From Vietnam to Taiwan
“Why don’t we just NOT get on our connecting flight and stay in Taiwan?” That was the question that lead us both here, to Tiapei, Taiwan and a completely different travel schedule from what we had planned when we left southeast Asia and headed home to Canada for Christmas.
With our ticket to Vietnam already booked, we didn’t give much thought into changing our schedule. Sure, we realized a little too late that it was probably not the best country for us to head into next. While we both want to get there eventually, there are certain key factors that made it unsuitable for travel right now.
For one, our budget would have to include travel visas which we were going to purchase while in Canada and would allow us up to 3 months. Depending on the current stamping fees in Vietnam, the total cost would have been a minimum of $175 CDN for the both of us. In addition to this, we read in one report that Vietnam is rated second worst for internet connectivity…in Asia! Having left Malaysia, ranked fifth-worst, before Christmas and suffering some pretty brutal periods of poor to no internet connection we decided that if we were going to pick up our post frequency, develop some online initiatives and prevent any more grey hairs from growing, we’d better think carefully about whether it would be a smart decision to head to Vietnam at this point in time.
Added to the poor internet connection, a country-wide ban on many websites, including Facebook, Twitter and many US email providers would force us to use backdoor methods that frankly, we just don’t know very much about. We would run the risk of continued periods of downtime and while there are ways around these problems, and many digital nomads have survived before us, we were not ready to test our problem solving skills and patience.
How We Decided on Taiwan
We started looking for cheap flights from Vietnam to other countries nearby and figured we’d just take another flight right after we landed. That’s when we realized we already had a flight, bought and paid for, to Taiwan. As it was our layover destination we started thinking about whether we could just stay. Just get off the plane in Taipei and keep walking. As our decision to NOT stay in Vietnam hinged on some important factors, so did our decision about whether we would stay in Taiwan or not.
It came down to these four points:
1. As Canadians we are able to get a 90 day landing visa, free of charge. We are able to remain in the country and explore it to our hearts content without paying for a tourist visa. If you are interested in travelling to Taiwan, be sure to check if your country of residence has visa-exempt for entry into Taiwan.
2. In the same report that ranked Vietnam’s internet as next to last, Taiwan’s internet was ranked higher than even the US – and so far so good. In Taiwan we have been using the Magic Jack app without any issue unlike our attempts in Thailand and Malaysia. This time around the reception is clear and we aren’t attempting ridiculous positions in order to get, and maintain, reception. We started to feel as though our bodies were being contorted like the rabbit ears on old TVs!
3. After a quick bit of research we learned that prices are reasonable and the food is good! If you’ve read some of our other posts on the site or seen our One Modern Couple Facebook profile, you’ve probably noticed that we base a large number of our decisions on food, particularly our endeavours to find good food. Hearing that Taiwan has good food was just one more checkmark in the pros column and over the past few days here in Taipei we’ve found some pretty great food and are excited to keep exploring the culinary landscape of the country
4. Taiwan is located in northeastern Asia and as the flight was 16 hours from Toronto to Taipei, chances are we wouldn’t be in the area again for a while since we plan to keep heading west. We figured we might as well take advantage of the location and visit some of the countries in the area before we head back to southeast Asia and then, hopefully, onward to Europe. It helped to read more about the country from one of our fellow blogging couples – MyTanFeet – and it gave us some added encouragement to finalize our decision.
What It Took To NOT Board A Flight
You’d think it would be fairly simple to just forgo getting on a flight that has been booked. While it’s not incredibly complicated, there were a few things that were unexpected. For one, it took several phone calls to our airline’s Toronto and L.A. branches in order to confirm that there was no way we could change the second flight to another location and date for a fee. Since our flights were “married”, they came as one package and one price from Toronto to Ho Chi Minh. We then confirmed that all we would need to do was to inform the ticket kiosk that we were not getting on the second flight (no need to worry about tagging the baggage correctly as we are only travelling with carry-ons).
This is where things got a bit complicated. Once at the airport, we informed them we did not need a second boarding pass as we would be staying in Taiwan and not entering Vietnam. After consulting with his superior for a lengthy period of time, and giving us some odd looks, the attendant at the counter told us we would need to do three things:
1. Provide them with the number of days we planned to spend in Taiwan as we did not have a return ticket through them – we did purchase an exit ticket out of Taiwan before we left and were able to give them all the information
2. Pay the airport taxes for Taipei – this ended up being an additional $11CDN per person and was paid directly at the check-in counter. After the large amount of airport taxes already paid on the flight for Toronto and Vietnam, Macrae had a hard time digesting this fee – even though it was only $22
3. As they were unable to do anything more than leave a note explaining our circumstance, we were told we had to call the airlines once we reached Taipei to explain to them that we were not getting on the second plane. This ended up being unnecessary as, when we reached Taipei, a stewardess for our next flight was waiting for us and we explained the situation to her.
Upon landing, we had no trouble getting through immigration, getting our 90-day visa stamped (after providing our total planned days in the country) and finding our way to the bus terminal to take us into the city.
So, What Do We Think Of Our Choice?
We can’t believe how glad we are that we decided to change our plans. We’re sure we will love Vietnam when we do get there but we are absolutely in love with Taiwan, the people and the culture and would’ve missed an amazing experience had we not thought to be slightly spontaneous and jump into our sudden change of plans with both feet.
You Can Do It Too
Sometimes all you have to do is step outside the box and the plans that have been made and the possibilities present themselves. It’s very easy for us to get stuck on our schedule and plans and forget that things are rarely ever set in stone. The change in plans and flights didn’t cost us anything and the price of the ticket would have been the same had we had bought a direct flight to Taipei instead (fortunately, the flight was purchased using points so it was an even bigger non-issue). The only thing that changed was our mindset. We knew earlier on that Vietnam was not the best option for us but the ticket had been purchased months prior and we didn’t delve any further into our options. Once we realized that we had a choice and that our future plans were ours to dictate, we started thinking outside the box and ended up making a deviation to our plans that has turned out to be for the better.
Opening yourself up to different opportunities doesn’t just apply to travel. Sometimes stepping away from a situation and your fears and looking at what is possible will present you with a new and exciting option that may end up being better than your original plan. Don’t be afraid to seize a new opportunity or forge a new path!
If your change does involve travel and you are looking to make a flight change or destination alteration there are several factors to take into account.
If you are simply doing what we are doing and NOT taking a connecting flight, you may want to check with your airline carrier to see if you can change the second flight for another date and time OR get an open (any date, any time) ticket for a small fee.
If they don’t and you are just forfeiting the second flight, make sure to notify the check-in counter in the event there are extra airport taxes to be paid as it may cause some complications at your new destination. Having knowledge about the entry requirements is always important wherever you go as many places require a return ticket or exit ticket and some places require a visa purchased in advance. (As an aside, we are still not sure why our airline didn’t happily accept our change of plans over the phone and use the opportunity to re-sell the ticket)
If you’ve purchased your ticket through a third-party agency or points redemption service, you may want to give them a call first to see if they can provide any support or mediation with the airlines
Have you ever forged a new path or made a huge change in your plans? Was it difficult to do and did it pay off?