What does it mean to travel?

Sipping Boba while listening
 to amazing music near Taipei 101

So I’ve spent a month here in Taipei and I’ve had the opportunity to think about a lot of things, namely my first impression here as well as what it actually means to “travel”.

First off, my first two days here were VERY busy: I had to set up a bank account, get a Taiwanese ID, find a phone+get a plan and find+move into my apartment. Phew. Luckily, the company that hired me also provided me with a perfectly bilingual person to help me settle here in Taiwan. She was able to constantly translate back and forth and satisfied my needs according to my requirements. She was great.

So, first impressions. Again, I was lucky I came pretty early so I had time to settle, adjust to the time, and had a few days off to explore a few places. Firstly, Taiwan is ridiculously clean, especially for the number of people living here. Even if there are not that many garbage cans available in public spaces, the Taiwanese still manage to keep Taipei way cleaner than cities like Montreal. Though, this is probably because of their unique garbage disposal system.

Somewhere in Jiufen

Secondly, I find the people very friendly. They’re so nice they make Canadians seem like grouchy lumberjacks. Not speaking the language is a huge pain and requires an insane amount of patience. When I went to the grocery store, the cashier tried explaining me how the item was priced correctly, but that I totally misunderstood the promotion. I told them I didn’t understand Chinese and could only speak in English. So, instead of just dismissing me and moving on to the next person, they kindly found a pen and illustrated the promotion to me. In other words, in my experience, the people took the time to actually try to understand you and therefore able to help you. As such, you don’t feel as homesick because you’re more or less taken care of, people actually want to help you.

Thirdly, people look really good here. I don’t know if it’s the worrying about the appearance or anything, but they really do look good. People actually make an effort to look presentable when they step outside their homes: cool hairstyles, clean nails and amazing sense of style. I sometimes feel like potato sack walking amongst these people.

Teahouses in Jiufen. Apparently, Hayao Miyazaki got inspired
from this to create a few scenes from "Spirited Away".

Anyways, jokes aside, I really am having a lot of fun here in Taiwan. I’ve been able to see a few sights with the company and wander around a tiny bit, which brings me to my next point in this blog: what does it mean to actually “travel”?

After hearing about tour guides and foreigners talk about their experiences here, it got me wondering: are they really travelling? What does a real travel look like? How do I know I’m doing it right and not just passing through?

For me, travelling takes more than just a few weeks. Travelling is more than just trying out the local food and visiting popular tourist attractions. It’s more than just taking the public transit once or twice and think that you’re living the life of a local. If you want to get to know the culture, you have to live like a local.

Chilling at Yehliu Geopark

Living like a local means struggling with rent. It means that I had to settle for a decent apartment with no kitchen. It means that I have to find cheap and good food around me so I don’t break the bank. It means that I have live with the bare minimum until my next paycheck comes in.

It means that I have to stand in line like everyone else and not be given special treatment because of my situation. It means learning the language to get by and not just hope that someone that speaks English will come by and rescue me. In other words, it entails a lot of energy and sometimes frustration because no one can understand me.

However, living like a local also means that I get to celebrate the little victories when they happen. Sure, I don’t have a kitchen and I have to eat out, but I get to know the restaurant owners around my area. I am able to foster relationships with people and make new friends. Sure, I’m living on a budget, but I don’t need that much to be happy. Sure, I have to make a few sacrifices here and there, I have made some mistakes and regretted spending money on a few things, but that will only help me make smarter choices in the future. Finally, not speaking English can be somewhat of a blessing: I’m forced to communicate in the little Chinese that I know- which has, by the way, improved exponentially-, and when I am understood, it’s just so amazingly fantastic. Of course, there will be that odd case of someone actually being able to speak English and it just makes your day. And when that happens, you just made a new friend. .

In other words, my experience in Taiwan has been positive so far. I’ve had a few obstacles here and there, but they were nothing I can’t manage. These past few weeks have reassured me that I made the right choice coming here on my own. I’m doing pretty well for myself so far.

Still somewhere in Jiufen

So until next time,

Keep it sassy

PS: It’s the moon festival now and there was a typhoon yesterday. Just thought I’d throw it in there.
PPS: The picture placements are pretty random in this post. Why? Because why not.