Now that John Groot has finished walking 1,200km around Taiwan’s coastline, he can rest his feet and autograph a few books.
Groot will be at the Lei Gallery in Taichung tomorrow to sign copies of his new book, Taiwanese Feet: My walk around Taiwan. It’s the last stop on a summer book tour that included events in the Taipei area and Kaohsiung.
Starting in 2006, Groot set out to walk clockwise around the island. Instead of doing it as a single trek, he broke it up into mostly day hikes and weekend outings. In all, it took him 83 days, spanning eight years.
Photo courtesy of John Groot
Taipei Times’ contributing reporter Bradley Winterton published a review of the book on April 23.
“I give myself a B for following the exact coastline,” said Groot, citing, for example, a decision not to scramble across a stretch of giant concrete tetrapods along the shoreline.
While not the first person to walk around the island, the 55-year-old jovial Canadian is the only one to have chronicled his adventure in book form. In addition to being a travelogue, the book recounts relevant historical events.
Photo courtesy of John Groot
At Saturday’s event, Groot will read excerpts from three sections, including one that describes a humorous incident at a Kaohsiung love motel.
Groot self-published the 222-page book, which is available in paperback and eBook format. He hopes to resume the book tour on the east coast later in the year.
Following the book signing, Groot will lead a discussion on exploring and writing about Taiwan. Afterwards, participants are invited to tour local bars as part of the Taiwanese Feet Beerwalk Pub Crawl.
As for future adventures and literary pursuits, Groot could only speculate for now. But he quickly added: “I’m not going to walk around the island again for sure.”
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