I could gush all day about my trip to Taipei–and that’s saying something, because I don’t like to gush about things that don’t deserve it. When I daydream I get a warm tingly feeling that I only get from things like a particularly good dance, a perfectly crafted turn of phrase, or more-than-ordinary attention from a person I’m crushing on. It’s some particular mix of brain chemicals that comes from things that hit me in a deep spot, that makes me feel like the world has opened up, and I just want to experience it with my whole being, to sate myself with all of its substance.

That being said, this will not be a rose-colored tale of how everything about it was wonderful. If you’ve read some of my posts, you know me by now; I wouldn’t do that to you. But here’s the really interesting thing about this trip: I suspect it was so amazing because the way I went about it involved a lot of non-amazing parts.

What I mean is this: from the beginning, the trip was a huge stressor. First, I realized that we had this summer break rather late, and I stressed out about how I should be planning something instead of wasting it sitting around my apartment. Then I decided I would look into Taipei, and finding a host was not the easiest process. Then I found a host, and booking my flight was a huge anxiety-inducing experience. Once I had a flight and a host, I stressed about planning and had to force myself to pore through a guidebook as if it were a homework assignment. I realized I hated trip planning. On top of that, this was the first big trip I had ever done by myself without some kind of course or a job that I was going to do when I got there. I still could barely navigate Seoul by myself without messing things up–how was I going to get around a city where I knew nothing at all of the language or how the public transportation worked?

taken by hannah e.

I thought I was in over my head, and with only 3 quality days to spend in the city, I worried that things would be more stressful than fun. I have friends who have had lackluster travel experiences trying to cram international travel into a short breaks. I thought–well at least I’ll try it this once, and if I don’t think the short vacations are worth it, I won’t do them anymore. And honestly I thought I probably wouldn’t. 

Little did I know that with a combination of good initial decisions and fortune, I had the kind of experience that I would definitely repeat. In fact, though I hesitate to say such a superlative statement, I feel like this trip was one of the best experiences of my life so far. 

So here are the SECRETS OF SHORT, SOLO INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL that I stumbled upon with my trip to Taipei*:
(*Of course there are multiple ways to travel, and you have to do what works/what is best for you, so think of these as potential good ways to do things):

GO SOLO, BUT FIND A LOCAL HOST
Going solo:
In the end I was glad that I went by myself because I could set my own schedule, follow my whims, and spend time on what I wanted to do without having to worry about how I would affect another person. At times, it was definitely very stressful and exhausting to have to deal with figuring everything out by myself, but the tradeoffs were worth it. I actually happened to meet up with an acquaintance from Seoul who was traveling with a coworker (weird coincidence and a whole other story), and when I said I had come by myself, she said that she kind of wished she had done the same.

Finding a host:
Finding a host was very difficult initially because even with my dancing connections, Asia presented a challenge. For one, people tend to be a little less outgoing than Americans or Europeans, but the real issue is that people are less likely to offer to host you because many young people still live with their parents. I ended up being hosted by a friend of a dancer because the dancer I was initially going to stay with had her brother coming home for a visit. Even though my host lived with her mom, uncle, and brother, it worked out so well. The Taiwanese are really friendly, and I felt comfortable around everyone very quickly, which is something that is rare for me. Also my host Yining was around my age, awesome at English, an experienced traveler, smart, and chill, and I really felt like she was a kindred spirit. I felt more of a connection with her than with any of the Korean girls I have met so far. She was also about to start an international graduate program in tourism studies, so she was around and had time to chat with me when I would get back at night, to take me to a night market on my last night there, and to treat me to breakfast before I left the last day.

DO AT LEAST SOME RESEARCH ABOUT THE COUNTRY AND THE SIGHTS, EVEN IF IT’S NOT YOUR FAVORITE THING
I knew I wouldn’t be able to motivate myself to plan my trip down to what I would do each day, but I’m glad I read enough of a guidebook to get a feel for the major sites and some of the key cultural and historical points before going. I had a rough idea of things I wanted to see, even if I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do each day. I also learned enough about the culture and history to have a better grasp of what I was seeing and experiencing. I was definitely no expert, but that left some room to learn lots of things as I went along as well. I also took along my guidebook (via my Kindle) each day for both knowledge enrichment and practical guidance. 

IF RESEARCH IS NOT YOUR THING, NETWORK THE EXPERTS
Facebook can be a beautiful networking tool. As soon as I posted about booking a flight to Taipei, my coworker hooked me up with a friend who was living in Taipei and who messaged me with lots of ideas of things to do and what he thought was most worth seeing. That helped a lot. Then, going back to the host thing, my host and her family were super helpful. Even though I went around by myself all day, she was there at night to hear about how it went and to help me plan out what I would do the next day. One night her mom and uncle even got into a rather heated discussion (all in Chinese, but I could get the gist nonetheless) about which towns I should see on my day trip out of the city and the best way to go about seeing them.

