Variety is the Spice of Life

By Simon Foster

Welcome to the fourth edition of Hello Taitung! I’d like to start by thanking the editorial team for their hard work and all of the contributing authors for sharing their stories and photos. This edition includes our first article relayed in two languages—Cam Loan’s story in both Vietnamese and English reflects the fact that Taitung is more cosmopolitan than ever, and that aside from Chinese, Taiwanese and English there are a variety of other languages spoken here. The purpose of the magazine is to provide information about life and things to do in Taitung, both for visitors and prospective residents. In order to serve these primary objectives, we value feedback so that we can continue to make the publication as useful, informative and interesting as possible. Please do feel free to let us know your thoughts on Hello Taitung and any ideas for future themes.

Whilst the daily lives of this edition’s four authors are all remarkably different, there are also some striking similarities, perhaps the most important of which is that for each of them, variety seems to be the spice of life. Their accounts lend insight into some key ingredients to a happy and successful life, including good food, sharing experiences with family and friends, fresh air and exercise, an appreciation of where we have all chosen to live, and a desire to protect and preserve this precious place. A daily life that offers a good balance of these different elements is likely to be a happy and healthy one, and is readily achievable here in Taitung.

For me personally, variety has been a lifelong quest, and has influenced many of the decisions I’ve made, big and small: from choosing a career path and where to live and bring up our kids, down to the minutiae of how to spend each day. Working as a guidebook writer and travel company director has allowed me to venture all over the globe, to live on several different continents, and to alternate between the highly social world of leading group tours and the relative isolation of traveling alone (or with my wife or family) for months on end writing. Travel broadens horizons and perspectives and I don’t think I’ll ever tire of it, but this said if I led tours non-stop, or only wrote guidebooks, at some point I might burn out. The ability to change between these two professions offers up fresh perspectives and forces me to use different skillsets and keeps the passion for both alive. Most recently, COVID presented yet more opportunities to diversify my outlook, both operating Bamboo Bakery in Chenggong, and of course writing for and editing this magazine!

The decision to move to Chenggong in the north of Taitung County, was one of the best we ever made, and was again defined by a desire for variety after ten years of living in the city we were ready for the countryside, and to change hazy sunsets on the west coast for pristine sunrises out east! However, whilst variety in life is definitely desirable, continuity and familiarity also play an important role. After returning from overseas travel, it is always a pleasure to come back home to Taitung, which is familiar and lends stability and grounding, yet at the same time is incredibly diverse, spanning from the Pacific to the high mountains, with rivers, hot springs, lakes, forests and settlements in between. The county’s ethnic make-up is almost as varied as its topography, and includes at least seven different indigenous groups, along with the recent influx of Taiwanese from the rest of the island, and foreigners from all over the globe. This geographic and cultural variety means there is always something different to try and somewhere new to explore and that no two days are quite the same …