Aurora Eastbound

I must apologize that it took so long for me to write again. Thank you so much, if you read the first part, and come back to read more. Also, please consider subscribing to my blog, and if you already did, thank you so much 😍

A lot has happened since I started this blog. I have had to figure out some things with my life and work. At the moment, the situation is such that I want to dedicate more time to traveling and writing about traveling. 

In March I went to Taiwan again and came back home in April. Well, only to find out that there was not much for me work-wise at home. I could have stayed longer. And I wish I had stayed longer. It was an amazing trip.

My love for Taiwan started in summer 2024 when I did my first trip to Taiwan. I had been interested in Taiwan for a long time, and to be honest I don’t even remember anymore where it initially started. I stayed only 12 days and continued on my way to Japan. That was my first big solo trip. I loved Japan too, and returned to Tokyo in winter 2025. That was a month-long trip, which included two weeks in Japan and two weeks in South Korea. The winter season turned out to be an excellent time to travel in East Asia. The weather was pleasant, not too hot in Japan. Although it was quite cold in South Korea, it was not a problem for me since I am used to sub-zero temperatures. There were less crowds and prices were low.

Let’s go back to Taiwan. Although I loved Japan and South Korea very much, something was calling me to go back to Taiwan. And so I did in September 2025. I stayed three weeks and encountered my first typhoon in Kenting. It disrupted my plans a bit, but in the end it was actually quite nice to relax in the hotel for a couple of days. Luckily, I had booked a very cozy and comfortable hotel right at the street where Kenting Night Market is held. I know that I was very lucky to stay in Kenting, because Hualien suffered much more serious damage during that typhoon. My heart goes to all those people whose life was seriously affected. 

In December 2025 I started to plan my next trip in Spring 2026. I had some options in mind, but suddenly I noticed that I had booked a flight to Taipei in March 2026. Haha, I have officially become a Taiwan addict. I stayed four weeks and regretted not staying longer. 

Now you might wonder, why do I love Taiwan so much? What is so special about traveling there? There are practical reasons and abstract reasons. The practical ones include the safety and convenience of traveling. The public transport is excellent and very affordable. There are convenience stores and affordable restaurants (almost) everywhere. The food is amazing! Safety wise Taiwan is an ideal country for a solo female traveler. Although it is recommended to use common sense, like anywhere, I always have this extremely safe feeling in Taiwan wherever I go. No matter if it is a day or night. I have never encountered any kind of harassment or unpleasant encounters. Of course, they can happen, but so far, nothing bad has happened to me. Locals are friendly, and there is always someone helping you, if you need help. By learning a few words of Taiwanese mandarin and using a translation app, if needed, gets you far. 

This unique safety feeling is also connected to those so-called abstract reasons. That might be the reason why I always feel so relaxed and happy there. That feeling is quite hard to explain. It is something like returning to a home that you did not know was a home. Some kind of “spiritual home”, I guess?

Not surprisingly, I have again booked flight tickets to Taipei! 

In the near future, I am going to write more detailed posts about the previous trips, and also write about the plans of the next trip, when the details are more clear. 

Stay tuned to read more travel stories! Please comment below, if you have any questions.