. I think it was closed or something, though? Anyway. It was mid afternoon at this point, so I just went back to the hostel. I played Zelda in the common area and ended up chatting with some others. A group of us went to the Ningxia night market together. It was nice to have a little group of travelers. Two from Canada, two from America, and one from Germany. One of the Canadian girls had recently hiked the duration of the Pacific Crest trail which is quite the feat! It was cool to hear about some of their travel stories, too. They gave me tips about certain things, etc.

That was my last night at the hostel before heading to Jiufen for one night, then returning to another hostel.

Jiufen

So, Jiufen is allegedly where the setting of Spirited Away came from, but I guess Miyazaki has debunked that. A-Mei Teahouse lives there, which looks particularly similar to the building in Spirited Away. Anyway. I decided to go there. It was kind of my main getaway from the city.

After a little over an hour, I arrived in Jiufen, a town high up in the mountains. And what a lovely town it was! I think it was probably my favorite spot in Taiwan.

Jiufen is known for its “Old Street,” which is a series of narrow alleyways with food stalls, candy, souvenir, and clothing shops lining them. It’s very compact and narrow and in the afternoon, when all the tour busses are there, it’s pretty much chaos. Add the occasional scooter driving through on top of that, and it’s quite the sight.

(The ocarinas on the bottom right are from a shop where an old man was hand-painting the ocarinas and also playing them for the guests every 15min or so. It was right by my hostel so I was hearing it throughout the afternoon. I wonder if he owns the Ocarina of Time?)

After dropping my bags off at the hostel, I walked through Old Street and got myself a bowl of Taiwanese meatballs. I did one lap around the area, but knew I would be coming back later (when there were less tourists), so I veered off on another adventure. I had looked up attractions nearby and saw there was something called Golden Waterfall, and something else called the Yin Yang Sea. Count me in! And so I began my descent down the mountainside, navigating through winding streets on foot.

GoogleMaps took me in a really wild, whacky direction. It felt like I was walking through peoples’ backyards a lot of the time. At one point, I ran into three dogs who were laying near the side of the road. One of them got up, then the other got up, and then they were all barking at me, and one was making moves like it was considering whether or not it should lunge. It approached a little too closely (not that closely, but hey, dogs are fast) so I yelled at it, and it backed off. I was pretty shaken up after that. Imagine getting mauled by three dogs?!

After an hour of constantly checking if I was on the right path, I finally made it to the Golden Waterfall. It was a pretty waterfall, but DAMN, the sun was too high in the sky and casting harsh shadows on it. The gold wasn’t showing in the same way it would if the sun was in a different position.

Bummed, I continued to walk the final fifteen minutes to the Yin Yang Sea. Along the way, the waterfall continued to flow down different tiers. And that’s where I was able to see the gold in all its glory. Look how gold/orange it is! I audibly gasped out loud when I saw it.

I made it down to the Yin Yang Sea which is basically where the sea looks two different colors – this is because the minerals slipping out into the sea make the sea look lighter. So there’s dark sea, light sea, yin, yang. The picture I took was awful – it really needs an aerial view to do it justice, so I’m not going to even share lol.

I also got a cool view of an old mining facility – and Teapot Mountain in the background.

I debated whether I should wait for the bus or just hike back. I decided to hike. This time, somehow, the trail was different but much easier to navigate. I realized that GoogleMaps must have been a lot more confused on the descent compared to the return haha. I was back up in 50min.

(Left: an urn from a cemetery I walked through, right: one of the climbing paths back up to Jiufen)

I walked through Old Street again and had myself a plate of steamed veggies, and also dumplings. So yum! So cheap! The picture of the veggies might not look that appetizing, but the flavor was honestly surprisingly good.

Pretty wiped after the hike, I hung out at the hostel for a few hours. My main mission was to go back to Old Street at night once the tourists had left and take pictures of the lanterns all lit up. I ended up gaming until just before 9.30pm. I went outside, entered Old Street, and managed to snap exactly two pictures before all the lights turned off. LOL. I had no idea that the lanterns were turned off at 9.30pm! DAMN!

Continuing to walk around, I did see two bits of fun wildlife in the Jiufen nighttime. One major surprise was a huntsman hanging out on a handrail. I had no idea huntsman were in Taiwan. I snapped a few pictures of it and sent them to my brother Mike who hates spiders. My back was turned to the spider as I sent the picture. When I turned back around… spidey was gone. Shivers ran through my body, wondering if maybe during my lack of attention, it had decided to jump onto my back, or worse, into the hood of my sweater. EEK!

