Our two-week journey in Taiwan was such a salve for our family. Our friends Karen, Phil and their three kids moved to Taiwan over a year ago. We have lived our lives in parallel. While our trips are very different, we are both living experiences that challenge and awe (and sometimes bring us to our knees), and I have been grateful for this shared witnessing. It was never a question in our minds if we would visit them in Taiwan. As I have aged/matured (?), I have realized more and more how important it is to witness each other - whether that be in times of pain or joy, transition or adventure. This was one of those times, and this trip was exactly what our family needed.
The epitome of hosts, Karen and Phil planned out our whole trip, dividing it into shared family adventures, solo (our) family adventures, and woman-bonding and man-bonding overnights. We did not have to make one decision, and could lounge away in their fabulous apartment when we tired of the adaptations required for travel. They ordered for us, planned for us, created an environment where our kids could be kids with other kids, and manifested a home for us when we desperately needed one.
Here are some photos of our two weeks of friendship, love, and re-grounding.
En route!
Our annoying parents always make us 'reflect' in our journals.
Loving the bullet trains.
So much kid time.
Man time sans kids to climb 3000m mountains on the Qilai Nanhua trail.
Solo Glick-Coldewey family time in Tainan.
Woman time sans kids to Wulei.
Dual family adventure in Yangmingshan.
As our kids said as we left, "it's harder to leave friends than it is to leave places." True that.
