[The Catalyst]

A "tldr" in bold I really need people to see even if they skip over everything else: I'm in Budapest for just under 90 days, have a ticket out to London(leaving the EU) as condition of entry(I think this is NZ enforced). I have just over NZD$600 saved all in all. I plan to try to get a work visa, the consulate said it's easy to if I can find work with the language barrier. I really need help with: money(food/accommodation), work, visas(and also friends/company/local experience). I'm planning to learn Hungarian. I can live pretty badly for now(materially), I'm determined to do what it takes. If I need financial assistance I'm hoping I can get help here somehow. I'm promising to pay you back, with interest. If you choose not to trust me(totally understandable), I have north of $300-400 in a few items of possessions that I'm willing to sell or put up as collateral(along with many kilos of clothes). I also really want to reach out to anyone living here. I don't know RVFers being in NZ and no one really lives there so I want to meet you guys for real. Also any general travel tips/advice is very appreciated.

I've been here for a nearly a day, recovering from jet lag/the flights. Staying in a hostel and trying to save as much money as I can to make this work.

First impressions of Budapest/traveling(compared to say Auckland/NZ):

Airport was tiny, bare, shops almost non-existent relatively. I thought NZ was dysfunctional and had bad/boring airports but NZ airports I been to looked modern. It seems Hungary does not need good airports as such and NZ does but I'll admit it was a scary sign that the rest of the city sucks. I haven't been here too long to know for certain but it doesn't seem true.

People seem relatively happy, fulfilled, and well-adjusted with no obesity or other SJW or other degeneracy. Very comforting/relaxing. In NZ there are a lot of people who seem almost psychotic(significant minority- but also everyone else who treats it as normal), which to me was horrifying and depressing.

I realised Kiwis drive on the wrong side on the road, but still seeing this reversed in person is a mindfuck. I don't know where to stand/walk on sidewalks/escalators.

Underestimated how brutal the long flights would be. Barely any legroom, cramped, difficult to move/sleep. I had a runny nose and dry lips and the dry lips persist to now. I always wondered why people on the internet kept complaining about dry lips and swore by chapstick. To be honest I thought why not just deal with your "dry" lips, you don't need moisture on it all the time. Just never had actual dry lips in high humidity.

I notice others don't carry a pillow on their flights. I did and it was a dream. You lose a little legroom but you get so much comfort back. I am short at 177 cm though. At my height or below a pillow is definitely worth it, I'd still do it if I was about 183 cm but then it becomes more of a tradeoff.

Emirates is a spectacular airline, relative to others I've used. I want to make a post about this in particular but there's so many important things I have to do. Without the entertainment I would've felt so crazy on the brutal flights.

Underestimated how difficult it would be pushing around 40+kg of baggage.

Overestimated how different the environment/material things would be. Roads, houses, cars, graffiti, pavements, billboards, buildings, parks all look very similar to what I'm used to in NZ. I think I just assumed the countries would be different than they were. A lot of what I thought of were NZ features like how pavements etc looked now seem more universal.

Overestimated how white it would be. From my POV Budapest seems like a multicultural city. I thought Hungary was white nationalist. If so, white nationalism seems dead in the water/a pipe dream. So many non whites(I notice other Asians- less than NZ but still a significant amount to me) and they don't seem super integrated culturally. Might just be a foreign part of town though with the hostels and all. As a non-white this might be better for me but I do think in the abstract there are a lot of benefits to WN so it's sort of sad as well.

Underestimated the language barrier. I thought it might be easy enough to know what things say from context. But I couldn't. It's brutal not being able to understand things.

Overestimated how easy it is to find things you need. I would've assumed you could just walk a few streets and find things. In NZ every 20-30 stores was a pharmacy and I just couldn't find one here by walking. Neither could I find an internet cafe. Also assumed I could just easily buy an adapter(for my lightbox).

Assumed places would just have a USB phone charger. In NZ buses, cafes, public places etc all have them. This hostel doesn't- I don't know if that's a hostel thing.

