Since how long as i can remember, I’ve always wanted to live abroad. I don’t know why (especially that we have everything here) but I’ve never felt at home where I’m from (France) despite that fact that I feel french.
I’ve always been attracted to south east asia and tropical places but never had the chance to travel except to London (which i didn’t like at all > weather + architecture) and Mexico (which I loved and lived there a while but in a warm but bearable – because in altitude - city). My abroad short list destinations : Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore (way too expensive) and maybe some paradise island in Thailand (but I need a big city too so…or else it gets boring fast) with a big plus for Japan, then Hong Kong and Taiwan.
My big concern is extreme weather conditions.
Let me explain. Few summers ago, I was visiting some kind of animal garden in Paris with my family. It was summer and it was warm outside (something like 32°c). I feel confortable between 18 and 27°c, between 28°C and 32°c it becomes hot for me but still bearable if I can reach shadows sometimes but beyond it’s very hard for me (and it’s easily 35°c to 40°c in Paris during summer). Anyway, at some point we enter a pavillon to see turtles and crocodiles and I thought that something was wrong because the heat (less than outside) felt unbearable to me. It was sticky hot and i had hard time breathing and after just 3 minutes I couldn’t take it anymore and went outside and was relieved to find again the 32°c of outside (that I don’t like too but it felt heaven compared to the crocodile pavillon). Of course, it was the humidity I couldn’t bear.
I hear that all these places I mention are pretty hot and humid and especially Taiwan but I don’t if the humidity I felt in this crocodiles pavillon (probably the kind of humidity and conditions there is in a tropical forest or in Louisiana) can be compared to the humidity of Taiwan (or the other places mentioned). If the kind of hot humidity found in these south east asia countries are similar to what I felt, then I know I couldn’t live abroad in one of these countries, I couldn’t take it more than few minutes.
North Taiwan so humid during summer it’s like a weight on your shoulders.
Out walking 10mins and you’ll start sweating like a horse.
South Taiwan is a bit better. A few C’s “cooler” than Taipei during the summer and air feels a bit drier. just my worth.
Could it have been that the pavilion wasn’t well ventilated? It’s humid in Taiwan, but not to the point where you can’t breathe?
For Taiwan, anywhere south of Taichung is fair game in terms of humidity. However, you have very high UV index to worry about from Taichung down to Kaohsiung. So, to be quite honest, there’s really no win win if you want to live in a major city.
Why not take a trip to test out the waters before you make the decision to move?
Everybody else noticed the humidity but nobody felt the need to leave, so i guess it just comes from me. I waited 10 minutes outside till my family exit. They said humidity was hard but they could stay 10 minutes so… They also have been to Thailand and compared the heat and humidity to what they felt when the left the airport in Bangkok.
Of course no matter where i’ll go i’ll take a trip there first BUT if heat + humidity is close (even a little bit less) to what i felt in the crocodiles pavillon, that would be a “useless” trip and money wasted as i think i couldn’t bear such heat/humidity and couldn’t go outside to visit.
Note that i have no health conditions (i can breathe normally, i don’t smoke, i don’t drink, i do sports, i eat vegan, so that’s really my "body"that seem to don’t be able to handle humidity.
On the other hand, even if heat is hard to handle, i have much less difficulty to handle a 35-38°c dry heat, that’s really the humidity that makes things unbearable for me.
No matter if it’s cold or heat, i hate extreme, my ideal would be 23°c to 28°c all year long with a fresh breathe if it’s 28°c. I guess i have to forget about moving anywhere in south east asia…
Well, it’ll be hard to be in anyplace in Taiwan during the summer and not hit 28C or higher. So, looks like your only choices are Tainan, Kaohsiung, or Pingtung for the dry heat. At least Kaohsiung has its own MRT and international airport to most big cities in Asia.
Start researching (their average yearly temps, humidity, etc.) those 3 places to see if you can live there.
I’m from temperate coastal California and plan to move to Taipei soon. I was there last September when they had record heat all week, up to 37C with heavy humidity. When I saw the forecast I thought we were in big trouble, but actually it wasn’t as bad as I feared. Yes, you sweat alot outside, but there’s AC everywhere you go so it was bareable. It was not pleasant at all, but did not sway my decidion to move to Taipei either. The flip side is that the winter is very mild, esp. since global warming. I have been watching closely all winter and Taipei has only had one cold week (last week and currently) of weather, down to 7-8C at night. Most of the winter I have seen high temps around 20-25C and nights only down to 14-16C! Love that I can wear shorts most of the winter! I looked at 2016-17 historical data and it was similar to this winter, mild. Supposedly it used to be cold and dark there in winter, but the last 3 years global warming seems to have changed that
If you don’t like extreme weather then what made you think taiwan was the place for you?? Extreme heat, humidity, rain, typhoons, earthquakes you name it… Even now the winter is extremely shitty.
Not a useless trip if you decided the place isn’t for you based on your experiences. I would rather find out by visiting instead of picking up your life and moving here.
First, if you really find humid heat unbearable, you’re not going to enjoy living in Taiwan. I’ve lived here for years, and still, every time I walk out of the airport in the summer I’m nearly floored by the wall of wet heat.
Second, keep in mind that traveling is very different from living/working. Relaxing on a beach when it’s 33 degrees and humid, or even exploring a town in sandals and shorts in those conditions, is very different from getting to work and working in similar weather.
Anecdotally: I remember how hot and humid an “Amazonia hall” was in Vancouver’s aquarium. As a kid, wow!, I thought that place was hot and humid. When I go there now? It’s got nothing on a typical Taipei summer day.
But … if that crocodile hall is your only reaction to humid heat, don’t trust it. New and unfamiliar conditions can be a shock to the system, and you may be fine once you get used to them.
I was pretty acclimated to the dry climate of the US Southwest. I lived in El Paso for years, and that’s a frigging desert. When I was finally allowed back to Taiwan, it was the middle of August, and the moment I stepped off the plane I felt like I walked into a brick wall. Now I’ve been back for almost 10 years.
It took a while to get used to, but it’s not impossible.
Most people are pretty capable of adapting to new climates. By that I mean the body learns how to adjust for the next year after roughing it out the first year.
Taiwan’s summer is brutal for everyone. No one is used to living in that weather, that’s why air-condition is everywhere. Since it’s unlikely you would be spending most of your time outside during the summer, you don’t have much to worry about.
If you want to head outdoors, there’s mountains and streams where it’s nice and cool. In most cases you are also a short distance away from the beach.
Taiwan also used to be cooler. Global warming is making summer even more unbearable here.
Maybe that’s part of the problem. Some good quality animal protein would probably turn you into a hardier specimen. Added benefit: you may start capitalizing “i.”
worth.
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