When you first arrive in Taiwan there are many things that will jump out at you as being different, some more glaring than others. One of the things that most foreigners will notice after a few minutes of walking on the street is that Taiwanese walk very slowly. I've spent time with foreigners of all ages, and it doesn't take long for them to blurt out "Man, everybody is walking so slowly!" or something to that effect. Yep even senior citizens have said this to me.
It really can come as a shock as it's not something you'd ever think of. You'd just naturally assume that everybody in the world walks at the same speed. But that's not the the case, and it really does take some time to get used to over here.
But it also doesn't take long to realize why people are walking so slowly. It's because it's so darn hot and humid. Any physical exertion at all is going to have you dripping with sweat. So people take their time as not to be puddles of water when they arrive where they are going.
It's actually a very smart tactic, but unfortunately I am never able to employ it. I can never bring myself to walk that slowly, as it's too excruciating. Instead I've had to make my own adjustments for the weather. Whether it being bringing a hand towel with me, or even a change of shirt.
When working in an office I would keep clothes at the company and change into them when I got there. Unfortunately almost no office buildings have showers, so it wasn't like I was able to shower before changing clothes. But at least not coming fully dressed saved me from getting too hot. I don't even know how people are able to stand wearing full suits on the street.
but alas I have solved this slow walking problem with...wicking shirts. If you don't know, these are shirts that are designed to suck the sweat off of you as well as stay dry themselves. Now you may be saying "no duh." but wicking shirts aren't really a thing over here. So with all my hiking and cycling, I figured for my birthday I would demand...err...request some be sent from the states.
After giving them a try they are great. It was amazing to go for a ride and be comfy, cool, and dry, even when it started raining. I feel that if everybody in Taiwan wore these shirts, people could get back to a normal pace when walking around town.
Problem solved. You're welcome Taiwan for giving everybody back two hours a day of their lives.
The picture is of my new shirt after a ride. After returning from a ride I always have to hang up my clothes so they can dry off, so I did that out of instinct. But it was shocking to realize that i didn't even need to hang it up.
