in this week’s newsletter: the adventure continues in country number 2, re-visiting taiwan since 2017, and reminding myself that i am capable despite my doubts and fears
dear penpals -
editing these vlogs have been such a joy, i couldn’t wait to share with you part 2 of 3 in this asia trip vlog / newsletter series! at this point in the timeline we said our goodbyes to japan, hopped on a plane, and found ourselves in taiwan! (can i say what a breath of fresh air it was to not be guiding anymore!)
the last time i was in taiwan was in 2017, and although i forgot almost everything about that trip it was a funny feeling how our bodies remember things that our mind can’t. because the moment i landed in taiwan there was a small feeling of familiarity and comfort to being back.
i re-visited night markets and old towns that hadn’t changed from 6 years ago, tried new street foods and went to places i didn’t go last time, visited a new city on the east coast, and found a tiny piece of bravery within me to adventure solo in a foreign country with only google translate by my side!
click on the image or the link to the video here!
rose -
although there were so many amazing parts of taiwan, my highlight would easily be the incredible hike my friend and i did in the city of hualien, on the east coast of taiwan about a 3-4 hour train ride away from taipei.
this portion of the trip was something on my friend’s bucket list and it worked out that i could tag along for the ride (and i’m SO glad i did!). the plan was to take a two day trip to hualien, rent a car, and make the sightseeing drive towards taroko national park to eventually do the taroko zuilu ancient trail. expectations were zero - reality was beyond anything i could have ever imagined.
the name ‘taroko’ (太魯閣) derives from the truku tribe, an indigenous group that was officially recognized by the taiwanese government in 2004, becoming the 12th indigenous group to receive this recognition. originally, the truku tribe resided in the upper regions before migrating eastward towards hualien county where they continue to reside both in and outside of the national park area.
i know the vlog will never do the beauty of taroko justice and i think there’s something special about that as well. when i think about my time in taroko, i feel like the images of the mountains, the canyon, the river, the caves are slowly looking like i’m seeing it through a frosted glass.
but the feeling of awe, of stillness, of wonder, of excitement is still as real as if i was on the mountain right now. maybe it’s teaching me that beauty can’t be captured but only felt in it’s purest and truest form.
i love everything we did in taipei, but nothing can beat taroko.
thorn -
one thing that i’ve always known about myself, but really came to realize on this trip is that i am not a big crowd person. for the most part, i do my best to make sure i’m not placed in situations that involve a large of amount of people, but there were some points during our taiwan trip where it was inevitable… which was a new kind of challenge for me.
as much as i enjoyed eating all the street foods at the night markets we went to, there was this nagging feeling of, “i feel overstimulated, exposed, and scared” that made it hard to be present. and in those moments it’s hard to not feel like a bother when everyone else is enjoying themselves. it’s hard to not feel like i’m too high maintenance, too anxious, too worried, too… much.
but i’m thankful for friends who care. who picked up on cues of worry and supported me through it, who made sure i was fed when i was too nervous to eat, who always looked back to make sure i was right behind them and i wouldn’t get lost. my fears felt smaller in the safety and comfort of friends - my endless gratitude for them!
roots -
prior to leaving on this trip, a lot of people offered pieces of advice that would help me navigate traveling with friends (communicate clearly, talk about budget, set expectations, etc.), but one lesson that i really learned about traveling with friends was the importance of solo time.
don’t get me wrong, my friends are the best travel company, love them all dearly, but i was in desperate need of some personal me-time. i haven’t touched my journal in days, i was very behind in my daily doodles, and was feeling restless and needing time to re-charge (which often involves me wandering in a stationery store for a solid few hours). but it’s hard to re-charge and ask my friends to join me if it’s not their interests… it’s even more hard when i actually don’t want them to join me.
i quickly learned that it’s important, healthy even, to have your own space from friends. you don’t have to do everything together just because you can. and i’m glad that we communicated with one another and agreed to separate, just for half the day, to find our own ways to rest and re-charge. the guys went on a hike and i walked through stationery stores, journaled until my pen ran out of ink, rested, and found the energy to reconnect in more meaningful ways when we reunited.
and in the process i learned that i’m a lot more capable than i give myself credit for. yes, i’m in a foreign country where i don’t know the language, but i can read a map, i can use google translate, i can gesture to ask for help or direction, and i did. it wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t flawless, but it was good, it was brave…
i was brave.
That's great. And you're right, Taroko is beautiful. I can understand your need for personal space. I usually need that too. And I don't like crowds at all either, they can be scary at times. Thank you for sharing your trip Mina.