Chapter 2 - Hello Taiwan 🇹🇼
this post is part of the root-seeking journey series
Transit: From Beijing to Taipei
I got up at 3:45 am to be ready for pick up at 4.30 am by my ride that I booked the day before on my Chinese map app 高德地图 (gaodeditu).
My flight will be at 8:20 am and I didn’t want to be late.
Uncle and I exchanged some last words and he hugged me goodbye. Which means a lot coming from someone his age who grew up in conservative China.
The streets were empty and I already arrived after 30 minutes. I passed check-in, security and passport control very quickly and was left with 2.5 hours of waiting time before my flight. I video-called my mum and afterwards my brother – they were both just getting ready for bed living in CEST time zones – and it was great to catch up a little bit on my adventures and their lives after I was so busy exploring the city of Beijing in the past days.
I introduced my mum to the Apple ‘Find My’ function, so that she can at all times easily find my location and worry a little bit less.
I sent my uncles some goodbye and thank you messages, because I know that once I arrive, I’ll be occupied with many other things.
Travelling teaches me every time to treasure my time, energy and to listen to my intuition.
“I’ll do it later.” becomes a “I’ll never do it, because there will be more potential tasks that require my attention.”
It’s a constant living in the now, because time is limited.
It pushes me to say the words I really want to say and create experiences that I really want to have.
As I was watching the sun rise, I was enjoying the airport energy once again:
The excitement about the unknown adventure ahead bubbling up.
A leaving behind of all that happened in the past.
Every time I’m at the airport it feels like a clearance, as if the physical distance was magnifying the start of a new chapter.
I filled up my bottle with warm water before going to boarding. Wished more Western countries would offer warm water in public.
I slept little bit on the plane and ordered tomato juice, just to remember the taste again while being up in the air. Tastes like tomato.
Enjoyed my lovely warm, filling rice gruel.
First impressions of Taipei, Taiwan
The next three hours flew by (wordpun) and after setting myself up with a SIM card and Easycard upon arrival at Taipei airport, I finally found myself on the train ride to the city.
You can find my Short Taiwan Arrival Guide here.
‘Taiwan feels a bit tropical with forests of broccoli trees that I haven’t seen before in Europe.‘ was my first thought when looking out of the express train window.
First impressions of the city:
Taiwan Travel Itinerary - How I Will Move in the Coming Weeks
I’ll travel around the island clockwise and will continue my travel tomorrow to Hualien, where I will stay for five days. I’m completely deprived of nature and urgently long for silence and peace away from city energy. I’m also tired of planning so much (when am I supposed to enjoy travelling when planning logistics and viewpoints take up so much time?!) and will take days to rest, do nothing and flow with whatever information comes my way.