〝永远没有不可能,永远不会没时间,这个世界一直都在眼前,只要去尝试、去碰触、去体会,每分每秒都将充满各种乐趣与生命力!〞

 

“Nothing is impossible. There’s no such thing as having no time. The whole world is always in front of us, and if you are willing to take a break to try and to explore, every single second will be filled with life and joy.”

 

-Janet Hsieh

 


 

Janet Hsieh 谢怡芬,是 Discovery 频道“疯台湾”的知名旅游主持人。在美国德州出生长大的 Janet 自认是 ABT (American Born Taiwanese),美国出生的台湾人。Janet 在麻省理工学院双主修西班牙文与生物,原本准备从医的她,大学毕业后第一次来到台湾旅游,想要藉此多了解台湾的文化和自己的背景。原本以为只是一个短期的实习,却因此爱上了台湾这块土地。Janet 形容自己是‘专业的旅人,世界永远的学生’,她带着一直放在身上的‘瓦力’小吊饰走过世界四十多个国家。对 Janet 来说工作,生活和旅行密不可分,旅行是生活的一部份,也是她亲近一切的方式。

 

Janet Hsieh is the well-known travel host of the Fun Taiwan series on Discovery Travel and Living Channel. Born and raised in Houston, Janet thinks of herself as an "ABT", "American Born Taiwanese" - represented on the “I AM TAIWANESE AMERICAN” T-shirt she wore at her TEDxTaipei talk.  Janet double majored in biology and Spanish at MIT. Originally hoping to go to medical school and to become a doctor, she traveled to Taiwan for the first time after graduating from college, hoping to explore her roots. However, Janet’s short-term internship would turn out to be a long-term stay in Taiwan. Her enthusiasm, curiosity, and unique way of introducing places and people have been well received by audiences across Taiwan. Described as a “professional traveler and a lifelong student of the world,” Janet has brought her stuffed animal Wally with her on trips to more than forty different nations. To her - life, career, and travel are closely connected to each other. Travel is an important part of her life and is her telescope to the world.

 

 

旅行,让我们与人更亲近

 

踏过无数个国家的 Janet 也把自己的旅游冒险经历写在两本书中‘ Janet 带100支牙刷去旅行’与‘爱上旅行的理由’。对于 Janet 来说,每一趟旅行的发生都会有各种不同的原因,有时是为了要休息,有时是为了要逃离,大部份时候……是获得很多“心的能量”。

 

Travel Brings Us Closer

 

Janet wrote down her experiences and adventures in two memoirs: Traveling with 100 Toothbrushes published in 2010 and Backpack to The Future published in 2011. “Every trip happens for a different reason. Sometimes you travel to rest, sometimes you travel to escape, and most of the time… it just happens naturally. I instinctively want to seek ‘change’, and I often find ‘energy for the soul’ within the changes,” said Janet.

 

 


 

 

在‘爱上旅行的理由’书中,Janet 分享了她第一次踏上南非的种种遭遇与心境。在印度洋与大西洋的交界处,Janet 试图寻找生活的真实面,与当地人一起生活。无论是亲眼目睹海豹、非洲狮子、象等野生动物,或是登上桌山看见大自然的美景,Janet 让我们看见,世界就是一个巨大无比的教室。

 

In her book Backpack To The Future, Janet shares her first time experiences of stepping onto the African continent. At Cape Town, South Africa, where the Atlantic meets the Indian Ocean, Janet tries to find the “reality” of living life and lives with the locals. Whether it was encountering sea lions, elephants, and other wildlife animals, or climbing up the sugary slopes of Table Mountain to see the majestic view of the sea, Janet reminds us that the world truly is a huge classroom.

 

Janet 不仅分享她在旅途中的乐趣,更让我们明白,旅行中最重要的事情就是‘人’—‘ 我一直相信,在旅行中最大的收获,就是“人”,只有他们,才能带我走得更远。’

 

Not only does she share her experiences of the trip, she also helps us understand the most important thing on any journey is the “people.” The biggest achievement during traveling is adapting to the local life and getting closer to the people living in this world – for people are the ones who bring you further on life’s long journey.