And later, while sitting on the steps near my hostel, I saw a teeny, tiny centipede (different from the house centipedes in America) scattering across the street. I was bewildered by its size. It was about the circumference of a fork prong and as long as maybe my pinky finger.

Finally, exhausted, I went to bed. But I really enjoyed my time in Jiufen!

The next day, I took the bus back to town and checked into my new hostel. Remember before, when I mentioned how I wasn’t sure Datong District was the right neighborhood? It was. The new hostel was in a much more modern neighborhood and just felt… eh. It just wasn’t anything special. Modern, new, clean buildings. The personality was a little lacking for me. I much preferred Datong. I also went to Shilin night market which is the largest market in Taipei. Food was great!

(I almost forgot to mention this part, but I almost didn’t even get to Jiufen. I really wanted to stay there overnight because the lanterns are lit up at night and the vibe is supposed to be really pretty, especially once all the crowds have thinned out. I booked a hostel called On My Way Jiufen, right? Well, after I booked it, I was looking on GoogleMaps… and saw that On My Way was… in Taipei. Damn it! And it was non-refundable. Resigned to my fate, I tried to see what else was around there. Some hot springs, cool. A waterfall, cool. Alright, I’ll just go to Jiufen another day on a day trip, then. And then maybe the next day, I was going to confirm the address and I realized… wait, I DID book it in Jiufen. There was an On My Way hostel in both Taipei and Jiufen, but when I typed “On My” in GoogleMaps, only the Taipei location was coming up. LOL. So, it all worked out.)

Yehliu Geopark

On my penultimate day, I took the bus to Yehliu Geopark. And let me tell you… getting there was A JOURNEY. Prior to this, I’d had a lot of good luck with public transit. Sure, sometimes the ETA was off by, well, a lot, but this was next level. I had to take two busses. The first one out of the city was fine, but then I had to transfer to 1815A. And even now, days later, I’m wondering – where the HELL was 1815A? 1815 came. 1815 came again. The ETA was showing “coming soon” for 1815A but maybe 45min later and it still hadn’t come. I had stopped one of the 1815 busses and asked them about the geopark. “Geopark? Not this bus.”

I also haven’t mentioned yet that the language barrier has been very apparent in Taiwan. A lot of people didn’t speak much English at all and obviously my Mandarin is super limited. It was fine, I managed, but at times I felt like a dummy for not knowing the language/having a hard time communicating.

Anyway, eventually I decided to just look up where exactly the 1815 bus goes, and it passes through Yehliu anyway. So all this time, I was missing busses that could have just got me to where I wanted to go LOL. But still…….. I am wondering where 1815A was?

I was in no way prepared for the massive crowds at Yehliu. I honestly couldn’t believe it. So, so, so, so, so many people! Taking pictures of what, rocks?!

Yehliu Geopark is special because the sea has eroded pieces of the land into some very unusual shapes. There were some formations that looked like giant mushrooms. Others got very skinny in the middle and then had a massive boulder on top. One was shaped like a shoe (I didn’t see that one, but saw a picture afterwards lol). There are also old fossils of sea dollars, etc.

It was a really cool place, but in some ways I don’t think it warranted the obscene crowds that were there. Like – yes, it was awesome, but chill out, people!

Photo above depicting the crowds.

Past the main formations, there was a track that went to the end of the peninsula. That’s where I found some solitude, winding through the trees, with the sea far down below. At the end of the peninsula were some more interesting shapes down near the water. Fisherman were fishing. And there was, I guess, a crashed ship?

After some time, I walked back to the main section of the Geopark. People were queued up in line to take a picture of the most famous formation – Queen’s Head. When looking at it from one particular perspective, it looks like the profile of a woman’s face, and the top part of her head maybe looks like a crown or something. I thought it was funny because everyone was waiting in line to get a picture from a particular angle and then I just walked right up from another angle and was able to take a picture without waiting. But I guess it is about that angle. Sigh. Some of this stuff is just whack to me – like, yeah, it’s cool, but why does everything have to be so sensationalized? Does that make sense? Am I bitching? I’ll stop.

I walked through once again to snap pics of some other formations and then after a brief bubble tea stop, headed for the bus home.

In the evening, I waited over an hour to eat at Din Tai Fung, which Dan said was a “must”. A 70-100 minute wait seemed excessive to me, but I confirmed with Jasper, who said “it’s worth it.” And… it was! I got some veggie fried rice and then the famous xaiolangbao dumplings. The dumplings were the main draw. And since I was able to wait outside at the park most of the 70 minutes… it was all good. Sure. Worth it!

