Taiwan 2024

Started 2024 by going to Taiwan. We left the second week of January 10th returned on the 25th. It was the first time Jerry (my dad) returned to Taiwan in 40 years. Val joined us in Tainan on the 15th.

We ate many fan tuans, red bean desserts, shaved ice, boba, lou bo gaos, salty soy milk, not salty soy milk... We saw Taipei 101, the area my Dad grew up in Tainan, Beitou, Hualien, the spirited away village. I drank a lot of barley tea and visited night markets. We went to A li San and sat in a monastery. Skated a little, saw temples and tea plantations, shopped in Taipei, stayed at a haunted hot spring, got carsick on mountain buses, got very tired and grumpy walking around at night.

Overall it was a really special trip for my Dad and I, as well as Val and I’s friendship. We all experienced highs and lows together but managed to get along well for 15 days of constant travel.

This trip made me reflect on the paths that led me to be born in the US, and the new journeys that I am creating from the stories of those before me. I thought about my own connection to myths, nature, cities, spirituality. This new year of 8’s, earthquakes and eclipses.

It’s interesting how sometimes we need to connect with our past in order to move forward - in other words, I feel starting this year set in motion the makings of a new chapter.