 

 

用牙刷改变世界

 

节目中总是活力十足的 Janet,在她的书‘Janet 带100支牙刷去旅行 ’中分享了旅行对她的影响。十六岁时 Janet 利用暑假到了南美洲厄瓜多的小村落 Chone 当志工。在那里她一天花两块美金过生活,三件衣服穿两个月。因为当时她所在的地区爆发大规模的狂犬病,为了控制疫情,Janet 与团队须帮当地的猫狗注射疫苗。她每天在大太阳底下工作得满身大汗,甚至冒着有可能在注射时被咬的危险。但是村民们对他们的信任让 Janet 很感动,更享受于这样看似辛苦却充实愉快的日子。

 

Chaning Lives with Toothbrushes

 

Always energetic on the screen, Janet shares how travel influences her in the book Traveling with 100 Toothbrushes. At the age of sixteen, she spent her summer volunteering as a relief worker in the small village of Chone in Ecuador – living on only two US dollars a day while switching between three sets of clothing in her two months in the village. Because there was a rabies outbreak in the area, her team had to vaccinate local cats and dogs in order to help control the spread of the disease. Even though Janet had to risk her life due to the real possibility of being bitten while conducting vaccinations, the trust and faith the villagers had in her team deeply moved her and gave her a sense of fulfillment in life.

 

在那里,她和同伴们发现厄瓜多的小孩并不知道‘刷牙’这件事情。于是她和同伴进行了公共卫生教育,刷牙教学。这样一个举动,不仅影响了小朋友的卫生习惯,更影响了整个村落。‘牙刷事件’也让当时十六岁的 Janet 深刻地了解到我们对周遭环境的影响力,远超过我们的想像!

 

After finding out that the children in village did not know about the health benefits of brushing teeth, Janet and her teammates launched a public health campaign about the importance of dental hygiene. This bold move not only influenced the children, it inspired the entire village to participate in tooth brushing. This “toothbrush milestone” also taught Janet that our impact on our surroundings often exceeds our imagination.

 

 


‘千万不要觉得自己渺小或能力不够,因而怯懦退缩,只管放手去做,之后的结果,或许会大大超出你的预期之外。’一支牙刷,其实就能改变世界!

“Never think that you are incapable or afraid of doing something, just take action and the result could be beyond your expectations.”

 

 

旅行,就是给自己转变的机会

 

‘旅行还有另一个非常迷人的地方,就是靠近生活:他人的生活与自己的生活。’在 Janet 对旅行及生活的态度中,我们也看到了她对待生命的智慧。面对生活中种种挑战,她觉得那就像一个个‘转变’,而‘转变’本身对她而言,总是带来了能量。

 

Travel: An Opportunity to Change

 

Travel is appealing because it allows us to be closer to our lives and the lives of others. We see Janet’s wisdom for life through her attitude towards traveling. She thinks of the challenges in life as “changes”, and change often brings her energy.

 

 

 

 

Janet 更说,‘转变’的过程就像‘打嗝’一样,‘有时候一口气顺不过来,卡在喉咙,然后突然又顺了。不管是旅行还是人生,总是会有遇到转变的‘打嗝’时刻……因为我明白自己只是正在遭遇一个困境,或者是能量低落的时候。此时我的做法是告诉自己:这只是‘打嗝’而已!给自己转换思考的角度,转换身处的空间,转换平日太熟悉的一切,就会过去了。旅行一部份的意义,就是给自己转变的机会。’

 

She believes the process of change is similar to that of having a hiccup: “sometimes you just can’t breath properly as if you have something stuck in your throat, and all of the suddenly it is smooth again. Whether it is traveling or going about ordinary business in life, there will be times when we encounter ‘hiccups’. If I understand that I’m only going through a difficult time, I would tell myself that this is just a hiccup. When I change my thoughts, change the space I am in, or change the things I’m so familiar with, everything will be fine. Part of the meaning of traveling is to allow myself to change.”

