Taiwan is a beautiful country and an underrated travel destination.
Taiwan has a special place in our hearts. It’s the first country that Luke and I ever travelled to together, and more than that, we lived and taught there for a year. We learned a lot from living in Taiwan and our experiences there have shaped how we are and how we travel today. From the mountains of Jiufen to the beaches of Kenting, if you’re travelling in Taiwan there are loads of amazing places to explore.
Thinking about teaching English in Taiwan? Teaching overseas, as anyone who has done so will tell you, is quite an experience. You move to a new place, discover a completely different culture and way of life, work with amazing people from around the world, meet children who inspire you, and learn more about your native language than you ever have before (even after doing an English degree!)
After a year living and travelling in Taiwan, Luke and I know that little sweet potato shaped island pretty well. Taiwan is a bit of a hidden gem in Asia. While backpackers flock to Thailand and Vietnam, and adventurous travellers tackle China and South Korea, there are very few Western tourists in Taiwan. Instead, Taiwan sees a fair amount of domestic tourists and Chinese tourists in high season, and otherwise mostly attracts expats coming over to work as ESL teachers.
Expats are people who live outside their native country – whether they are teaching English in Thailand, working as translators in France, or retired in Costa Rica. Expats make up 3.1% of global population, which totals to 230 million people – the equivalent to Indonesia. If all the expats around the world were to form an imaginary country, it would be the 5th most populous in the world.
When I graduated from university back in 2012, I remember thinking to myself: What am I going to do with this BA in English? Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to think about it for too long. Luke, my boyfriend of only a few months at the time, told me he was moving to Taiwan to teach English for a year.
Did I want to come? he asked. Well, a job in the UK certainly wasn’t coming my way any time soon, so yeah, I said. A few months later, and we moved to Taiwan.
We’re Charlie and Luke — UK travel bloggers, adventurers and storytellers. We travel slow and write about sustainable travel. We want to make responsible travel choices and help you do the same. Get to know us.