That was sort of my “nice meal” in Taiwan, although there were a lot of great meals.

I did have a scary moment when walking back to my hostel. I was listening to music, la-de-da… and then the audio started to cut out. Huh? What’s going on? I reach for my phone to see what’s up, but it’s not in my back pocket. I look in my bag, and it’s not there. Oh, no. Either someone pickpocketed me or I dropped it. I turned around and hustled back to where I came from. Luckily, only half a block away, there it was on the ground. I realized I had a fucking HOLE IN MY BACK POCKET that I didn’t even know about. I’ve since removed that back pocket entirely so I won’t accidentally use it. I’ve also heard that in Far East Asia, people are super respectful of others’ belongings. If you leave your phone and jacket at a club, people will tuck your phone into the jacket, put it on the table, and it’ll be there in the morning. But still – you never know. And SO much relies on phones nowadays. That would have been literally one of the worst things to happen my first week of a year long travel adventure lol.

Qingtiangang Grasslands

On my final full day, I took the bus out to Qingtiangang Grasslands. This is a part of the Yangmingshan National Park. I’m trying to make it a mission to always get outside of the city wherever I’m going, so I can appreciate the natural parts of each country I’m visiting.

I took one bus which was easy enough, and then similarly to Yehliu… the second bus was a terror! I was waiting in what I thought was the line, but then I realized the line stretched alllllll the way to the end of the block. What? Why were so many people going here?!

The line moved fast, though, and the busses were frequent. I think all in all, I waited 30min to get on a bus. Unfortunately, like majority of my time in Taiwan, I was stuck standing. Oof. Standing on a bus going back and forth through the mountains is an unpleasant experience indeed. Especially when holding onto the hand strap for over an hour. AHH!!

I actually met friends with a French dude while waiting in line. We were both appalled by the long queue. We ended up talking majority of the bus ride and then decided to walk the main route together. We never did ask each others’ names, and I think this will be par for the course while traveling around. In this travel life, we meet so many people and we’ll never see one another again. Sometimes it’s like – what’s the point in sharing names? Hahaha. I’ll just call him Pierre.

Pierre and I got off the bus and began the loop trek. I was hoping to spot some monkeys but after seeing just how many people were in the area (and the terrain), I knew that wasn’t going to happen. However, I was able to see a lot of wild water buffalo, which was super cute! They were basking in the water, napping, eating grass, nuzzling against one another. SO cute!

I am happy that even in a busy city like Taipei, I’ve been able to get out and experience some interesting wildlife – huntsman, centipedes, water buffalo. I also saw a small turtle in a pond at the park I regularly exercised at.

Rose, Thorn, Bouquet

Alright, I’m going to try to do a rose/thorn/bouquet for each country I’m at, but I might forget. But I’m not forgetting this one, at least!

Rose

I think Jiufen was the rose for me. It was really nice to get outside of the big city and, despite still being crowded, it was just a really beautiful town tucked into the mountains. I’m sure a lot of other towns further south have a similar vibe – it would have been cool to check out more of them.

Thorn(s)
There are a few.

-My shoes were a total pain in the ass. They haven’t fully broken in yet so the bottoms of my feet were hurting SO badly. And I was just walking, walking, walking and it made it worse. I think they’ve mostly broken in at this point.

-Takes forever for street lights to change, and also jaywalking isn’t allowed

-Busses are kind of on inconsistent schedule and sometimes just don’t show up (Where are you, 1518A?), and also basically almost always having to stand on the busses

-The crowds

-VAPING PROHIBITED

(Also, don’t let the list fool you. I did really like Taiwan a lot! But there were some annoyances.)

Bouquet

I have two bouquets.

One is being able to connect with people. I briefly chatted with an Australian guy near Taipei 101 who I vibed pretty well with. I met the French guy (Pierre?!) and went on a hike with him. And I went to the night market with a group from the first hostel I was at. I was recently rereading a blog post about my thoughts about this year in Asia, wondering if maybe I’d be too old to connect with people or be part of any “group outings” but one week in, and that has already been dispelled. I’m fine to be alone, but it is also nice to experience things with other people.

And the second is… the food. I keep mentioning it over and over, but it was so cheap and so yummy. Above all was the egg yolk exploding taro ball. (I do have to say, though, my mom has become such an expert at making soup broths, I think hers could give some of these dishes a run for their money!)

Miscellaneous

Prior to leaving the States, when Mike and Dillan were up in Michigan, we sang Happy Birthday to my mom in the funniest way. We all linked arms and circled around her, singing the song. And then, when we realized I wouldn’t be home for ANY of our birthdays this year, we started singing “Happy Birthday to US!” which had everyone cracking up. It was such a lovely, unforgettable moment.

