Taiwan to Spain (the long route!)

After living away from home for a year and 8 months it's time to plan the big trip and get organised for leaving. I spent a few hours in the International bookshop during my summer break, researching possible destinations and taking notes from travel guides about visas and inoculations. Getting visas in Taiwan is likely to be a problem. Due to Taiwan's ambiguous political status, many countries do not have embassies or representation here. I'm hoping that my travel agent will be able to help me or maybe I'll have to get them in a more 'connected' country after I leave. At this stage I'm trying to plan, without panicking too much.

The public transport in Taipei is regular, cheap and pretty reliable but the only real way to explore freely is by having a scooter. There are a number of places on the outskirts of Taipei that are worth visiting as an escape from the polluted city life of Taipei.

A short ride away from the Shilin district is the road to Yangminshan. As soon as you reach this area you can smell the sub-tropical vegetation, and even with all the cars, buses and scooters traversing the same curvy mountain roads, the air is much cleaner than in the city. On our first trip we were heading through the mountains towards Jinshan on the north coast of Taiwan.

It was our first hunt for a beach in Taiwan and we were looking forward to going swimming. I had heard that many of the beaches had lifeguards who, rather than save lives seemed to take the 'prevention is better than cure' approach by policing a shallow roped off area of the water. At Jinshan (or Surfer's Beach as it is called) it was possible to swim as far as you like.

We were quite disappointed with this beach. It was typically Taiwanese, with sausage stalls at the entrance, smelly toilets with no toilet paper and litter all over the beach. The water was relatively clean but it certainly didn't meet the standard we would have hoped for. The slightly embarassing thing was being surrounded by 'surfers', or at least people looking the part on surfboards, but without a ripple on the water!

Our next excursion on the scooter was a few weeks later, this time to Wulai, an aboriginal village in the South of Taipei County. The weather was amazing and we spent the whole day swimming in the river there. The area we visited is only 5 minutes walk from the main village, which makes it possible to get there by MRT and bus from Taipei City.

The scenery on the way to Wulai is lovely and you pass by a number of riverside villages. 7-11s are conveniently on the roadside at each village on the way and in the main tourist village you can eat at local restaurants or buy aboriginal souvenirs at the local shops.

In true explorer fashion, we set off on the scooter a few weeks later to find Jiufen, an historic village in the mountains north of Taipei. I had visited the village last year on the bus but unfortunately chose the wrong mountain this time round. We ended up driving through Yangminshan, round the north coast, through Keelung and finally up a different mountain to Jiufen. The journey was 3 hours there and 45 minutes back home (the correct route!). The bus ride to Jiufen was a little over an hour if I remember right and left from a bus stop by one of the subway exits at Zhongxiao Fuxing.

Across from Jiufen village is Mt Jilong (shown above). It is apparently about a 30 minute hike to the top. We were a little tired from the journey to do the hike that day but we're planning to go back soon. Jiufen is a tourist village, which means there are lots of little souvenir, clothes and food shops as well as a number of tea houses with amazing views to the sea. On a clear day the view from Jiufen is beautiful. There are viewing platforms where you can watch the sunset, and take photos unobstructed by buildings.

After a beautiful spell of weekend weather we hit the heart of typhoon season and were rained in for a few weeks but now the weather is cooler we're looking forward to doing some hiking in the mountains surrounding Taipei City where we live.

When I moved to Taipei I was told that if I was feeling home sick I should visit Hong Kong. At the time I thought this was strange because, although I was aware that Hong Kong had been a British colony I had no idea to what extent it would feel like home. As I climbed onto a double decker bus at the airport, that proceeded to drive on left side of the road along streets with familiar markings and sign colours I felt very warm inside. The geography of Hong Kong is very different to the UK and the buildings are almost impossibly high, but the style and quirkiness of the shops, buildings and transport systems (ie. the Star Ferry and trams) reflect the traditional and historical atmosphere of England.

Coming from Taipei I was amazed and almost uncomfortable about the amount of foreigners (especially Europeans) walking the streets. Some were clearly residents but lots were tourists from an array of different countries. In Kowloon, where I was staying, there were hordes of different groups hanging about in the streets or trying to sell "Copy watch, copy bag" to everyone as they walked past. In central Hong Kong on Sunday there were an incredible amount of Philippino women (most likely nannies) sitting together playing cards in the subways or on the bridges connecting department stores. This was clearly their day off to spend with friends but with little money and no home of their own, they had few places to go. The Hong Kong Chinese are a breath of fresh air after spending so long in Taiwan. Their English is fluent and they show noticeably good manners in public. If they were in my way or caused me to bump into them they always said sorry and were much more aware of themselves and the people around them than the Taiwanese.