 

 

 

 

生活,就是一场旅行

 

Janet 时而让我们大笑,让我们感动。她热情,率直,永远对世界充满好奇。Janet 每一天都活得很用力,坚持活出自己想要的人生。当她被问即如果可以再活一次会改变甚么时,她说自己不会改变任何事情,因为无论是好或坏的经历,过去的每一刻让她成为现在的自己。选择了就不后悔。

 

Life is Like a Journey

 

With her spunky attitude, adventurous personality, and commitment to live her life according to her beliefs, Janet makes us laugh and moves us. “If I could live life again, I would not change a thing,” says Janet. “Good or bad—even during my really low moments. In a way, those moments have made me who I am today.

 

从来没有想过可以在一个地方停留超过一年的 Janet,却真正的爱上了台湾并定居下来。因为旅行,让她认识自己也认识台湾这块孕育她父母的土地,更加珍惜朔造出我们身份与价值的文化。她说父母给她对待生命最好的建议:认真,做好自己,珍惜并感激身边的人。

 

Even though she never thought that she could stay at the same place for more than a year, she fell in love with Taiwan and has settled here on the island. The best advice she has ever received was from her parents: “work hard, be yourself, cherish as well as be thankful to the people around you. Don’t be worried and don’t be afraid, just focus on the things you love to do at the moment because life keep us on the right path!”

 

Janet 始终觉得,生活跟旅行并不是相违背的两件事。因为旅人在旅程中融入当地文化的过程就是慢慢学会生活,而在那学习的过程里,又再衍生出另一段旅行。她也说我们不一定要会当地语言才能拥有很棒的旅行经验。旅行,不一定是远行。旅行的惊奇不会因为走过的距离太短而减少,只要转换心情,在生活场景中,也可以是旅行!

 

Janet’s mantra is that life and travel do not contradict each other. The process of a traveler adjusting to local life is the process of learning how to live life. “You do not need to know the language to have a great experience,” says Janet. “Travel doesn’t have to be far, and the wonders of traveling do not decrease even when the distance is short. If we could change our mind, traveling could happen in our daily life!

 

 

 

 

旅行让我们用新的角度看生活,不同地方的东西有不同的价值。在台湾,木瓜是大家常享用的水果。可是在厄瓜多,一个小女孩为了表达谢意,必须走两小时的山路,就为了把家中最丰盛的食物—木瓜,送给 Janet。旅行,让我们重新思考现在的生活。原来一些不起眼的事物,却拥有不同的价值。我们怎么能够用数字来衡量一个小女孩送的木瓜呢?事物的价值并不是由本身价钱而定,而是来自于我们愿意花多少心思,投注多少感情。

 

Travel also allows us to learn new ways of looking at life. Some of the most insignificant things are actually very valuable. We cannot put a price on everything, nor can we calculate the value of a papaya, brought by a little girl who spent two hours walking just to bring Janet her household’s most treasured food. The value of things does not depend on monetary value but on our willingness to put time and effort into it. If we are willing to let go of our prejudices and stereotypes, life will teach us so much more. The story Janet shares helps us understand the meaning of life through the act of simple living.

 

Janet 让我们看到了更多台湾的美、世界的美、跟用力活出自己的美!我们看到了她对生命的热爱和勇敢,我们明白了,生命,真的可以很灿烂。只要我们愿意,整个世界都是我们的游乐场!

 

As an empowering and inspirational role model, Janet has not only revealed to us the beauty of Taiwan and the world, she has also introduced Taiwan to the rest of the globe. Through her work, we see her courage, her willingness to try new things, and her love for life. Janet’s experiences remind us that life can be splendid – that if we are willing to be bold and brave, the world can be our playground and a window on self-discovery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

另外两个 Janet 的访谈:

Two other interviews with Janet by TaiwaneseAmerican.org:

Connecting with Janet Hsieh, Host of Fun Taiwan

A Day in the Life of Janet Hsieh, Host of Fun Taiwan

 

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〉〉更多【TEDxTaipei @ Womany】

 

 

本文作者:womany 编辑部 / 蓝巧纹 ChiaoWen Lan

影片来源:TEDx Taipei

图片来源:来源来源来源

Kao, Wen-In. 聚焦360度 Janet

Tsai, Ho Chie.Connecting with Janet Hsieh, Host of Discovery's Fun Taiwan!

 

更多 TEDx Taipei 相关内容请见:http://tedxtaipei.com/