Mar 14, 2025 at 10:50 PM why did you choose taiwan? why did you choose taiwan over say, thaiLAND? how has the strength of our dollar worked for you there? did you go by yourself?
Mar 16, 2025 at 10:21 AM why did you choose taiwan? I was sitting at a bar on my own next to a stranger. We started chatting about travel. He was amped up about an open-ended backpacking trip he has coming up in April. Began talking about places we’ve been to, sharing stories, etc.. I mentioned a few SE Asian countries, which got him reminiscing of his travels to Taiwan. Said he really enjoyed it and wish he would have had more time there. At the end of the evening I told him that he was the person I needed to meet that night…and that was that. I booked my flight a day later. Serendipitous. why did you choose taiwan over say, thaiLAND? I struggled with this one because I’ve been to Thailand some years ago and I really loved it there and have been wanting to go back. I knew for certain that if I went again, then I’d have a great time. Maybe visit some of the old favorite spots, beaches, restaurants, etc…but that I’d ultimately be attempting to recapture the lightning I previously experienced. I knew that as nice as it would be to have some familiarity with the destination (compounded by the fact that I wasn’t allowing myself any time to actually plan through much of anything prior to departing), I would largely be doing a repeat. And I wanted to experience something uncharted for myself. how has the strength of our dollar worked for you there? I’m unsure how the USD vs NDT/TWD has historically compared, but it was solid. Drinks were close to as expensive as the states, but everything else (lodging, food, etc.) was roughly 1/4 to 1/2 the price paid here. did you go by yourself? Yep. Typically I’m pretty good with traveling on my own. I enjoy figuring out things day-by-day, minute-by-minute. My initial flight was a one-way, with 2 nights accommodation in Taipei; I just asked around, wandered, researched in-transit from there. Not everybody is open to the ‘no-plan’ plan style of travel, but solo traveling certainly allows for it. That said, given the language barrier, it would have been really nice to have a travel/conversing partner for this one. I don’t regret it, but if someone’s thinking about going, I’d just recommend being conversational in the local language, or have at least 1 travel mate.