Hong Kong is a great mix of new and old, with beautiful and architecturally amazing buildings, and very traditional aspects like market-style roads and the tram system (both around town and the cable car to the peak). The City is very well developed for tourists and has every kind of restaurant and bar you could want. At night the streets come alive with music and drinking. Small bars open out onto the street and the whole area is full of people. In these areas I would say that about 8/10 people are Westerners.

Hong Kong is also good for shopping. I didn't have much money to spend but if I had, I could have bought clothes and shoes in all of the normal sizes from home. There is also an abundance of good food available and not at the inflated prices you would expect. When I worked out the exchange rate, most things were the same equivalent price as in Taiwan but with a much greater range and better quality products. Except for dairy products, which are equally expensive as in Taipei.

Hong Kong is a beautiful city with a lot to offer and I wish they needed me to teach there!

When you first move to a new country you are full of energy to embrace what you encounter and add it to your list of travel experiences. You need a lot of positive energy to turn your initial objective and empirical observations into something you can be part of. In other words, the country can look and smell like crap but at the end of the day it needs to become home, at least for the next year anyway!

The emotional experience of moving to a foreign country can initially be one of rejuvenation, but the challenges of life and work can make it a stressful and difficult experience. You miss your friends, family, hobbies, food and who can forget it....a recognisable language! It's a rollercoaster of emotion and inemotion. Sometimes when you should feel sad you feel nothing and other times you can see something like a can of Heinz beans in the supermarket and cry. Homesickness manifests in different ways but you'd be surprised how you project it onto things of seemingly little significance.

Homesickness is fleeting but what holds you together or makes you fall apart is the knowledge of why you are living abroad. Some people run away from life or love at home, some look for an opportunity to save money (which usually fails), some want to learn the language of the country and others see it as an opportunity to travel and gain some different experiences. Whatever your motivation for travel, at many points you need to remind yourself of this reason to stop you getting the first flight back home when you're sick to death of everything the country has to offer. I usually get these feelings when I'm stuck behind a group of people who seem scared to walk onto an escalator in the Metro or when I ask for a McFlurry in McDonalds and end up with corn soup! These little annoyances chip away at you until you decide you need a holiday or make a change to your life routine.

So that's the early days of living abroad...but your tolerance of the difficulties cannot be measured in time, rather it's a conscious adjustment to your frame of mind. Going back to England for two weeks after my first year in Taiwan was eye opening. I walked around London amazed by the beautiful architecture and the feeling of history. I had previously hated London but suddenly became proud that it was the capital city of my country. By living abroad in a much less appealing place I was able to put my thoughts into perspective. Returning to Taiwan for a second year was difficult but this time I came with a new purpose...saving money. It was the best place to do it and I no longer had to be here so my attitude changed. Things that used to annoy me were everywhere but I told myself it was pointless getting worked up about something I could never change and I should be grateful that I only need endure it for a limited time.

The greatest challenge of a year of saving money in a foreign country, is knowing that anything you do before the date of departure is detrimental to your cause. When invited for a weekend away, you calculate the immediate cost and weigh it against the price of the items you need to buy for travelling next year, or the country you might have to miss out of your travel itinerary. It's worse if you are giving yourself a tight living budget because at pay day each month you work out if you overspent and always try to recover the money by eating something local, cheap and crap as a kind of conscience cleansing. If you've somehow managed to save more than you planned in a month it's a very exciting and rewarding feeling, but it only lasts as long as it takes for you to spend the excess (+more!) on something from your travel list.

So with all this talk about difficulties and challenges it would seem that contentment would be impossible. However, when you start to see the savings accumulating, each work week passing quickly and relatively hassle free, and you realise that you can afford the odd nice meal or trip away without it draining too much of your finances, it is possible to feel content. I find my countdown timers very heartening and with less than 8 months to go, I'd have to say that time flies not only when you're having fun!