With the difficulties, I can understand why everyone I knew was screaming at how terrible a decision I'd made is. I underestimated the difficulties. That being said, I still believe leaving NZ is definitely a no brainer of a decision it's just a case of how to do it. And I'm willing to do what it takes to survive here. No regrets so far but I'm still open to the possibility that others might be right and I was wrong, depending on how bad it is trying to grind it out here.

Gypsies are trippy to see in person.

Couple of decent looking girls in the hostel and more WNBs were pretty friendly and semi-flirty with me. I'm not that super good looking chad and I'm probably not normie enough to be alpha but I feel comforted realising I was right all along(that I'm not an unattractive loser, it's just Kiwis who don't like me). In NZ girls don't do this and had always thought Kiwis in particular just didn't like me but I was scared to subscribe to this completely because I didn't want to get delusional/gamma. I'm looking forward to game but right now I have way more pressing issues on my hands than frivolous things like girls.

The moment my flight left, I felt more confident NZ sucked yet less of a need to actually think negative things about it. I could choose to just not think about all the bad aspects of it and most of what came to mind were the few good, positive memories. I still would not recommend coming to NZ though but I don't feel the need to go on and on about it. Living in NZ the dysfunction is just so in-your-face though. Leaving is just so freeing mentally.

[Tinder Scientist]

Going to a country where you don't even speak the language/have a job/have a visa with less than $500 in savings seems like a horrible idea.

You are one misgiving away from extreme poverty, at least if you were in your home country you would have a "safety net".

Hungarian is one of the hardest languages in the world, you won't be able to learn enough in 90 days to have a job that requires you to speak it.

What are you going to do when you get to London? If I was the customs agent I wouldn't even let you in with your financial situation.

[The Catalyst]

(04-03-2019 10:51 PM)Tinder Scientist Wrote:  

Going to a country where you don't even speak the language/have a job/have a visa with less than $500 in savings seems like a horrible idea.

You are one misgiving away from extreme poverty, at least if you were in your home country you would have a "safety net".

Hungarian is one of the hardest languages in the world, you won't be able to learn enough in 90 days to have a job that requires you to speak it.

What are you going to do when you get to London? If I was the customs agent I wouldn't even let you in with your financial situation.

Agreed that I was being very irresponsible/impulsive in this. It's a long story but I have my reasons I could explain. I wouldn't say it justifies it completely though. But it's not a decision I made without thinking over and over about.

I didn't even realise I had to have an exit until they told me that at the airport.

If I can survive a month, my friend would be able to loan me money then. Worst comes to worst I can hit up my sister/relatives who can afford to loan me money, while realising there is a lot of drama involved. Or ask the embassy for help if no one at all would loan me anything.

[Tinder Scientist]

(04-03-2019 11:01 PM)The Catalyst Wrote:  

(04-03-2019 10:51 PM)Tinder Scientist Wrote:  

Going to a country where you don't even speak the language/have a job/have a visa with less than $500 in savings seems like a horrible idea.

You are one misgiving away from extreme poverty, at least if you were in your home country you would have a "safety net".

Hungarian is one of the hardest languages in the world, you won't be able to learn enough in 90 days to have a job that requires you to speak it.

What are you going to do when you get to London? If I was the customs agent I wouldn't even let you in with your financial situation.

Agreed that I was being very irresponsible/impulsive in this. It's a long story but I have my reasons I could explain. I wouldn't say it justifies it completely though. But it's not a decision I made without thinking over and over about.

I didn't even realise I had to have an exit until they told me that at the airport.

If I can survive a month, my friend would be able to loan me money then. Worst comes to worst I can hit up my sister/relatives who can afford to loan me money, while realising there is a lot of drama involved. Or ask the embassy for help if no one at all would loan me anything.

And how are you going to pay those people back?
Getting an employer to sponsor your visa is unlikely since you don't speak the language and I'm assuming you don't have a college degree/a specialized skill.

I would forget about London entirely since that would be financial suicide with your funds (And not sure how UK/NZ visa works but I assume they will ask for proof that you can sustain yourself). They might even deny you entry at the airport and force you to book a ticket back.

If I were you I would fly back immediately to where your "safety net" is.

That means in order of importance:

-Somewhere where you can stay for free/low cost.
-Somewhere where you can reliably get a job.

