After 3 weeks at camp ALV I was a little tired of the summer camp lifestyle. The camp, itself, wasn’t so bad, in fact the kids were great as were most of the teachers and teaching assistants, some of which I will miss. The bad part was that I pretty much only saw the golf resort for 3 weeks straight. Granted it was a nice area and I woke up to a gorgeous view outside everyday, I really needed to get out of there before I went stir-crazy. So on the last day I collected my pay and accompanied the students on their bus to Taipei.

The following day I took a train to Hualien, a city on the east coast of Taiwan, and famous for it’s sights, surfing, and beach-town atmosphere. Upon arriving and stepping out of the train station, I knew it was true. The park in front of the train station, lined with fruit stands, locals cruising around on their scooters in shorts and flip-flops, and the smell of salty ocean air, told me; “this, this is a paradise”.

» Read more: Taking a break in Taiwan