Budapest, Hungary (August 1, 2025)
The Ferris Wheel that can be seen from all over Budapest feels like Vegas
Arriving in Budapest, Hungary was like crossing a milestone marker when running a marathon. August 1st represented month two of my twelve month journey around the world. It also marked the beginning of my intentional slow down — fewer locations, staying for longer. This will ensure I’m able to actually make it a full year around the world without burnout.
Similar to my arrival in the Helsinki airport in Finland, the first thing that caught my eye was how different the Budapest airport was from any other I’d been in to date. Want to charge your devices? How about using your own power by pedaling a stationary bike (i.e. exercise while you charge up your devices):
Get some exercise while you charge up your devices with pedal power!
But there’s more — a lot more. Such as free child strollers so you don’t have to bring yours while in the airport. You can pick one up when you arrive and drop it at a designated spot. Want to play foosball? Go for it. Seeking quite time? Just use one of our free, private booths. If you are craving a smoke, you can use one of those designated ones to keep your second-hand smoke contained. And yes, if you play piano, be our guest and share your talents. The airport had all sorts of options to play and engage while waiting for your flight.
Public transportation, just like in Helsinki, was just as easy to use. I got myself a 24 hour “all access” pass to use any and all of Budapest’s public transportation and easily found my way to my hotel. After dropping my bags, I set out on a full walking tour of Budapest and discovered an incredible park overlooking the city.
From the bottom of the street to the top of the park overlooking the city are 328 steps. It was a beautiful hike and once at the top, sweeping views of Budapest. One great way to “take in” the full city. I was up there with many others who were watching the sun set right over the city. Such an epic spot. I suspect it’s a favorite for picnics, dates and family gatherings. It also helped me get my bearings on the city overall.
While I would have loved to stay for the sunset, I neglected to bring my flashlight, so I would have had to use my phone to get down the trails and decided to make my way down while there was still some light left. And as I did, I made my way to the second (more beautiful) bridge. On my where there, I discovered a swing dancing event happening at the castle. Such fun.
I also came across a park called “The Power of Forgiveness” and it was inspired by Nelson Mandela. It had several paths with large concrete balls marking choice points in the paths. It was an artistic and experiential way to walk the path of forgiveness; reminding me that we always are at choice to forgive ourselves and everyone around us.
And yes, I absolutely rode the ferris wheel to see what kind of additional views I could have of Budapest at night. I’ll share the shots from the top, but I didn’t think they turned out as well as I imagined they would while I was in line to take the ride. Either way, it was a fund side quest in my adventure.
After I got off, I found a skate-park that was particularly active given it was after dark. That was fun to observe as adults my age dropped into the half pipe and practiced their best Tony Hawk era moves.
If you like what you see here, there are more available in the Budapest Photo Album (which you can navigate to via the Gallery). On my walk back to the hotel (23,978 steps later), I saw the first window display for my 44 litre backpack from Cotopaxi. I’m glad to see they are not just online, but showing up in physical retail stores now.
The one featured is my exact bag that has served me well. I’ve lightened my load a bit giving away two pairs of jeans and a sweatshirt to Goodwill when I was in Ealing (thank you, Nancy Cogswell for helping me with the donation!)
I’m happy I’ve been able to stick to a single bag I can wear on this trip. It fits in the airline overhead bin so I don’t even need to check it. The only thing I need to monitor is what I’m still not using that I packed a month ago to see what more I can get rid of. I realize when I packed for a full year, I still brought more than I actually need on this trip. It’s hard to tell when you’re at home packing.
What takes up a surprising amount of space are all the “in case X happens” drugs my doctor prescribed me for a year-long trip including specific countries with potential to contract malaria, altitude sickness for the high altitude locations, erythromycin (non-pennacilin antibiotics), and similar “hard to get without a perscription” drugs that are rarely needed, but really important when you do, in fact, need them.
The other big item are all my contact lenses for a full year. When you combined all the “in case you need them” drugs and the prescription contacts, it’s surprising how much space that takes up. The single puffy jacket, rain coat, and the rest of the clothes seem about right. Balancing the frequency of laundry with the convenience of having multiple changes of clothes.
This certainly is an adventure. Now that I get to slow down, I can relax a bit and lean into this week’s focus — working on an 8 day silent meditation retreat with my teacher. This is when an extravert like me takes the time to “go inward” and unplug from everything long enough to build up my myelin and upgrade my neural pathways to reach deeper levels of (unconditional) inner peace. More on that later.