I doubt any forum member is going to help you money wise since by your own admission you don't have a guaranteed way to pay back (you are hoping more people loan you money).

Sorry if I come across as aggressive but you are really not at the point where you can be acting like this.
If possible I would suggest for you to move back with your relatives if they let you and find a job. You are extremely low on funds to even relocate to another place, let alone live there. I'm assuming you are living in a hostel and you have your savings with you, if anyone steals your money or you lose it somehow you are fucked.

Please just go back to where you can get a job and get your life in order before you end up in a bad situation.

[jselysianeagle]

Listen to Tinder Scientist, OP. Your current situation is more dire than you realize. You sound young and inexperienced. $600 in savings is barely enough to move apartments in your own city, let alone up and move to a whole other country where you don't speak the language or know any locals.

Good luck to ya, though. You're goin to need it...

[RatInTheWoods]

Top priority is income.

Ask at all the bars and restaurants if you can help out for cash, you don't need Hungarian to wash dishes or collect glasses.

Maybe game a rich woman to secure food and accomodation?

I guess you can always get mummy to send you cash for flight home, if it comes to that.

[Barron]

Find out whatever site they use for craigslist in Hungary. Start reading up on how to give the most effective 1 hour English conversational lessons and offer your services in Budapest (I used to charge $20 an hour in Ukraine).

You are a native speaker of English in a country whose citizens will need it to continue developing into a first world power. Use this to your advantage or look into become a full-time teacher at a English school in Budapest for the short term, some schools even provide lodging for teachers.

[Bienvenuto]

Join Inter nations in Budapest and meet with other English speaking expats.

Face to face is crucial.

Go to every Irish British English pub looking for work and underlining your willingness to graft and fit in. Yes you have experience. Are happy to glass collect etc. Get a video tutorial on how to pour a pint on draft before you go.

Hang out there anyway - lots of English speaking jobs going I bet including .. hostels, they're always recruiting.

Guarantee you there are English speakers with no Hungarian surviving and thriving there.

Become a super socialisation bunny. The more people you know and the more that like you the more unseen people are going to be trying to help you whilst you're out there busting your gut.

English teaching, go to the schools and enquire, find out what qualifications they need before you let on what you have/ don't have. Play for time on that one.

RELAX. If you have made every effort and met 20 people belly to belly every day then make space, make time, get some rest, get some chill out time. Look after yourself and give yourself some credit for making the best of it.

[Obermarschall]

As others said, give private English classes. Charge 20€ that's an OK price.
Try to get some things done on pages like freelancer or so, might not get rich, but it will help for some time.

[No More Mr. Soy Boy]

Use this cleaner app: http://www.rendi.hu

Wouldn't that make an epic story if you ever become rich and famous and they found that you started out cleaning places?

Check the FAQ and learn about it. Then start off being cheaper than anyone else and collect good reviews and then you should be able to charge more and work you way up.

[zatara]

You have far too little money to be winging it like this. NZD$600 is only 350euro! To survive 90 days, even on a shoestring budget, you would need closer to 2000eur - NZD$3300+. Why didn't you save more before moving?

Your best immediate bet is going to be asking around every single hostel you can find to see if you can work in any of them, and live for free, there. Lots of hostels offer this if they need staff. It'll be a miserable lifestyle staying permanently in a dorm room, and you'll still struggle to eat, but at least you won't be homeless. They also usually aren't too fussy about work visas.

You'll need to then get a second English speaking job, ideally somewhere like a bar, that will pay real wages. Minimum wage is only 3euro an hour roughly in Hungary though, so even if you get bar work it will just barely cover food. And thats assuming you can get an under the table job, since you're an illegal immigrant.

Its very unlikely you'll get a proper job with no Hungarian. And even if you do, salaries are very low in Hungary comparatively - its not a good place to move to work locally.

Do you have friends or family in London you can stay with/who'll give you food at least? Because honestly its pretty unlikely you'll last more than 30 days in Budapest given your financial situation. And do you have a flight back to NZ booked? Because they mightn't let you into the UK without one.

