Like all dedicated and intrepid travellers, our journey began with a Lonely Planet guide to Taiwan (other travel guides are available).

It was Cat’s birthday, and in between the disappointing lack of cards through the mail and the constant reminders of birthdays in general being a social construct, there came a group-purchased gift, wrapped in black and white paper.

Unravelling it, she found the mass-produced symbol of travel consumerism and lit up.

But before we discuss the beginnings of the logistics, let us begin at the beginning and cover all frequently asked questions in the form of a well-edited and fretted over tale.

What’s going on? Where are you guys going?

With a burst of feminist independence in our souls (as well as a recent breakup and family argument, which are unlikely to be driving forces in any way but certainly are worth mentioning), we decided to journey to Taiwan. Completely on a whim. Not because of the safety in the knowledge that our very close friend already had been living there for the past two years and was essentially fluent in Chinese. No. It had nothing to do with that. Nor had it anything to do with our emotional instability in the current climate of a post-Brexit London. Nope. We definitely made this decision based on our strength and thirst for adventure and travel.

Taiwan, is that like Thailand? Are you going to a beach to shoot up heroin?

No grandma. No, we’re not. Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, is an island that lies between the Philippine and South and East China seas, their prominent language is Mandarin and they are mostly a Buddhist country, with Taoism being a close second popular religion. It is nothing like Thailand. Please stop referring to it as Thailand. They barely even sound the same. Read a book.

So, you’re going to teach English then?

Again, a big no. Neither of us are in anyway qualified to do any form of teaching. What we decided was to approach this in the best way we could, with the desire to explore and continuously develop our select careers without falling into the voluntourism category (more on our views of voluntourism will be seen in a future post).

Something we really enjoy about the prospect of Taiwan is the reputation it has for being one of the most open and liberal countries in Asia today. We also appreciate the way in which it is determined not to dilute or converge with the mounting economic pressures from its surrounding neighbours. It certainly is the most hipster little Asian country we could find. It’s constant strive towards the contemporary in many of its industries, all the while insisting on maintaining its traditions and values, to sometimes an extreme extent, is something we find very appealing.

Taiwan and its youth are emerging to be a cultural and creative arts-based community hub, with Taipei and some coastal towns quickly becoming creative clusters. Armed with this insight, a Masters that specified pretty much on this topic and experience in the arts, culture and community industries, we decided it was the perfect place to head to, to expand our horizons and generally have some more adventure and explore the constant feeling of wanderlust. Also, we feel that so many people we knew had the chance to do something like this, and so it was inevitably our turn.

Will you bring me back a gift?

We can try. We’re much better at sending postcards, so if we don’t get you a gift, please don’t be too offended! (Anyone who would like to join our postcard-based subscription mail system, please send fill out this form!)

How long will you be gone for?

This is a question that we’re struggling with a lot. Taiwan only offers tourist visas for up to three months at a time. We’ve opted for this as this seems to be the easiest and generally most effective way of exploring, without restricting ourselves too much.

When we feel the time is right (à la Mary Poppins and the wind), we’ll be embarking on a journey to any of the following places (suggestions are welcome);

Bali, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, South Korea

This blog is essentially a way for us to keep everyone up to date, with our lives and the logistics to get to where we’re going.

Are you able to do this because you’re super rich?

As millennials currently living in London you should know that we are not rich. We’re actually positively broke. So how were we able to do this? Well, we saved for a one-way flight and then pretended that we were saving for our trip over the next three months (we were actually spending all our money on tequila shots, but let’s not talk about that).

So, we are travelling through a brilliant site called Workaway, which we couldn’t recommend more. It allows businesses across the world to advertise opportunities to work for them for up to 4 hours a day in return for free accommodation and food. Most placements ask you to stay for around a month, which is the perfect time to properly explore an area – so win win! The website has so much to offer, everything from blogging, cleaning, looking after kids, helping in an animal shelter, you name it!

So, if you’re thinking of going on a trip but are going to put it off to save some money, take it from us, it’s not necessary. There are so many ways of doing a trip on the cheap.

We’ve also used our combined 7 years of higher education and put our research skills to good use! We’ve found opportunities with plenty of organisations, and without implicating ourselves in legal trouble, have managed to find places to volunteer that appeal to us personally and professionally.

A hugely amazing source that common sense will instantly advise you of, is tapping into your network of friends and family that have had opportunities similar what you might be searching for. Our friend, Alice, recommended a great website for finding work abroad, Idealist, which is where plenty of our voluntary positions were applied for. Alice spent some time in Cambodia, and her blog of her time spent there was very inspirational.

We also have the amazing advantage of our friend Sam, a cockney jack-the-lad, who currently lives in Taipei. He’s been living in there for the past couple of years and has been invaluable in persuading us to join him. He’s also very understanding to our panicked 3am messages asking about various issues, such as tampons and vaccinations to say the least. (You can check out his very pun-intended blog here if you’d like to see what he’s been getting up to while living the high life).

We’ll be writing a post in more detail about issues with finding work abroad, as well as the visa processes that are necessary, so keep checking back!

Have we completely lost our minds?

You may think so, but we think we might be onto something. Stay tuned to find out!