Last November my Taiwanese friend’s mom was gracious enough to let us borrow her car for a 5 day trip around the country. Of the three people going on the trip I was the only one who could legally drive in Taiwan. I was a little nervous having only driven in Canada and the USA, and when I got off the plane I was straight up terrified. But once I actually watched how traffic works in here in Taiwan it wasn’t very difficult.

Here are my top 5 reasons YOU can drive a car in Taiwan:

1 – International Drivers License

The term ‘International Drivers License’ is a bit deceiving. Really it’s just a translation of your home countries license. So for me as a Canadian I simply walked into my local CAA (AAA in America) paid my $40, had some pictures taken and I was given the translation. Just that simple and I was cleared to drive in Taiwan!

2 – Scooters Are Less Stressful Than You Think

Having never been to Asia, the scooters were a lot to take in when I first got here. But pretty quickly into drive a car I realized that scooters are incredibly agile. So as long as you keep your sense about you and don’t move too quickly, they’ll either not get in your way or get out of the way pretty quickly.

3 – Great City Planning

You will likely be starting your trip out in Taipei. This city is built for efficiency. The paint on the roads make it clear where you should be at all times, the signs are usually in English and there is always enough room for both scooters and cars. Outside the nation’s capital all these things aren’t always the case. But luckily there is a lot less traffic to ease your mind.

4 – No Road Rage

I don’t claim to be a perfect drive. And when you’re driving somewhere new and often looking for a specific location you aren’t always the most focused. More than once on my trip I cut someone and to my surprise never heard a horn like I would back in North America.

5. Gas Is Cheap

Gas comes in at about 22.5twd/litre or .75usd/litre. This is about the same price as Canada and a little bit more expensive than the USA. But if you are from Europe, New Zealand or Australia gas prices work out to about half as much as they do back home.