Being in Budapest: Money

Since I last wrote, I've had a good time living and working in the Alps, and now I am stopping for five weeks in the Hungarian Capital- Budapest!  

For the past 22 months, I have found myself in over 30 locations in 12 countries but this is the first time that I feel I am really living in a foreign land. 

The map shows locations I have been to since I left a 'normal' life the UK in July 2013
and stated a more unstable life of adventure

It's quite a decent list so far, and actually a lot of my time has been in France. In the ski resorts La Rosiere and Courchevel I stayed for months at a time, and the same goes for my Mum's in western France, but I won't count them as having been experiences of getting to know a foreign country as a resident.
          Ski resorts aren't really representative of the country they are in; they are super-commercialised and exist to make money, rather than being a place that people actually live. Sure, French resorts will have fondue at their restaurants and Italian ones offer authentic pizzas, but you're barely going to experience much culture at a ski resort. I would try to use my French speaking skills in restaurants or the supermarket, always to be answered in English. It was almost like being in an English bubble that has fallen onto a mountain in France.

          Similarly, at my Mum's, I was certainly abroad, but she's based outside of town and as I wasn't working when I was there, I didn't get out much. So I have been residing abroad in all three instances but as far as living in a foreign city goes, I feel I'm only truly encountering that now.

Average prices for a large beer
(500ml or 568ml pint)

Interestingly, some people take stock of how a county's economy compares to their own by looking at the price of a beer. This is such a phenomenon that a quick internet search reveals there's a website dedicated to the cause.

I'm always interested in how much things cost, especially as I'll not be earning any money whilst I am here, and also since I have just left ultra expensive Courchevel.
          In Courche I accidentally went into a bar that was even more pricey than the other, already expensive, establishments. I'm still recovering from the incident of witnessing a single, standard 25ml, shot of premium Patron tequila on the menu for 38 Euros.

I did not order a drink in that bar.

Granted that not all bars in Courchevel were that extortionate, but they were still heavy on the wallet. Budapest is very comfortable by comparison and I'm enjoying prices that don't offend me,

iPhone says: I'm here!
Why you no use me!?

Getting used to calculating the value of things abroad can be tricky in any country that does not use the Euro. In the Czech Republic their currency exchanges for about 40 Crowns to the Pound, making things seem more expensive than they actually are. In Budapest, the Hungarian Forint (Ft) is 400 to the pound. 

At one of  the characteristic 'ruin' bars I could be inclined to feel that paying 600Ft for half a litre of beer is pricey, just because the number is large. I know it doesn't make sense but big numbers trick your brain.

           In reality that is about £1.40 so no complaints are necessary. By comparison, a pint in London often costs £4 or more. In previous travels I may have resorted to a wrist-written guide to help me out but I can't reply on such a thing here. That you can (barely) get away with if you're making a quick stop, but not if you have the time to get to know the currency.

Now that I'm not being accommodated by a company I have to face a slightly disappointing fact: I am breaking a streak. Its one that began at the end of June two years ago when I made my final rental payment in Reading, as since then, I had been rent-free for 22 months.

But again, I'll not really complain as we can remember our lesson of the day- Budapest is lovely and cheap. The rent for my apartment which is in a great location is about £55 a week  (bills and WiFi inc.) and single metro ticket in here is 77p, (compared to £4.80 in central London)
           Remaining on positives, renting my own place means I have my own space. In the Alps I had shared a room with five other guys. Dealing with that for months at a time is maybe something that younger seasonnaires are happy to put up with but is not a feature of my living arrangements I'd want to repeat

"At least I'm not going on a spiritual journey 

to try and 'find' myself"

When I've not been staying in the mountains, I have spent a lot of time moving about with my backpack.

Backpacking obviously involves a lot of moving in and out of countries but can hardly be classed as living abroad if you're only stopping in a city for a few nights.
             I would make an effort to go take municipal walks, sometimes without a map, to leave the so called 'tourist track' and try to discover what the city is really like without the glamorous veil adorned for tourists. (I know that sounds like the pretentious crap that the stereotypical backpacker would say but at least I'm not going on a spiritual journey to try and 'find' myself'.) But even when you see the sights and the rougher side of the place, a city offers too much to take in in a couple of days. 

The interesting facts or historical tales I learnt on numerous walking tours in a multitude of whereabouts were often squeezed out of my mind later that week when I was in a different country, learning a whole new history.

I'm hoping that resting in one place for a few weeks will allow me to not only learn and retain what made Budapest what it is, but also to understand the place as someone who is living here and not through the eyes of my former self who wants to go to all the best ruin bars and then go to the next city.


Even it it means paying rent for once.

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