To shatter routines and habits

A good morning coffee is hard to find in Taiwan. After 10 AM or even later, yes. But early. Coffee from the ubiquitous 7-Eleven is the only option. 

Getting to eat enough vegetables is hard work, unless you have your own kitchen. 

Many of the great cafes look terrible from the outside. They do not say, Come in, through appearance. Broken down and somewhat derelict seems to be cool.  I am writing from a very cool cafe in the township of Hengchun.

Everything opens late. We are usually in bed early, so I cannot comment on how late they stay open.

The only thing we have seen open early is the Taiwanese breakfast cafes, and I am not, so far, a fan. Fried food, white bread sandwiches, it is a healthy person’s purgatory.

The people are amazing and friendly. It is so safe that you could leave anything lying around and it would still be there. We have managed to get drone video footage of us surfing, for no fee. The generosity is incredible.

The streets, shops, and cafes are horribly empty too much of the time. I truly wonder how people survive. 

We drove past my first nuclear reactor this morning, right on the coast at the tip of Taiwan, near Kenting. It faces a gorgeous bay and a white-sand beach, and is surrounded by three or four wind turbines. It is such an oxymoron to the beautiful landscape; it is hard on the eye, even without its symbolism.

The roads are remarkable. Driving down the Southern East Coast is stunningly beautiful, the azure sea, palm trees and the majestic mountains dropping straight into the sea, with this marvellous highway making the road journey such a pleasure. It would have to be one of the great drives in the world, yet completely unknown.

And this is one of the reasons we chose Taiwan. Tourism and crowds in all the popular destinations are just not attractive to us. Seeing tourists of the Western kind is unusual in the parts of Taiwan we have visited. So many places are heaving with tourists, and all the paraphernalia that comes with tourism. Bali is gone, for the most part. The European destinations can only be visited in midwinter if you want calm and quiet.

In a few days, we will spend twenty-four hours in Taipei. I am sure we will find early morning coffee, amazing vegetarian food, and busy-ness there.

Life is very different here to our home life. And that is the point of travel. To shatter routines and habits. Even just for a moment.

Photo Taken November 1st 2025, Article published November 1st, 2025