Teaching English in Taiwan

~Ryan Hevern

Taiwan

I get two questions everywhere I go, and they are always pertaining to my home state.

1. Can you surf?!

2. Why would you ever leave??

If you haven’t guessed by now, I was born and raised in beautiful Northern California. I know, it is a gorgeous place with a lot of opportunity, but a few years ago I was feeling uncomfortable with my situation. Feeling like I was too comfortable and trapped in this unbearable bubble. I decided to buy a one way ticket to a place so far from what I knew, and it was the best decision of my life.

To the jungles of Malaysian Borneo I went, at first to travel and visit a friend. However being new to this travel thing, money went fast, so I picked up some work – living and guiding clients in the rainforest. I could write a whole new blog post purely about the encounters with wildlife, from life threatening to once in a life time moments. Taking this journey allowed me to travel across South East Asia, hitting all countries but three, before needing to move on and reside elsewhere.

It was by total chance, that I landed here in Taiwan. I did not want to go home after a year and a half, so I sent out teaching resumes to four countries – Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Taiwan. Within TWO HOURS I received a reply from Taiwan saying they’d love to have me. The only research I had done was that they were in the top four paying countries for ESL teachers, but the decision was made for me, with little cash left I had to go.

Almost two years here in Taiwan, I find myself working to open an Adventure Travel company of my own. Through this journey I have found a purpose, a path that I never would have known of had I stayed in my comfortable bubble in California. I would have never found the work ethic, the open mind and the drive to create like I have now. Travel opened my eyes not just to new cultures, ways of living, and the beauty of the world, but it also opened my eyes to the person I can be inside, the future I can create for myself, and the ways in which I can help the world through doing what I love.

And no, I still don’t know how to surf… Boogie board for life!

- Ryan Hevern
(Here's his company's instagram page)