STRIKE UP CONVERSATIONS WITH RANDOM PEOPLE (OR BE OPEN TO IT WHEN PEOPLE STRIKE UP CONVERSATION WITH YOU)
In Korea, I almost never talk to random people because it’s just not done very often, and I always feel like it’s weird to assume a greater connection with a foreigner just because they’re another non-Asian person. In fact sometimes, random foreigners will wave or look at me with some sort of familiar gaze as I pass the on the street, and I’m not going to lie…I judge….just a little. When I was traveling, however, I let all of that go. For one, sometimes you just need to ask someone for directions or confirm that a bus is going where you think it is going, and it is practical. Yet I also found that talking to strangers can be a super meaningful experience. On my bus ride back into Taipei from my day trip to Jiufen and Jinguashi, I ended up sitting next to a young guy who had just finished three years teaching in Japan with the JET program, and we had a really meaningful hour+ long conversation about teaching, travel, living in another country, and the differences and similarities in our own experiences. So meaningful, in fact, that I had to really fight the urge to be like “Friend me on Facebook! Stay connected! What if this could be something?” when we parted, and sometimes, late at night, I still wonder whether I should have. But this time I didn’t. And neither did he. We both had lots of plans and dreams and commitments and citizenships in different countries. We wished each other luck, and parted, leaving that hour a contained, ended, untainted memory. Not even knowing each other’s names. 

FIGURE OUT WHAT MATTERS TO YOU
For short trips, it can be difficult to figure out what you should see and what you should skip, and there’s no easy answer. Oftentimes, you can’t gauge how worth it something is until you’re already doing it, but I think it does help to know yourself and know what kinds of things you find most valuable. I’ve traveled enough to know that I truly do enjoy seeing important historical and cultural sights, but that I’m more likely to enjoy museums if I’m somewhat familiar with the subject area or if they are easily digestible. I also know that I enjoy being out and about either in the city or in nature way more than shopping. Above all, I know that I love trying to connect with the culture and daily life of a place as much as possible, even if it is for a short time. 

So in Taipei, for example, I hit the main sites of the city, and I loved the architecture and temples and just walking around. I hit a few smaller museums (admittedly once because of the air conditioning), but skipped The National Museum, even though it is one of the most famous museums in the world. I don’t have much background knowledge about that part of Chinese history, so I didn’t think it would mean as much to me as some other things, and also I had heard that the museum can be flooded with tourists. I took a day trip to a few smaller towns on the second day because I knew I would be able to do lots of hiking around and lots of city exploring. I hit up Taipei 101 because I love cool architecture and cool views, but I found it disappointing. So even though I tried to fit my itinerary to my interests, sometimes you still never know. I asked my host if she would take me to a night market, which ended up being an awesome experience. We met up with her friends, and they introduced me to the best things to try. Coincidentally, her friends were (I think all) former anthropology majors–whom I feel like are my people because of the way anthropology majors are taught to think–and we had some awesome conversations about Taiwanese culture and about cultural differences between Taiwan and Korea. Finally, I also met up with some dancers for both a performance practice and a dance party, and even though I didn’t have time to get to know them all that well, it was great to chat with them and to learn more about their dance scene. Lindy hoppers are, even above anthropology majors, my people.

That’s about the end of the travel lessons I learned, but that still doesn’t begin to cover it. There’s so much more I could talk about–what I saw, how I felt, conversations I had, but let me attempt to summarize a bunch of it with some concluding words.

I thought that traveling internationally for a short trip would be too expensive to be really worth it, but because I was both lucky and intuitively smart about how I went about it, I was so wrong. In fact, I think getting out of Korea was one of the best things to do 3 months in, and I would definitely recommend it to people who are coming here to live for awhile.

It was so refreshing to get away from Korea just as I was both getting used to the country and getting homesick for things I didn’t have there. Taiwan really put things into perspective, and, on top of that, it was a breath of fresh air. Things felt more relaxed in Taiwan. People felt friendlier and more eager to connect. They were less put-together and made-up, in a good way. The country felt distinct and raw and authentic in ways that the built-up, Seoul area of Korea sometimes doesn’t. I didn’t even realize how uptight my life in Korea can be, and now that I know that, I feel like I can take steps to mitigate it. I didn’t realize what are some quirks of Korea vs. other parts of Asia, and I feel like I can approach the culture with a better perspective.

Yet at the same time, I can appreciate many of the things I have here even more. The fact that I’ve learned some of the language. The fact that some of my students are the way they are because they’ve grown up in a certain way. The eye candy that is Gangnam. The incredible dance scene. 

Ahhhh the dance scene.

I got back into the country around 7:30 on Sunday, and even though I had *just* gotten back, I still wanted to dance. I grabbed a quick dinner, changed, and caught the 5003 bus. When I walked into SwingTime that night, it felt familiar, comfortable. I had to get out of the country for it to happen, but for the first time since I’d been here, Korea felt like home.

Check out more travel stories in What Weekly here.