K25&beyond d54 –  (10.10.25) (experienced and recorded on the same day – up to date again!)

The other guest left early, and I went to Hsinchu Park, where, in addition to the zoo, a temple, and other buildings, the Glass Museum is located.

Because of the national holiday, “Ten-Ten,” admission was even free, and in addition to exhibitions on glass art, there was also the history of glassmaking to discover.

Today it’s time for an interim assessment…

When I had to decide whether to pay €4,500 for a guided/guarded/”protected” tour in Iran, with the prospect of meeting my friends maybe just for lunch or something, and maybe not even alone, the decision was pretty clear for me. Still, it’s hard to argue that meeting friends for a few hours isn’t worth €4,500, because the next question might be: Where is the limit? Now I’ve come to Hsinchu to meet Fangfang. I stayed here for two nights and met her for lunch yesterday (and maybe we meet tomorrow afternoon). It was a nice meeting, and normally I’d say I wouldn’t want to miss it, but was it worth the effort? It’s uncomfortable to ask, but it’s part of the decision to stop traveling, because for me, traveling was primarily about meeting friends.

This time, I realized more than ever that getting to know other countries, other cultures, and even other landscapes for me isn’t sufficient motivation for a trip. Meeting friends must be meaningful enough to justify a trip. The quality of a meeting can’t simply be quantified and compared with the more measurable effort required to make it happen.

Besides, it would take far too long to understand for example the “codes” of another place to feel comfortable. Otherwise, it takes a lot of energy, a higher basal metabolic rate, so to speak, to cope with the unfamiliar surroundings. On my first trip to Sydney in 2015, with additional stops to meet friends, I only realized this when I got home. Already at the airport and even more so at home. I was so euphoric on the trip that I hadn’t noticed the general exhaustion and the lack of sleep, but then I got a fever and needed a few days to recover.

We’ll see how I look back on this trip when I get home and whether some crazy idea comes to me that motivates me again, or whether some magical fuel develops that justifies flying? Because without a doubt, I would at least have no problem visiting my brother and Martina again in Australia, if it were only those 21 hours flying and no other consequences!

Later that afternoon, I took a walk (or was it a short hike?), to and up the Eighteen Peaks Mountain. At first, I thought I should hurry to get back out before dark, but I soon realized I was certainly not the only one walking or running there, and the main trails were lit anyway.

The six-bed room in the hostel was two-thirds full, and I had to gather my things a bit, as I was occupying the only table with my laptop. But I was also the only one with any significant luggage. None of the guests returned my greeting, for whatever reason. The air conditioning was running, but it was set to 24°C, not 18°C ​​like last night.

I went down to the kitchen/common room and listened to a radio recording, but immediately turned it off when a second guest came in. Then I heard the radio news on his phone instead 🙂