Biking Around Taipei

Yesterday, I totally had a "Now and Then" moment. For those that don't know, "Now and Then" was a great childhood movie for me. It's a 1995 film about four women who get together and reminisce about their days as childhood friends growing up in suburbia in the 1970s. For me, its particularly iconic moments are when the four (as preteens) bike around their suburban town in search of adventure. So yesterday when I experienced such a vivid "Now and Then" moment that I thought I would share it.

In Taipei, it is difficult to get around with a car even if you have one, due to the lack of parking spaces. So yesterday when a couple of friends and I decided to go shopping around town, we decided to bike. Obviously biking around a large city is very different from biking around a 1970s suburban movie set but while biking I felt the wonderful euphoria that comes with the joy of feeling wind rush past your face and the vivid impression that I, myself, was placed inside my favorite childhood film.

Although I am completely out of shape and nowhere near athletic, I feel like biking can be a great way to explore a city, its a bit faster than walking and its definitely more convenient than driving. Its unfortunate that most suburban towns like the one I grew up in can be very inconvenient for sightseeing by bike -- maybe only for biking as a means of excercise. This I find disappointing since in the movie the girls all seemed to have a ton of fun biking around their neighborhoods. Maybe I'm too old to remember what childhood is like, but I don't remember biking around Allen, Texas with my best friends to raise money for a tree house!

Perhaps this newfound inspiration to bike around will take hold and the next time I travel will be by bicycle... we shall see. Until then, here is a picture that I thought best describes how I felt. Enjoy!