When the new year rang in for 2020, there were already some minor news coverage about a coronavirus found in China. But, the severity of this virus spreading beyond China was still downplayed, especially in the United States, so we didn’t see any reason to be alarmed.
After our extensive travels for 2019, I decided to start 2020 off with a trip to Taipei…not with my favorite sidekick Bridgette though, but instead, with my girlfriend Vivian from Singapore and my girlfriend Maria from Hong Kong. The three of us had traveled together in the past, but after we all became moms, it had been 7 years since our last trip to together! In a spontaneous group chat, it was quickly decided that we would meet up for a week in Taipei and spend some much needed girl time together to catch up without any interruptions and distractions.
I flew to Hong Kong and then transited there for a quick flight to Taipei. Vivian and Maria timed their arrivals to Taipei to be around the same as mine, so we were able to meet at the airport and then head to our hotel together. Although we stay in touch regularly through our chat group and on social media, it was soooooo nice to get to see them in person again! Since it was still pre-COVID time, we were even able to exchange hugs! (In hindsight, it’s stuff like that which we didn’t even realize we took for granted…)
Vivian did all the planning for this trip. Seriously, I did NADA. Not one ounce of research or booking or anything else other than to book my own flights to get to Taipei. It felt utterly liberating to not have to lift a finger on this trip! I never even opened my Google Maps app. I just happily followed along to all the plans that Vivian made and enjoyed a week where we leisurely slept in, ate, shopped, massaged, drank, and chatted incessantly.
We had such a fantastic time together! There was even a day where we had absolutely no plan, and so I got to treat myself to an afternoon at the salon where I colored my hair in pink highlights! 🙂
Another highlight of the trip was a day trip that we took to Jiufen and Shifen, where we did a small hike, ate our way along old street, and then stopped by the railroad tracks famous for its lantern release. We decided not to release lanterns though, as we saw how they ended up being litter all over the place.
On our way back to Taipei, we stopped by Yehliu Geopark, well-known for its formations of the Queen’s Head and Dragon’s Head. It was incredibly windy there, so we didn’t stay very long.
We ate so much good food on this trip, so we intentionally walked almost everywhere in between meals, to burn those calories off. I’m so grateful to have had this time with my friends, and feel so blessed that they planned every last detail for this trip!