And one other random thing to note is that I noticed hardly anyone in Taipei wore headphones while walking around. Some people, sure, but VERY rare. I felt like the odd one out, listening to music all the time. I was like, “Am I… being rude? by listening to music..?” Haha.

Y’all ever see a urinal like this???!!!

And after leaving, I discovered a card that my parents had snuck into my luggage. Love you guys so much!!!

I also have left Taiwan and am now in Busan, South Korea. I’ll write more on that next week. I did want to note that yesterday was just an absolutely chaotic day haha. My SIM plan had run out early in the morning (only good for exactly 7 days), so I had to use hostel Wi-Fi to pre-plan my route to the airport. Made it there successfully. Flight was fine, but then – again, all the errands of getting a new SIM card, exchanging Taiwanese dollars to Korean won, withdrawing even more cash from ATM, figuring out public transit, etc. And then when I finally got to my hostel, the dude wasn’t there to check me in for like 45min after I called… and then I wanted to try to find a US -> Korean outlet adapter and couldn’t find one until the fourth store. And then when I tried to buy a kebab after realizing I hadn’t eaten in several hours, my card wasn’t going through. LOL. It was honestly just such a day. And then when I was asking one convenience store employee if he knew where I could get the adapter, all he said, with the straightest of straight faces, was “No.” Not, “no, sorry,” or showing any kind of compassion. It was just, “no.” He may as well have told me to fuck off lol. I don’t know what it was – it wasn’t like it was a bad day or anything, I think I was just stressed out about the transition and trying to find an adapter. Vent over.

Oh, and the WEATHER! Some days in Taiwan were chilly, but on the final day before leaving, I was just in a shirt and shorts. HEAVEN! South Korea is colder and will be for the duration of my visit. Japan, a little warmer, but definitely after that I’ll be able to ditch my sweaters. Can’t wait!

Art of the Week

I haven’t been on top of my art lately, but I actually have a DESK in this hostel room that I’m staying at for the next week. Desks + me = making art. It’s difficult for me to draw somewhere that I don’t feel I have a dedicated space.

Reflections

The day prior to leaving the States, I was really started to feel that… feeling. The feeling of leaving, whatever that is. It’s a sort of lethargy. A heaviness that is hard to explain. Not a depression, really, but it is a thick sensation. And it IS a heavy thing. Leaving, once again. Missing out on all the trials and triumphs, etc. of my loved ones. It’s sad and it’s hard to leave. You never know what will change while you’re gone. But day of, we went to visit with Dan, Maisie, and Bonham, and it alleviated all of that. It sort of gave me the courage I needed to face the next Unknowns of my life, and it was such a perfect way to be sent off.

Taiwan was, I think, diving into the deep end of Asian travel for me. It had been so unlike anywhere I’d been before. Because of the language barriers and peoples’ limited English, it was certainly a challenge. I think I’ve upgraded from Easy Mode to Intermediate. But with these challenges come rewards, too. And I did have a really great time in Taiwan. But I think I’m also happy to be done. Something about the country felt… hard. Like, tough, if that makes sense. Despite having color, it also kind of lacked color. South Korea already feels lighter (despite the hateful convenience store guy mentioned above lol), more colorful. And also, I’m not trying to talk shit about Taiwan – I did really like it. Just my impression, and hey, I was only there for a week.

I did also want to note that I found Taipei to have many different faces. You walk down one street, it’s so busy with street vendors and shopping malls, it seems there are so many people you could be at a carnival. And then, you make one turn down an alley, and suddenly it’s quiet and no one else is around. I liked that about it. You never really knew where the next street would take you. I guess it could be like that anywhere, really.

I’m also really looking forward to all the upcoming cultures I’m going to be observing. I’m in East Asia currently, but eventually I’ll be making my way down to Southeast Asia, which will be a different vibe completely. Different influences, different cultures, different religions. I am going to be experiencing a lot in the coming months.

But for now, I’m excited to be settled down in South Korea for the next three weeks. One week is too little time. If I were traveling to a new country every week, I think I’d lose my mind. Three weeks here, three weeks in Japan (mostly due to budget, because these places are expensive), and then it will be a month in each subsequent country. More time is always better.

This week, I’ll be in Busan. I’m not sure what I’ll do after that (maybe Jeju Island?), but my final week will definitely be in Seoul. Man, this has been a long post.

Until next time – sending you all my love. x