gratitude on a sunny day

[amw]

Although the temperature is glorious during the summer in Taiwan, Taipei in particular is somewhat depressing due to the overlapping rainy season. I suppose if you enjoy epic thunderstorms it's pretty cool - and i do enjoy those to a point - but when they're happening every single day it kinda throws a wrench into any kind of outdoor activity

Comments

[king_of_apathy]

I do enjoy an epic thunderstorm. We had one a few nights ago and it was just constant flashes of lightning every few seconds!

The weather otherwise in Busan has been what I imagine you'd call glorious, all heat and bright sunshine. But also super humid. It's nice for a hike when I can shower straight after, but not so comfortable when I'm headed to work.

When do you think you'll visit New Zealand, and which part? I think I'm the opposite in that the country has mostly good memories for me. But I imagine even if the past memories aren't good, the kayaking and hiking will be totally your thing.

[amw]

My dad lives in Raglan and works in Hamilton, his wife works in Wellington, so i'd probably mostly hit those places. When i was a kid most of the time we lived in NZ was Cambridge, so it'd be nice to visit there too. If i get a bike i'd probably pick it up in Auckland then head down to Waikato and just loop around there. I don't really have anything i want to see besides a few places where i grew up, since the only reason for me to go to NZ is to see dad. If i wanted to go on vacation for myself, i wouldn't go to NZ anyway, exactly because it's not a country that is really convenient for independent car-free travel. But, who knows, i might be surprised.

[siglinde99]

Even when you have none, n+1 may be the perfect number of bikes. If I were in your shoes, I might be tempted to get a little folding bike that you could take with you when you travel. But then you need a box to protect it while flying, and a place to store it. I am looking forward to traveling with mine, but I’ll only be going to southern Ontario, likely by car because there is no public transit that will get me to where I need to be.

[amw]

I have looked into folding bikes several times over the past few years, because they seem like such a perfect solution for travel, but the thing that stops me from pulling the trigger is the flying story. The only folder that appears to be realistically packable for flying - and then immediately rideable on the other end - is the Brompton. The Birdy also folds quite small, but apparently it's less of a "solid" fold, which means most people are putting them in hard cases, which to me totally defeats the point of having a folding bike in the first place, since if you get to the other end and need to take a taxi somewhere to stash your case then you didn't gain much over the non-folding way where you need to haul the box to a bike store.

Here in Taiwan the Tern BYB is the smallest locally-produced folder, which folds bigger than both the Brompton and Birdy, but it's much more affordable and uses BMX wheels and other standard kit, which makes it more appealing. Even still, it's too expensive to want to risk trying to put on a plane in a

[siglinde99]

I’m envious of all the folding bike options you have. And yes, we just need to keep trying, and remembering that the world was designed for low carbon self-powered travel for most of our existence. It only really changed a few generations ago, and it can change back. It will have to, or we aren’t going to survive.

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[newwaytowrite]

love the vibrant top yoy are wearing!

[annaserene]

I'm glad you're enjoying what Taiwan has to offer!

I understand why everyone complains about DB and it's unfortunate they've gone downhill, but between losing my health insurance this summer and taking trains across Germany, among other things, I was again reminded why Germany would be a better place for me to live. It's a shame more places don't offer things of value.

[amw]

Have you considered moving back to Germany?

[annaserene]

Yes. I always thought I would, but once I was 30 or something. At 20, however, I decided I wanted to move back sooner. When getting a work visa in South Korea didn't work out in 2016, when I was 23, I moved to Germany with the intention of getting a job there. However, I ended up getting a job offer in Northern Ireland and went with that because I needed a job and didn't want to live with my relatives anymore. While in Northern Ireland, I decided I'd spend time living in Japan again. I never thought I'd go to grad school in the U.S. and I thought I might attend a grad school in Germany, but when I decided I wanted to try teaching, it made more sense to pursue a degree in it in the U.S. as opposed to Germany (1 year vs. 5). Initially, I thought I'd go to grad school for one year, teach for one year, and then move to Germany or somewhere else, but it's been two years and I'm going to stay here for now... I still intend to move back eventually. I don't know when.