I had only been living in Taiwan for 4 months when I booked my holiday to the Philippines. My job was driving me mad and I was desperate for some sun, sea, sand and opportunities to meet new people. It took about 12 hours to get from my apartment in Taipei to my hotel in Boracay. It was only 3 hours flying time but a number of different connections and waiting times made it a pretty long journey. From Kalibo airport I travelled for about 2 hours by bus through narrow roads lined with palm trees and small hut-like houses. When I reached the harbour to catch the ferry to Boracay I was met with the first of many amazing sunsets.

People were looking at me a little strangely on the boat because I was obviously travelling alone, but I felt really relaxed about the whole thing. I was looking forward to meeting some people on the island, having some new conversations and hopefully making some friends I could stay in touch with. It was dark by the time I reached the hotel and I didn't venture far that night. I found the internet cafe, looked at some jewelry stalls and booked myself on a boat trip for the following morning.

I woke up early on the first day, had some breakfast and went out for my boat trip. I met two really cool people and the boat trip was great. We went to some caves to snorkle, stopped off at a few random spots in the middle of the sea and bought ice creams from local guys in little boats, who sailed round all the tourist spots with a big cooler box.

I met lots of people in Boracay, from lots of different places. It made travelling alone seem very easy because I always had someone to spend time with in the daytimes and evenings.

Boracay is a great place for beach bars with live music and a variety of reasonably priced food. The hotels are nice and many are very cheap (600 pesos per night). I had only booked two night's accomodation when I arrived but I managed to get a 20% loyalty discount at my original hotel and moved to a fanned room to save more money.

I had a fantastic time in Boracay and I would recommend it to anyone who is travelling in Asia or looking for a holiday on a beautiful island.

My journey to Taiwan started in January 2007. I had been living in Scotland since I went to University in 1997 and decided I needed a change of life and scenery and wanted to satisfy my burning desire to travel. I was originally interested in teaching in Japan but the company who interviewed me offered me a job in Taiwan too. I chose Taiwan to avoid the grammar test required for Japan :-p

“The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.” - Rudyard Kipling

My first impression of Taiwan was that it smelled of sewage, pollution and stinky tofu stalls. I still smell the tofu and sewage but my nose has become used to the pollution. Having never lived in a city my lungs have been relatively healthy throughout my life. However, I have been unwell countless times in one year here and had Bronchitis twice within 7 months! So it's fair to say that the environment in Taipei is not a healthy one.

The things you can do in Taiwan are limited by the things you can find out how to do. The level of English is not particularly good for a city (hence the need for English Teachers!). The MRT provides English maps and details of the tourist attractions you can get to by metro. The most 'oriental' tourist spots are Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, The Grand Hotel, Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall and Longshan Temple. In my first 6 months I went to most of the places on the outskirts of Taipei worth visiting. Wulai is an Aboriginal village with pretty mountains and a waterfall.

Some of the challenges of living abroad continue on for the whole time you are there. In Taiwan I struggle with the language, the food and the culture. I have tried to embrace these things but I find the food of very low quality and bland taste and the people are pretty much scared of life, which makes them hard to live and work with. Challenges I have overcome are homesickness (although I have a boyfriend now so that helps), and fear of getting lost - I walked across the city for 3 hours and gained a much better knowledge of its geography.

Taiwanese culture is based upon a close family unit - everyone lives together and the young look after the old. Even the families that move abroad expect their children to return to Taiwan to look after them in retirement. The people are concerned about how they look to such an extent that many will lie to avoid admitting they don't know something. Confrontation is not part of society so when people act stupidly, wrongly or dangerously no-one will point it out. I have nearly been run down by taxis who have seen me crossing the street but carry on regardless. They don't care because no-one will do anything about it!

Taiwanese children have virtually no free time because they go to school, English classes, Maths classes, art classes, after-school classes and homework classes! The obsession with education leads to academically educated adults that have no common sense and a very narrow understanding of life outside of Taiwan. One of the guys I met asked me, "Why don't you sound like my BBC CD?" Now I'm not so narrow minded as to group everyone in Taiwan together as ignorant but even my Taiwanese friends fall prey to the same cultural flaws. They are taught to repeat the actions of those before and not to question anything. Therefore they lack creativity and free ideas, which are things I prize so highly.

After a year I was ready to leave this country and put it down to a difficult, but nonetheless rewarding experience, but I'm now committed for one more year. It's cheap to live in Taiwan and the wages are good enough to save money so my boyfriend and I are going to travel on when we have some money to bigger and better things...