The Emotion After Completing a Cycling Trip Around Taiwan: Psychological Shifts and the Story of Starting Anew

Introduction

In the moment you complete a cycling trip around Taiwan, many people expect themselves to burst into tears, but the reality is often: exhaustion, calm, and then an indescribable feeling of “Is that it?” That feeling isn’t disappointment, but a deep kind of satisfaction, like a book turned to its final page—it’s over, but the pages are still in your hands.

The true impact of a cycling trip around Taiwan often doesn’t emerge at the moment you return to the starting point, but rather in the weeks that follow, as it gradually surfaces in everyday life.

Common Psychological Shifts After Cycling Around Taiwan

Based on insights shared by many cyclists who have completed a trip around Taiwan, the following are the most frequently mentioned psychological shifts:

Three Real Stories of Psychological Transformation

Story One: A 42-Year-Old Financial Manager

Before setting off, he said he was doing it “to hand in a report card to his company.” At 42, it was his first long-distance ride, and he had only bought the bike three weeks before departure. On the 7th day on the East Rift Valley, he pulled over by the roadside and called an old friend from high school whom he had drifted apart from due to work, saying: “I’m in Taitung, cycling around Taiwan. I’m thinking of you, and I want to say thank you for helping me back then.” He said that phone call made him cry, and the tears weren’t from leg pain.

After returning, he set aside one weekend each month for cycling, no longer filling every slot in his schedule with work.

Story Two: A 22-Year-Old Female Recent Graduate

During the gap period of her job search, she decided to cycle around Taiwan, alone. Before she left, her family objected, thinking it was too dangerous for a woman to ride alone. She posted a social media story by the beach in Taitung: “I rode here by myself. I can do this.”

After returning, she said her biggest gain wasn’t physical fitness, but the confidence that “I can solve problems on my own.” Six months later, she accepted a job that required overseas assignments—a choice she previously wouldn’t have dared to consider.

Story Three: A 65-Year-Old Retired Teacher

He took 14 days to complete the trip, riding no more than 70 kilometers a day. He said the most precious moment of the trip was one morning on the East Rift Valley, when he stopped in front of a roadside earth god shrine, ate an orange that someone had left there, drank tea from his own thermos, and watched the mist over the rice paddies slowly dissipate. “Those 30 minutes were the quietest 30 minutes in my 30 years of teaching.”

“Post-Trip Syndrome” and How to Cope

After completing a cycling trip around Taiwan, some cyclists experience a brief “sense of emptiness” when returning to daily life—commonly known as “post-trip syndrome.” Its symptoms include:

• Feeling like something is missing from life, lacking motivation for everyday tasks
• Starting to plan the next trip around Taiwan or another long-distance ride
• Missing the strangers encountered along the way

This is not a psychological disorder, but a natural comedown after accomplishing a major event. Ways to cope:

1. Maintain a cycling habit: After the trip, keep riding 2 to 3 times a week so your body’s rhythm isn’t completely interrupted
2. Organize photos and records: Spend a few evenings sorting through trip photos or writing a travel journal, giving your memories a proper place
3. Set yourself a new goal: It could be cycling around Taiwan again next year, challenging Wuling, or taking your kids on a ride through the East Rift Valley

Conclusion

After completing the trip, Taiwan hasn’t changed. What has changed is the eyes with which you see Taiwan, and the way you see yourself. Those 960 kilometers are not an end, but a different starting point—a starting point where you know one more thing than before you set out: You can do what you thought you couldn’t. This realization is the most valuable gift of cycling around Taiwan.

Related Reading

• Physical and Mental Changes After Cycling Around Taiwan: Self-Growth and Life Insights After Completing the Challenge
• After Completing the Trip: Physical Recovery and Reflecting on the Meaning of the Journey
• The Psychological Challenge of Cycling Around Taiwan: The Willpower Crisis on Days 3 to 4 and Coping Strategies
• Loneliness and Self-Discovery in Cycling Travel: The Psychological Growth of Riding Around Taiwan Alone