A new experience has just began
In 2020 I moved to Hungary, I was living in a beautiful small city called Pécs, it is a city where if you live near the city center then you can go anywhere from that. Fortunately, the transportation in Hungary overall is great. Buses are all around and can get you anywhere.
At that stage of life, I was a student, where everything was around food, house, city center where I could spend some time drinking a nice cup of coffee and enjoying the sunshine.
In 2022, I graduated and got a job as an international sales manager in the capital city of Budapest. It has a slightly different atmosphere than Pécs; first of all, it is at least five times bigger, having different districts, a lot of tourists, and many places to see and visit.
The transportation in Budapest is even better than in Pécs; not only buses are there, but trams, trains, and even the metro are available to use and for extremely cheap prices (compared to the neighboring countries). The monthly ticket for using all of the transportation options is 20 euros.
I loved the transportation system in the beginning because I am not used to living in a big city, lots of mistakes I used to make (and still do) with the roads, but overall they made it convenient to make mistakes :). However, it takes almost 40 mins to travel anywehere within a radius of around 10 km inside the city.
One time I was with some of my friends and I noticed a scooter with no license plate on it. I was shocked and even told my friends that this guy would get caught in no time. And then they told me that any scooter which is under 50 cc doesn’t need a registration. I said “hmmm”. I kept this idea to myself and then said to myself “Why don’t I have a scooter like that one?”
After being there almost 5 months, winter began to fade and the sunshine returned. I decided to buy a scooter. But the problem is that I am not rich.I needed something that was budget-friendly and also reliable.
I asked some of my Hungarian friends where could I buy a budget-friendly scooter. They suggested two places, the market place and Használtautó. In both places I could find used scooters to buy.
With no experience in motorcycles, I selected some of them to check out and examine. When I met the sellers, they showed me the motorcycles, and the it was time for an examination, but what to check? I got stuck there, I didn’t know anything about scooters but in the end, I decided to choose the look I liked the most. I know it wasn’t the best way to go but it is what it is.
“Wow! The first ride of my life” and “I can’t believe that I have made it” even filled with a fear of falling falling.
I took the first ride and tried to be as cautious as possible, everything went great except that I got lost and found myself on a highway (first it’s mango rose, second without a license plate you cannot use them). my legs were shaking my heart was beating so fast, I was riding at 50km per hour and cars were all around me at least 100km/h it was a crazy moment and I felt that this thing was not for me. I just wanted to reach home ha ha. But my brain interrupted my thoughts and said that it could help with the matter in hand. So I stopped, opened Google Maps to locate my home, and eventually I managed to navigate my way there.
The moment that I reached home, It took maybe two minutes in silence just to recap what had happened and to understand where am I was. After two minutes, gladly with a smile, I told myself “What an experience”, and I reminded my self that nobody can do something perfectly from the first time. But I also knew that the next time I should be more cautious.
Little by little I got used to riding my new scooter and driving in the cities. I admit that it took some time to gain the confidence to ride to where I wanted to go to. But I would say that I reached a good place, not only geographically but also on a personal development level.
I have a hobby of discovering how things work, so I started watching YouTube videos about how to screw/ fix/ unscrew scooters, this was another journey where I could learn something new and create a new hobby. Since I bought the scooter I haver screwed/ unscrewed the scooter more than three times (in two months). I have to admit that I made some mistakes doing that, but I don’t feel bad about that and I enjoyed learning from my mistakes.
Now I am so glad that I have the scooter, in my eyes it made my overall living in Budapest more and more satisfying, I can reach any place innext to no time, and I can go anywhere with it, discovering places of interest and the nearby villages. My sales skills will take their place in convincing my friends to also buy scooters so we can can take riding trips around Budapest. Wish me luck. 🙂
What an experience!