Extreme Taitung

The t heme for this edition is “Extreme Taitung”, with the aim of giving an idea of the extreme sports and complimentary lifestyles that are possible here in Taitung. In this edition we meet four fascinating individuals who have chosen to practice their passions right here in Taitung, the extreme sports capital of Taiwan. Jennie Miller is a free soul who freedives from her Dulan base. Nearby WaGaLiGong hostel, bar, restaurant and watersports center was co-founded by Mark Jackson who rides almost anything the Pacific or the concrete streets can throw at him. To the north in Douli, Martin Fogle grew up in Germany but now surfs the same waves as his Amis forefathers, and shares his passion and culture with locals and outsiders alike through Torik Ocean Surf. I also get the chance to interview Kenji Sugata, originally from Japan and a man of many talents, now to be found cycling the backroads or tracing mountain streams around Bawengweng.

Water Baby

I’ve loved being in the water my whole life. I remember throwing objects into my uncle’s frozen over lake in New Hampshire to break the ice so that I could immerse myself in it. I could play in the swimming pool ALL day every day in the summers. I loved holding my breath on the inhale and exhale and diving down as far as I could in any water source. When I was 17 I became a lifeguard and swimming instructor for all age groups. I didn’t start surfing until I was 26. The first time I heard about freediving, was when my friend and I went to an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Taipei and I swam up and back and up again without a breath. He observed and said “You know, there is this sport called freediving…”

It sounded amazing, but in 2005, I had no idea how to begin as at the time the internet was less abundant and my finances were slow … The previous year I had moved to Taiwan from the USA. Not because I didn’t like it, on the contrary,