Another month, another postcard!

June 27, 2025 by Istvan

We've just received our 4th postcard today from Austria, sent by none other than Jacob, Hannah, Mio + Ori (+Alva I guess) a travelling family we've hosted almost exactly two years ago, while there were on their way to... oops I forgot that, but I'm sure it was towards east (a lot). According to their postcard they made all the way to Georgia, hope that was the original plan.

Good memories here, we were really happy meeting you folks, and I'm glad that you never had such a good barbeque like at our place (even if it is an exaggeration:). We enjoyed your short stay a lot, and I very much remember that I felt a bit of an envy when you guys left us to wander freely whereever you like to go. That reminded me when I was in my twenties and made me feel a bit old :) On the bright side I'm happy that I did my wanderings as well.

We are glad to hear that you guys settled now and we'll certainly visit you one day! I think I mentioned you that I'd really like to live in a farm (which is not that feasible in our part of the country), so would be nice see how it is working out for you.

Jacob, Hannah and the gang! Thanks for responding to our little quest of receiving postcards! Also we are really happy that we got a bit of an update about yourselves. Let us know if you ever end up around us again, so we can catch up in our garden. Otherwise: see you in the beautiful country of Austria.

István + Ági

ps.: if you happen to know some other people who would be OK with a postcard please mention our site to them :)

Hitchhiking

June 18, 2025 by Istvan

I've started hitchhiking back in 2005, on a day when I wanted to travel home by bus (about 120km) but I left my long distance pass in my rent. I got mad to myself being stupid but I didn't want to pay for a ticket so I said "Why not?" and started hitchhiking. Never done that before, but I got a ride in just about 5-10 minutes by a cigarette smuggler. The whole minivan was full of cigarettes. Ok, he was a smuggler which is bad, but otherwise he was a very much likeable guy and this experience changed my life quite a bit and made me an enthusiastic hitchhiker.

There are TONS of good and funny memories, but here come some of the bests:

- 450km in the same car on my way from Miskolc/Hungary to Sunny beach/Bulgaria.
- People willing to take sometimes rather lengthy detours, just to help us out.
- Ági and me hitchiked a train once. No kidding, it really stopped and we could get aboard.
- Got into a car driven by a guy who worked as a condom distributor. Boy, he was such a funny and cool guy! He also participated in the Bamako rally!
- Picked up by people (including some really hot girls) saying they never ever picked up anybody, but we looked cool so they gave us a chance.
- Picked up several times even before we started hitchhiking. They just got that we are hitchhikers and stopped immediately.
- I hitchhiked a car driven by a learner driver. I hope he passed his exam couple days later.
- We picked up by a super mini car which already had two other hitchhikers plus their backpacks. The driver said he picks up everybody.
- Travelling in super expensive cars. Nice not just because of the cars, but cause it shows really rich people are not neccessarily snobby.
- Hungarohitch 2024, two day ralley, which we enjoyed a lot.

If you ever end up in Hungary: hitchhiking is very safe here (same experience in all EU countries we tried). If you have a good spot then in most of the cases its just a matter of minutes to get a car stopping for you. A sign could help, but definitely not a must, we very rarely use one.

Let us know on a postcard if you want to know about our fully worked out, but so far secret hitchhiking strategy which guarantees* you to get a ride. Just write "hitchhiking" anywhere on the card so I'll know you are interested. I'll share it in a post dedicated to you.

István + Ági

*guarantee is a strong word. Let say it might increases your chance :)

Brand new, funny postcard from Poland arrived!

May 20, 2025 by Istvan

(Alright, so first a confession: we received this postcard the last Friday, but things are extremely busy, and I needed some time to create this blog entry.)

This postcard is from Wroclaw / Poland and sent by Natalia (and I guess Krzysztof), a Polish couple we hosted in 2023 on their way to Budapest. We spent a really fun evening together and since then - whenever we are in contact - they keep inviting us to visit Wroclaw. This will certainly happen sooner or later, cause we have great memories about them and Wroclaw seems a really cool city. Also its 'only' 600kms away, which can be done by a motorcycle in a day.

As you may or may not know this is the 3rd postcard we received, and I'd say the project is already been worth it. You guys cheered up our busy and a bit turbulent days, thanks a lot for responding to our call!

I analyized and represented the data we collected so far on a chart which I simply call the Chart of Coolness. If my calculations are correct Polish and German people aready prooved themselves cool!

Natalia and Krzysztof! Thanks again! You guys rock! If you happen to show up in Hungary again then you guys have a room in our house, which is BTW pimped up with a proper bed so you dont need to sleep on an inflatable one :)

You already did your part in our project but if there is any chance, please share it with people living in other coutries as we still need about 193 more postcards :)

See you in the beautiful city of Wroclaw,
István + Ági

Another postcard landed!!!

May 9, 2025 by Istvan

Yesterday we received our 2nd postcard! What a glorious day! Just two days after I sent out a message for help a new postcard landed in our mailbox. This one is from the beautiful country of Switzerland written by none other than Krysia. Is it possible that a thing like this happens out by fate, or is it just a low probability event (coincidence)? When things like this happen Ági always says that it's fate and I desperately try to convince her that it's just a coincidence.

As an engineer I summarized everything in an excel table:

As you see 'Fates' triumphed over 'Coincidences' so in this case I must admit that it was fate getting Krysia's postcard.

Krysia! You truly made us happy with your postcard in our times of desperation assuming that our project is completely stalled. If you ever revisit Miskolc please let us know so we can meet in person. Great opportunity to meet our cat / dog as well :) (Regarding your question: sure, we'd be happy to receive more postcards from you. From the challenge's perspective though, each country can score only once.)

Our encounters with Polish people were always really positive, and you didn't disappoint. Five starts for helping us out with your card. If we can ask for another favor: if you have friends living in other countries, would you mind sharing our page, to give our challenge a bit of a kick?

Thanks a lot again!
István + Ági

Asking for help!

May 6, 2025 by Istvan

Dear random, but kind and also very good looking visitor,

It seems our project stalled a bit. According to web stats, we have new visitors from time to time (like you), but our mailbox is desperately empty. So if you happen to find this memo, please dont be shy and send us a postcard :)

Thanks,
Istvan + Agi

WE RECEIVED OUR FIRST POSTCARD!!!

April 8, 2025 by Istvan

Just after 35 days starting our project we received our first postcard straight outta Saxony (Germany). The signature is a bit ambiguous, but we are 98% sure that it was sent by Ida (and leave 2% chance for lola). This is not just an ordinary postcard, the material is something special. At first, I thought it might be from the Dead Sea Scrolls or that it had traveled through some serious weather conditions. After translating it's back it turned out that it is a COMPOSTABLE postcard. How freaking cool it that! We love composting (I just filled up one of our raised beds yesterday), but of course we won't compost this special postcard!

Ida! Your card made us VERY happy, and we really hope that you visit our page in the future to see that - as promised - your card is displayed here as a proof of your kindness.

I've attached a picture with Ági and our cat. I'm somewhat concerned if the cat recognized the importance of the moment, but she certainly looks more excited than usual :)

Thanks again, you really made our day!

Starting the blog

April 8, 2025 by Istvan

As we have received our first postcard (yay!!!) it is time to fulfill my promise and create a page on which we can display our progress. About the look there is certainly a room for improvement, but I'm still not a web developer, so this will work for a while!