VIP Dance Party in Budapest (August 8, 2025)
I admit it. I broke protocol. As part of my 8-day meditation retreat, I’m not supposed to socialize or engage in entertainment. The point is to unplug and go deep inside yourself, not to party like a rockstar. And yet …
So the backstory is that I wasn’t planning on doing this at all. I went out for lunch to a wonderful Hungarian restaurant and had a fabulous Hungarian Beef Stew with Spaetzle. It was one of the best meals I’ve had in quite some time. In walk two friendly travelers from Poland and the waiter suggested they try the same meal I just finished and without missing a beat I shared just how awesome it was. That broke the ice and we began chatting.
Turns out they came here to Budapest to see a famous DJ who I’d heard of: HotSince82. The thing is, I’m not that cool. I don’t know DJs and I certainly don’t travel to different countries to listen to them play music. But I was suddenly intrigued. Rather than going to a massive venue, this was all happening outside in a location I’d already visited: Vajdahunyad Castle — right next to the famous Széchenyi Thermal Bath house I had visited.
And the best part, the tickets were dirt cheap. All of this felt like divine intervention. Random friendly travelers from Poland, the only other patrons in the Hungarian restaurant I visited, inviting me to join them to dance that evening. My adventurous side won out and I agreed to meet them at 10pm.
Then I had two choices, lie to my teacher by omitting my plans or let him know what I had agreed to do and accept the feedback. I opted to be up front about my plans. To Micky’s credit, while he shared his concerns and preference that I not go, he left the decision up to me as part of my learning journey. His points were valid. Specifically, that I was on a meditation retreat and this was a distraction from the work I was doing and skills I was developing. Better to work with the feelings of wanting to go than giving in and going. And yet …
At 52, I’m clear that I’m past my prime when it comes to the night scene. My days of staying up all night at New York City’s Limelight are behind me. That said, it’s fun to gather with swarms of people all coming out to dance and have a good time — especially outside in a build that is reminiscent of an old cathedral (similar to the former Limelight in NYC).
Robert and Ania, my new friends from Poland that I had met at the restaurant earlier that afternoon, were wonderful to hang out with. They loved to dance and we had some great conversational breaks along the way. Because of the strict rules governing these events in the city of Budapest, the event promptly closed at 11:45pm to ensure everyone was “out” by midnight.
Ania noticed that the VIP lounge had it’s own DJ and was still rocking so we all decided to join the VIP party for another hour. So glad we did that. The space was enclosed, but had no roof so we were literally dancing under the stars. The music was wonderful and the party continued.
I ultimately decided to exit around 1am as I was committed to continuing my meditation practice despite my side adventure into this dance event. While I’m glad I had this experience, I now share Micky’s perspective that it would have been best if I stuck to my core focus and limited my distractions. It’s not that this choice through me off my practice, but it did change my focus and had some ancillary impact on my skill development.
What it did do, however, is give me an experience of disruption so that I may have deeper empathy for those doing a week or ten-day meditation retreat and struggling to stay focused the whole time. I gave myself the out this time around with a renewed commitment to make a different choice next time.
