✈️ Budapest: day 1

I'm not a travel blogger but sharing is fun!

5 minutes late to the parade commemorating the 1956 revolution.

About which I learned after seeing the last few horsemen leaving my field of view as I approached Budapest’s Freedom Square.

First impressions

It has been 4 years since I last visited Budapest and honestly, in October it is very nice here: it feels like an extended Estonian summer!

Both Stockholm and Budapest are former imperial capitals and of comparable size with 1+ million inhabitants.

The vibe is completely different though – Budapest is way more grandiose, dirtier, more hectic, and also more…lively compared to Stockholm.

Also, it is nice to hear and see a reasonable language everywhere, not fake-German-English (or is German fake-Swedish? 🤔)

When I booked my accommodation, I was looking for a place within walking distance of the conference venue on Friday and I somehow managed to book myself straight into the 24/7 party area full of partying tourists 😅

A new experience for sure and luckily only a temporary one.

Feelings

It’s the third time this year that I have gone through the same stages of emotions when traveling:

At first, I’m physically tired from travel, which leads me to focus on fulfilling basic needs like sleep and food first.

In the course of fulfilling these needs, I realize how much I depended on my existing routines in daily life and start to feel lost: too many choices, it’s hard to make the right diet choices, and generally everything feels difficult.

For example, I didn’t bring razor blades to this trip, because they rarely make it through airport security and are cheap to buy on the spot. I failed to find any in the shops yesterday evening and only today I got the idea to ask the shopkeeper because apparently razorblades (yes, even 1 EUR throwaway razors) are often stolen.

Anyhow, being unshaven for a day just adds to the “basic needs not met” feeling, which sets off a downward spiral.

…and then I slept and felt bad for it

After work today I took an extended nap and managed to feel bad about it.

I’m in Budapest, I shouldn’t be napping, I should be out exploring and talking to people!

In my half-sleep I had all kinds of fun feelings like “what am I doing here”, “I would like to spend time with my friends now”, etc.

It is usually when I hit this point that I get the one thought that puts me back on track.

What do you enjoy? Do that!

So, after feeling off and demotivated the whole day, I finally reached the point where this feels worse than taking charge of my situation here and decided to do just that: do the things I enjoy!

Step one: writing!

Which is why are you reading these words now :)

I didn’t plan on writing about my trip, but knowing that I’m not the only one who is reading my thoughts pushes me to generate new ones.

By having new experiences!