For the past several months I have been looking forward to an end-of-year trip.  When one of my best friends decided to visit family in Taiwan and extended an invitation to come along, it was the perfect chance to finally take that trip to Asia I had been thinking about for years.

Not only is it my first international vacation (despite having traveled and lived internationally for work) but it is my first time visiting countries whose languages I cannot speak, read, or get the gist of when hearing or reading them.  First stop: Taiwan.

Let the adventure begin!