Talking to Strangers in Taipei, part 1

“Most things we want in life are actually pretty simple,” Chris said. “Simple–but not easy.”

It was an unexpectedly philosophical conversation with somebody I’d only met hours earlier. We were hiking up Taipei’s ultra-touristy Elephant Mountain since there was a brief respite from the rain. I figured I could use the steps to burn off some calories between meals.

Chris had just asked about my goals for the year, and I told him I needed to write more for this blog. But, I admitted, discipline is hard—at least for me (and maybe most people?).

We had met earlier that day at a bus stop. I noticed him scanning the QR code for the same bus I was waiting for. It wasn’t working for me, so I asked him (in English), “Did that work for you?” Apparently it had (go figure, he was on Android and I was using my trusty iPhone), and since we were headed in the same direction, we started chatting. I’m always curious when foreigners visit Taiwan, since it’s not the glamorous or most obvious vacation spot.

Chris was a college student on a month-long vacation in Asia, and Taiwan had been a spontaneous detour—he’d met a Taiwanese traveler in Japan and decided to check it out. He’d grown up in Georgia, the middle child in his family. Before college, he’d spent four years in the army—mostly because he didn’t know what else to do. After bouncing between a few majors, he’d landed on electrical engineering.

“I hated circuits,” I laughed when he told me.

“What?” he said, genuinely surprised. “It’s so logical.”

“Maybe,” I shrugged, “but it was dry and I almost failed the class.”

He told me about a near-death experience that stuck with him: while driving home from his military base in Kansas, a semi slammed into his car and sent it into a ditch. He had to crawl out of his car and scramble up a hill to get back on the road and wait for help to arrive. When the police got there, they kept on asking if he’d fallen asleep at the wheel–apparently because that would’ve meant less paperwork. That incident became a turning point; it made him realize he didn’t want to stay in the army and needed to figure out what he actually wanted to do in life.

I was struck by how grounded and reflective he was, and was pleasantly surprised by the depth of our conversation. As I’ve written before, I’m constantly inspired by people whose paths look nothing like mine. Talking to strangers while traveling isn’t just about killing time–it’s one of the best ways to expand your worldview, rethink your assumptions, and be reminded that discipline is simple–just not easy.