Stories

Sometime last year I came to the realization that traveling is probably the most rewarding thing a person could do. A country that brims with culture and natural beauty is a place no one could ever forget. Upon this realization I had the wild idea to take a trip to Hungary and go on a journey I hoped to never forget. Silly me thinking my parents would approve.

But five months later there I was, standing all alone with a suitcase and a dictionary at the gates of Budapest Ferihegy International Airport waiting for relatives whom I have never met to pick me up. This was probably the most exciting yet scariest moment of my life. But to my relief the family welcomed me with open arms and immediately fed me traditional cuisine I never thought would taste so good. As soon as I took a spoonful of Dobos cake, I knew my jeans would not fit by the end of the trip.

The very next morning I could not wait to go out and explore the city. From the beginning I decided that I would not waste my time being lazy, which is usually how I spend my summers back home, and fit in as much fun and excitement into the two weeks as humanly possible. That being said, the very first thing I did was buy myself a ticket to the Sziget festival, which is Europe’s largest concert festival where thousands of people from all over the world come together on an island for a week full of music and craziness. Which is just what I needed to start things off and get into the spirit of the city. From that point on the number of places, the quantity of food consumed and the amount of adventures are impossible to describe without writing a whole book about it. Everything from swimming five and a half kilometers across Lake Balaton to visiting almost every single museum in the capital is what made this a trip of a lifetime. But the most memorable part was definitely meeting new people. Everyone was so polite and full of life it would have been hard not to strike up a conversation. Sadly my Hungarian was not very polished, which made communication harder, but I was fortunate enough to make a friend who I spent the majority of my time with. He showed me their culture and made me feel like I was a part of it all.

Now to conclude this extremely brief description of my trip, I can now say from experience that traveling is something that I could never get enough of. This trip symbolized me growing up and going out into the world on my own. Learning about a different culture made me realize just how big and beautiful the world is, and how I most likely will never be able to stay in the same place for extended periods of time.