I was going to talk about the top places to visit in Budapest this week (as that is one of the places I visited this past month) but I thought I would share some lessons I learned from this last trip instead. Some of these might already be obvious to you but, maybe not … or maybe they just might serve as a reminder. Either way, they are things I won’t forget for future trips.
1. Carry a change of clothing in your carry on – and remember to REPLACE it. We all know that luggage can get lost in a trip and how important it is to keep a change of clothing in your carry-on in the event that happens. But, what are the odds your luggage can get lost in a single trip twice? I don’t know, but I am here to say IT CAN HAPPEN. I know because it happened to me! On the way from LAX to our first destination, Amsterdam, the airline lost our luggage, but I was prepared with an extra change of clothing – yay! Well I forgot to replace that change and the airline lost my luggage AGAIN flying from Budapest (stop in Munich) to Bucharest! And so, I will remember from now on to make sure I always have a change of clothing in my carry for EVERY plane ride.
2. Carry an extra camera lens cap …. or two. Mine fell out of my pocket a few days into our trip in Budapest. I found a Sony store but the first was out of stock for my model. They sent me to another location and they were also out of stock. Normally at home I would have called first or had the first store call for me, but customer service is not always at the level we are accustomed to in the US. So, when the clerk from the second store saw my frustration (and that I knew a few words in Hungarian and was trying to communicate in his language) he sold me the lens on the floor model. I will be packing an extra lens cap BEFORE we travel next trip.
3. Which leads me to --- learn a few key phrases in each language for the country you will be visiting. I wrote a blog post several months ago “Learning the Language” and found it still goes a long way. For example, our hotel in Budapest was near Vaci Utca (the major street) so I became pretty proficient in asking in Hungarian, “Excuse me, where is the Vatsi Utsa?” Whenever we got lost, that key phrase sure came in handy and the locals were willing to help out just because I tried to speak and understand their language.
4. Be flexible with your planned itinerary. Sometimes you will be on a two-lane highway with no alternate routes and you will be delayed. We came upon a terrible vehicle accident on our way to the village of Viscri in Transylvania just minutes after it happened and ended up being stranded, with hundreds of others, for over 3 hours. The only thing we could really do in this situation was pray for the safety of the injured parties and be thankful we didn’t arrive in that spot 10 minutes earlier. We never made it to Viscri as it would have been too late, but we were safe and ended up getting out of the car numerous times and met some very nice locals. So when things are not going your way, make sure to take a step back, breathe, and figure something else out.
5. Check all the hidden items when upgrading your cell phone international package. Make sure to turn off “cellular data” when using WIFI but also be aware there is a “WIFI assist” that also needs to be turned off. I was not aware of the “WIFI assist” and got a notice that I had used 80% of mine one week into our trip! This had never been an issue on any previous trips abroad, but the signals must have been weak in some of the areas we visited and the WIFI assist kicked in and was draining my international call package. It was no longer an issue when I realized what was happening. I also know some who swear by buying SIM cards before they travel. I may consider this if we are ever going to be gone for months at a time, but for now, I think I’m going to still to the international plan, making sure to check all the fine print.
6. Realize that bottles of wine in your carry on do count as liquid no matter how tired you are when packing and you will need to toss them after security gives you a “Did you really just do that?” look. Yes, I will admit I did that and was caught at the Budapest airport going through security at 6 am. It was a really nice bottle we purchased on a wine tasting outing too. My only choice was to drink it on the spot or toss it…and well, it was only 6 am and I hadn’t even had breakfast yet. I left a little piece of my heart at the Budapest airport…looks like I’ll just have to go back again for some more.
So, after this trip I feel all the wiser in my travel practices – I hope they might help you too for the next time you travel. Please don’t make the mistakes I did. I will be back next week to share my top 10 things to do in Budapest. But in the meantime, safe travels!
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