Dear friends,
After Hong Kong, I headed to Taiwan, booking three weeks at a hostel in Taipei and decided not to move again until I was ready.
I’d been curious about Taiwan since 2019, when I’d received a job offer there after leaving my position with the Spanish Ministry of Education. I’d heard good things: great food, gorgeous nature, a functioning MRT, but I turned the opportunity down.
It wasn’t the right time to move to Taiwan, (the pandemic would soon force us inside for years), but I couldn’t help wondering about this island nation and what life would have been like there.
Fast forward to 2025, and Taipei is a place I could see myself living long term. I spent most of my time wandering around its riverside trails and botanical gardens, eating at night markets and bakeries, and hanging out with locals and other travelers from Couchsurfing.
I felt at ease in the city, nearly joined a gym, and found myself attempting (failing) to learn Mandarin and Taiwanese. Thanks to the warm hospitality of locals, I explored parts of Northern and Eastern Taiwan as well as Taipei.
Here’s a brief photo tour of the journey:
Until next week,
Ash
This was awesome to read. I've been dreaming about visiting Taiwan for a long time. Your article gave me excited goose bumps. It will be a day of days when I finally get there. Thanks for sharing!
I also loved Taiwan when I visited, now more than a decade ago. In the early 2010s, l, I even took a very affordable and comfortable ferry from my hometown, Fuzhou, to Tai-Chong, when the cross-straight relationship was improving. Enjoy your time whenever you are right now, and I look forward to seeing more food photos from Taiwan :)