[Taiwan Tour Guide] Clint: Travel Is the Interaction with Life

“Please do take care of Clint well. He is a treasure of your company!” A customer once gave this feedback. It makes you wonder what the Taiwan tour guide who receives this praise is like.

Clint is always calm and at ease. Thanks to this trait, Clint is always easy to get along with. 5 years ago, he left the electronics industry and stepped into tourism for his passion to travel around. The innate characteristics allowed him to adjust to the new career rather quickly and made him one of the most popular tour guides in Topology.

For Clint, one of the most important takeaways as a tour guide is to know the land that he grew up on better. “Although we live in Taiwan, we don’t really know it as well as we thought. Some contexts of our land were not taught to us at school. However, in order to introduce the beautiful country to the customers, I went back to learn it all. After piecing the history together, I found it fascinating! Especially, when I share the Taiwanese aboriginal culture with the customers, they are all very interested and amazed!” Exploring Taiwan again as a tour guide, Clint did his work. His mobile phone is filled with pictures of Taiwan’s scenery, culture, cuisine, relics, fauna, and flora. Whenever and wherever the customers have questions, he can always answer them with these materials.

Furthermore, Clint starts learning photography so that he can capture every precious moment during the trip.

The interaction with the customers also left something special in Clint’s heart. Among all, the most unforgettable memory was from David and Sandara, a family from Singapore.

David and Sandara used to work together in Kaohsiung. In 2015, they decided to bring their 5-year-old son back to travel, and Clint was their guide. That trip created lots of memory for the family; hence, in 2017, they chose to visit again. However, Sandara’s mother was diagnosed with cancer right before the start of the trip, and Sandara had to stay and took care of the grandma. Only David and the son could come. “Although Sandara could not make the trip, they brought a doll that symbolized the mother along the way. Their love touched me to the bottom of my heart.” What’s more heart-warming was that their grandma felt better the next year and joined the travel to Taiwan. Sandra, an animator, transformed their trip into a touching painting. Sadly, the grandma passed away this year, but the memory they created together will last forever. For the family, Clint is not just a tour guide, but a close and precious friend who has participated in the journey of their life.

Clint also mentioned that many of his customers were Chinese immigrants. They visited the relatives in Taiwan every few years. Many of them choose Clint as their regular guide. “I feel like I am growing with the family. Some members were just babies in my arms the first time we met; suddenly, they might be jumping around or discussing serious issues with me on the next trip. These are all special experiences.” Clint said that these families all have friends and relatives here in Taiwan, and know the country well enough to travel by themselves or to easily pick the tourism products that best suited them. Nevertheless, they still choose to travel with Topology because they treasure our unique value. “Customers fancy the depth of our cultural tour. We also help them arrange tomb sweeping, reunion dinner, and even finding long lost relatives! Most importantly, they feel like they are traveling with a friend.” Clint believes that the connection between people grows stronger through travel.

“The connection of massive travel groups usually breaks with the end of the trip, but the one of a customized trip is not. Sometimes, traveling with the customers for 10 or more days feels like living together. I am able to communicate with each and every group member and adjust the itinerary according to their likes and dislikes. I hope to think ahead of them and to provide enough information and suggestions so that the customers are well prepared before every scenic spots and activities. This way, the elderly and the young are taken care of, and other members will have nothing to worry about and have a great time.” Clint certainly raises the bar of this job with his attentiveness.

More stories about Taiwan tour guide Clint
Click to check all of our tour guides