Field notes from

TAIWAN

March 15, 20251 min read

Taiwan was a last-minute add to the trip and ended up being the loudest, warmest, most generous week of the year. I landed in Taipei jetlagged, found a bowl of beef noodle soup at midnight, and basically never stopped eating from then on.

What surprised me most was the people. Every shopkeeper, every cab driver, every random stranger I asked for directions went above and beyond — sometimes literally walking me to the door of where I needed to go. There's a kind of softness to the way people treat each other here that I haven't really felt anywhere else.

Things I did not get to do (and am already plotting a return for): a proper night market crawl in Tainan, the Maokong gondola at sunset, and Taroko Gorge. Things I did do: ate xiao long bao until I couldn't stand, climbed Elephant Mountain, got caught in a monsoon, and learned that bubble tea in Taiwan really is on another level.

If you only have a few days, give Taipei two and then take the high-speed rail down to Kaohsiung or Tainan for the food. And learn at least 'thank you' in Mandarin — you'll use it a hundred times a day.

From the camera roll