Taiwan: The Journey

Traveling to and from Taiwan is no easy feat, but it seems much more doable as an adult. When I was younger, the trip seemed endless. After working 12 hour shifts and night shifts, being on a plane for 13 hours isn't so bad. I got to watch movies, eat junk food and drink soda. What is there to complain about? :) The only thing that bothered me was developing body aches from not moving much for hours at a time. On the way back, it was much better, because I reminded myself to shift around fairly often and do some periodic stretching.

I am very thankful that Aaron and I took the leap and made the trip. It was time. It had been 5 years since I had visited Taiwan, and 10 years for Aaron. We decided pretty late (less than 2 months before our departure date) that we were going to go, so the trip came up pretty quickly.

 Aaron flew from Lake Charles, LA to Dallas the night before we departed, and we traveled together to Asia. Here is a brief breakdown of our journey.

30 minutes: My condo to the airport.

2 hours: Relaxing in the United lounge (someone -me- insisted that we show up eons before our flight).

3 hours: Dallas to San Francisco

2 hours: Layover in San Francisco. Barely enough time to get lunch!

12 hours: San Francisco to Taipei

Arrival in Taiwan. Hallelujah! 

Pro Tips:
1. In any long flight, it is important think about where you are going, and what time zone your destination is in. We knew Taiwan was 13 hours ahead of Dallas. That meant ideally, we needed to sleep about half of our flight to get some rest, but not sleep too much so that we wouldn't be tired enough to go back to bed when we arrived (we got there at 7pm).

2. Bring your toiletries with you in your carry on. Nothing is more refreshing than having clean teeth and a clean face before settling in to watch yet another Harry Potter movie on the airplane. Use bottled water to brush your teeth. I do not recommend drinking or even swishing with the airplane water. Also, bring face wipes/make up removing wipes for your face.

3. Bring snacks. Some airlines do not serve free snacks anymore.

4. Bring a sweater. Temperatures can get chilly on planes. 

5. Bring your own headphones. Your own stuff is always cleaner.

6. EVA airlines now offers direct flights from Houston to Taipei. Wahoo! Talk about convenient!

7. Taoyuan International Airport will soon open a subway stop in the airport that connects to Taipei City.

Next up: A post all about my family in Taiwan. Stay tuned!