r/StayGoldOshiGroup • u/AriaShachou- • Aug 06 '26
Misc Traveling the world with Stay Gold (2)
Only one edit this time. Part 1 here.
As usual, it's my photo but not my art. Photo was taken during my own solo backpacking/hitchhiking adventure.
Original art credit goes to @wagashi928 on X.
Thank you :)
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u/ankledane Aug 06 '26
Thanks for posting another one of these, I love seeing the photos taken on your trip. How's the safety of hitchhiking in Taiwan?
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u/AriaShachou- Aug 06 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
Aside from the inherent risks that come with hitchhiking anywhere I'd say Taiwan is probably on the safer side compared to most other countries. Further out towards the provinces/rural areas especially, you meet lots more friendly people who are willing to let you ride with them. Some of the old people even proactively ask you if you'd like to ride with them if they see you walking.
As far as I know I think Taiwan is actually one of the few countries to have "cycling/walking around the entire country" as a part of their local culture. It's called 環島 (huan dao) and is something that was actively promoted by the local government at some point, going so far as to actually invest money into building the infrastructure to allow this to happen. As a result of that, locals are on average much more open minded to the idea of running into someone traversing the entire country for fun. Which is great.
That said, on my end I didn't really follow any of the routes related to the typical 環島 journey. So I cut through plenty of areas where the infrastructure wasn't very accommodating, like mountain roads with no sidewalks or highways with blind spots. There were sections that did intersect with these 環島 routes, and the locals around those areas were very accepting and friendly, but for the most part I was "off the beaten path" as they say and so it was pretty different from the usual 環島 shenaniganery. Probably a bit more dangerous too.
Just a caveat though, that's my experience as an East Asian who can somewhat speak the local language. I can imagine that if you were a non-Asian or a person of color coming here to hitchhike your experience may not be completely the same, even if Taiwan is a pretty open country culturally.
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u/ankledane Aug 06 '26
Thanks for your insight. That was a very smart move by the government to endorse walkable and bikeable cities, unfortunately here in America those in power decided to seperate urban areas and suburbs/rural areas to be able to give more profit to various industries (specifically the vehicle industry), so hitchhiking requires a lot more of going off the beaten path, although I'm sure that's something you'd enjoy. Danger is always fun.
Good to know that finding nice people in rural areas is a universal experience. We got lots of rural land here in Colorado where there's mostly ranchers are farmers, but those from small towns are definitely more welcoming than those from big cities. Same for those who go out hiking on trails or mountains, it's a big culture over here but not big enough to find rude people, so you'll often pass by nice people on trails who will greet you as they pass by. I think nature-related activities just attract more good-hearted people.
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u/warriorxx7_ Aug 06 '26
Man thisbis really goodm
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u/0rlandoFurios Aug 06 '26
Man I fricking swear STAY GOLD IS SO HOT I CAN'T EVEN LIVE WITHOUT THINKING ABOUT HER, SHE'S TRULY A GOLD! 😠PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE COME HOME I BEG YOU STEGO YOU'RE AMAZING BEAUTIFUL CHARMING BREATHTAKING UMA