4 Lessons Learned from a week in Taipei…
I recently completed a short 6 day trip to Taipei, Taiwan and have had some time to think about things I learned on this trip which can be applied to future trips. I usually save “lessons learned” posts until after I’ve had a chance to discuss a place a bit more in detail, however, because the trip was so short and the lessons learned are fresh in my mind, I’ve decided to talk about them now.
Lesson 1: A week of overseas personal travel is just insane.
Part of my problem was not helped much by a complex itinerary involving 2 connections. I left Minneapolis on a Friday night and arrived in Taipei on a Sunday night. I flew through Los Angeles and Tokyo. Even though I did my best to get at least some sleep on these flights, the quality of sleep wasn’t the best. I arrived in Taipei pretty tired from traveling and had at least some jet lag. Even though I did have some jet lag, I forced myself to do things and try to stay on Taipei’s timezone. This worked for the most part except for a couple of naps on the first 2 days.
After getting over the jet lag, this gave me 3 days to fully enjoy my travels. Now that I am back in the U.S., I do think I am mostly recovered from the return jet lag although my first day back was a 30 hour day.
For my next trip overseas, it will be a minimum of 2 weeks. Not that I have to spend it all in one place, but 2 weeks gives me enough time to feel like I am not rushed to see certain things and also to not have to worry about recovering from jet lag.
Lesson 2: Don’t let the weather affect your travel experience.
It rained for nearly 4 days straight in Taipei. This really forced me to spend more time inside and less time outside, however, because I was prepared and had my rain jacket with me, I was still able to spend time walking around the city. The real lesson here – do your homework ahead of time and try to be reasonably prepared for anything.
Lesson 3: I could have used an unlocked cell phone.
While I have previously mentioned the iPhone as being a useful travel gadget, I still have not unlocked it. I thought that I wouldn’t need an unlocked phone due to only being gone for a week. It would have been nice to be able to insert a local SIM card in a phone and make phone calls to see if places like restaurants were open. There were a couple of times where I walked to a restaurant only to find out it was closed. For my next overseas adventure, I’ll be sure to have an unlocked phone with wireless and a skype application.
Lesson 4: I might be done staying at hostels.
There is nothing wrong with hostels – they are cheap and a way to meet other travelers, however, if you want to have a better chance of meeting local people, couch surfing might be better option. Through a friend of a friend, I had the opportunity to hang out with Eric, a Taiwanese student, for a day. Even though it was rainy, I had a good time hanging out with Eric and learning about Taiwanese things. For my next trip, I’d like to try couch surfing for at least a few days.
Overall, I’m glad I went to Taipei. I learned some important things that will allow me to continue improving my international travel experiences. As you do your own traveling, I would encourage you to analyze your trips for lessons learned and apply those lessons to future trips. It’s how you can become a better traveler.
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Tim – Another amazing trip.
Lesson 1 – Not true as a blanket statement, however I agree this makes sense if you’re going West – i.e. Asia, or Australia, the jet lag is always worse when going West than East (so on the way there for Asia/Australia, on the way home for Europe). But in the other direction – I’ve had very successful 1 week trips to Europe, and in fact several fantastic long weekends in Europe.
Lesson 3 – True, but some of my best experiences have been the wondering around and stumbling upon a place. I’ve so far resisted using my phone when abroad, I’ve only had a GSM phone for the last 2 years, so before that it wasn’t even an option. But even on my last trips I had it, it worked, but I resisted using it.
Lesson 4 – Amen brother! Good for you. I was done with hostels before ever staying in one, but then again I’m kind of high maintenance. I’m all about blowing points to stay at a great hotel, or if I’m spending around a week in one city – renting an apartment is totally the way to go!
Ross – thanks for the comments.
Maybe the jet lag argument wasn’t good enough to support my claim in lesson 1, but I still think 1 week is not enough time to get to know a place. 1 week is maybe enough time to see all the highlights though.
I agree with the wondering around comments, but I think it would be useful to have a local phone # if for example you were staying with someone who lived in the destination.
I’m interested in knowing where you go to find overseas apartments for rent? I’ve read about people doing this, but I think couch surfing would still be interesting to try out at least once.
In regards to staying hotels, I’ve stayed at nice hotels before, my primary purpose in traveling isn’t staying at an upscale hotel, but to experience the sights and sounds of the city I’m visiting. I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with staying in nice hotels and I just think its a matter of perspective.
Not sure where the next overseas trip will be, I may have to try a long weekend in Europe and test your jet lag theory out.
Lesson 1 – Travel style preference I guess. There are a lot of places I’ve spent a few days, or a week, and enjoyed, but not really felt the need to spend much longer there, and then there are the few (Rome!) where I go back time and time again after that initial taste.
Lesson 3 – Sure it’s easier, but I dunno, for me it’s one of those things, the real disconnection is great!
Lesson 4 – Travel style preference again… As for apartments we rented one for about a week in Prague, and also in Rome. One of my friends did the planning for Prague. I dug around on the internet to find places to rent from in Rome. It helped that I’d been there a couple of times and knew the neighborhoods, and therefore exactly where I would and wouldn’t want to stay. Here’s the place we stayed last May in Rome – http://www.romanreference.com/appartamento.php?refid=430