Busy in Budapest & beyond – Earth Vagabonds

A big parade. Our anniversary. Birthday #62. A family reunion. It’s a busy week in Budapest!

Last Saturday I went to witness the defiance of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s order canceling the annual Budapest LGBTQ+ Pride Parade.

As you can see in the photos here, hundreds of thousands of people turned out to make sure the event proceeded – as it has every year since 1995. In fact, it was reported as by far the largest crowd ever.

To be clear, we always advise against travelers or tourists getting involved in the internal politics of any foreign country. And many times during our travels, we have avoided protests and marches that were political in nature. In fact, participating in such demonstrations could result in visa revocation and being forced to leave the country.

But the pride parade was not a demonstration. It was a celebration! The Mayor of Budapest – a rival liberal leader – pledged his support. Plus, I did not participate. I only attended as a spectator and photographer from a raised planter on the sidewalk.

The controversy made international headlines. We saw news coverage in the days before here in Budapest. And people from all over Hungary and Europe and beyond joined in the hours-long parade and after-party. I saw flags from Denmark, Czechia, Poland, Austria, Italy, France, Spain, UK — and countless EU flags and banners.

EU leadership had opposed Orban’s parade ban and his conservative party’s passage of anti-LGBTQ legislation, promoted as “child protection”, earlier this year. Orban also ordered temporary cameras installed and threatened to use facial recognition technology to identify and prosecute parade participants (that threat similarly derided by EU officials).

From my observation perch, I saw plenty of marchers flipping-off one nearby camera. And though police were present in large numbers, they took no action that I saw, except closing the intersections. Honestly, it seemed like the police didn’t really want to be there. In the two hours that I watched, I only saw two religious counter-protestors spewing slurs while waving a cross and Bible. Fine Christians indeed.

My wife had scheduled a zoom call so she was not able to attend the pride event. But I was safely back home after a few hours and a few beers. We did not go near the post-parade party that extended into the night. As of now, we’ve not heard any news of problems or prosecutions related to the parade.

10th Anniversary

The very next day: our 10-year wedding anniversary! June 29, 2015.

As Ellie exclaimed, “We made it ten years”! Like there was any doubt? Never! I’m so glad this woman bought into my crazy travel plan, gave up her career, and now changes my diaper! Wooohoo!

Seriously, Ellen is a marvelous woman, incredible partner, and unique in her ability to adapt and conquer the challenges of this lifestyle. I can’t imagine doing it without her. We are truly blessed to have each other. And I look forward to the next ten years – and more. It’s gonna be even more fun!

For anybody keeping track, besides us — our 10-year “TRAVEL anniversary’ is coming up on August 10. That’s the date in 2015 that my new bride moved to Tulum, Mexico — by herself — as I continued to work and wrap-up our affairs in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. I could hardly believe it at the time (I wanted her with me) but it did motivate me to get on with the next phase of our lives.

Birthday

Two days later – my birthday: July 1. Ellie and I did some hiking and sightseeing, took some photos, had a nice meal, I drank a few brews, and did a little “half-year review’ and planning update.

No gifts. No shopping. No birthday nonsense. I do appreciate all the kind Facebook messages. But we’re just thankful for our lives and health and situation. Our early-retirement years of travel have all gone pretty much as planned (minus the few health crises).

At age 62, we’ve put a big dent in my ‘bucket list’. But I still dream of African safaris, glaciers, Machu Picchu, the Galapagos Islands, Ireland, Australia.

I’ve never mentioned my ‘countdown’ here. But back in 2015, I told Ellen I had a “300-month plan”. That referred to 25 years of future travel — 300 months. As of August 10, we will have completed 120 of those months! Wow! At the end of the 300 months, I will be 77 years of age… my wife will be 69. The perfect ages to do some more traveling… lol.

Family reunion

In just a few days, my sister Tina and brother Damien will be arriving in Budapest. It will start a two-week stretch of reconnecting (I haven’t seen them except via video calls in years). My mom Diane, who does visit us every winter, is also coming along.

The highlight of the time will be our week-long visit to Košice, Slovakia (about 160 miles northeast of Budapest; and 88 miles from the Ukraine border). There we will visit with the only ‘old world’ relatives that our family is aware of.

On my deceased father’s side; both his mother’s AND father’s ancestral roots go back to present day Slovakia (formerly Hungary). Members of both sides emigrated to the USA in the late 1800s. Both my grandparents were born in America. We’ve lost track of any of the ‘Kortan named’ family members who were from the Bratislava, Slovakia area (the capital city). But we’ve remained in touch with relatives on the ‘Ferencz side’ (my dad’s mother’s maiden name). It is those folks who we will be visiting in Košíce.

Mom has seen them a few times over the decades, when she visited with my father. And Damien was with them in the mid-1980s when he was 17 years old. I myself was there twice as a child: 1964 and 1970. Tina has never been to Slovakia that I know of.

To be sure, it’s an exciting moment for us all. It will be great to enjoy Hungary, Slovakia, then Krakow, Poland (our next destination) with my direct family. And we all certainly look forward to reacquainting ourselves with the ancestral family — including new generations, in Slovakia.

Finally, the topper to it all: Ellen’s parents, Linda and Mike, are meeting us in Berlin, Germany in late August. We will then spend two weeks with the McGregors in Berlin, Prague, Czechia, and Vienna, Austria. Wow!

All of this will be a fantastic way to keep this week’s busy party schedule going through the summer. And a fun way to kickoff our remaining 180+ travel months!

As always, be thankful and generous, happy trails & more beer.

Life is NOW!