We’re traveling to the largest and most populous continent on earth to explore two different countries – Japan and Taiwan.
It’s a direct flight from Atlanta to Tokyo so that’s where we decided to begin. We’ll spend one week in Tokyo exploring this enormous city at our own pace and hope to return another time to experience more cities.

From Tokyo, we’ll fly Scoot Airlines ( a new one for us) to Taipei, where we’ll start our visit to Taiwan. We’re planning to travel clockwise around the island (from Taipei) by train or bus but we may occasionally hire a driver or car to see some sights off-the-beaten path.
Here’s the plan for Taiwan:
- Taipei – 6 nights
- Hualien – 3 nights
- Taitung – 3 nights
- Kaohsiung – 4 nights
- Tainan – 3 nights
- TBD – Taichung, back to Taipei, or somewhere else – 3 nights
Below is a map of the country:

We are unfamiliar with these countries so to prepare we’ve reviewed guidebooks, watched YouTube videos and followed posts on Reddit.
Hotels are booked but we’re prepared to make alternate plans in case of earthquake, typhoon, or a recommendation that will lead us to a new destination. We plan to explore temples, gardens, and night markets to see lovely sites and taste delicious food.
The flight time is 14 hours and 37 minutes. Japan is 13 hours ahead of the Eastern Standard Time Zone and Taiwan is 12 hours ahead so it will take us a day or so to catch up.
If you want to follow along, check back every few days to see where we are!
Away we go!
Sharon and Larry