[The Catalyst]

(04-04-2019 06:38 AM)zatara Wrote:  

You have far too little money to be winging it like this. NZD$600 is only 350euro! To survive 90 days, even on a shoestring budget, you would need closer to 2000eur - NZD$3300+. Why didn't you save more before moving?

Your best immediate bet is going to be asking around every single hostel you can find to see if you can work in any of them, and live for free, there. Lots of hostels offer this if they need staff. It'll be a miserable lifestyle staying permanently in a dorm room, and you'll still struggle to eat, but at least you won't be homeless. They also usually aren't too fussy about work visas.

That is honestly my plan. Am in a dorm now. It's better living than back home, by a long shot. I am earning money too slowly in NZ to amass savings and I was miserable living with parents.

If I cannot secure a visa by the end of 90 days I'll get family to loan me to come back or contact my embassy. If I have a shot at another non Hungary non NZ country I'll really want to give it a go, I despise living in NZ

[zatara]

Your embassy won't pay for flights for you home. The NZ foreign affairs government website itself states it pretty clearly:

Quote:

What NZ Embassies can't help with

Consular and embassy staff can't:

pay bills for hotels, travel, legal or medical expenses or the costs of returning a body to NZ

Will your family definitely pay for a last minute flight back to NZ for you? You'll be looking at NZD$1500 for that if you book it two weeks in advance, more if its even shorter notice.

I'm sorry I'm not trying to be negative here but you really need to get some better plans in place or you're going to end up in real trouble here. Your posts don't give the impression that you've done much research, or given much forethought, to this.

[Leonard D Neubache]

Good luck to you, and I don't mean that in the sense that I think you've made a wise decision, just that the die are cast and however long the odds are I hope you can squeeze a win out of this.

FWIW.

[RiskIt4Biscuit]

Hungary is not a rich country nor a country rich with job opportunities last i heard. Probably better off in a different country but you cant afford any travel tickets so...
Worst come to worst, if you can`t find a job within a week or so, put on your best clothes and lower your standards to find a woman you can move in with. Free lodging and food too if you play it right. Make up a bunch of lies as to why you are broke. Meanwhile hustle hard to find income.
Hippie begpackers manage to survive travelling the world on tiny budgets so you should be able to survive this and come out stronger in the end.

I dont know why you couldnt bunk over at a friends crib back home in NZ while working two jobs there. Would be better but at least now you are forced to test yourself in ways you probably never would back home. Now is the time to see what you are made of.

[ocean]

I’m in Budapest now and have been for years. There’s loads of international companies based here that are always looking for English speaking staff for their support / contact centres.

Join the Hungary expats Facebook group - called Hungary Expats :-) and post in there.

Failing that, go to the expat bars and ask for work.

[JWLZG]

Please tell me that this is a belated massive April Fool's joke.

[CleanSlate]

OP, do you have a credit card? Could you use it to book a flight back home?

The suggestions by others to get freelance work, help restaurants in the kitchen and with cleaning, etc. are fine, but you have too little money to get yourself situated.

I hate to sound like a dick here, but this is a good case study as to why you need at least 1-2 years of living expenses (in your target country) in the bank before you book a one-way ticket to somewhere. Or at the barest minimum, just enough to cover your flight back home.

[The Catalyst]

Quick update. I'm blessed enough my aunty would be supporting me until I find work. I have a lot to do so I won't be posting here as much

[No More Mr. Soy Boy]

[Elmore]

Sorry OP but this is some dumb shit. No restauarant or bar is going to give work to a foreigner, even pot washing. They have an abundance of poor workers there for that. The only work you might be able to rustle up is selling open-top bus tickets to foreigners, or any kind of hustle regarding stags and the like. You might be able to get some work teaching english via one of the shadier companies, but with no experience or qualifications, i wouldnt hold out much hope. Let us know how you're doing and good luck, sounds like you may need it.

[Polniy_Sostav]

It will be difficult to find a job without connection. Especially that you speak only English (I guess) ,which nowadays is almost equivalent to zero as any sort of basic job can be handled by a few billions people who speak English. In addition to the language barrier and even though I love Hungary there is also a cultural difference between them and the rest of eastern europe. All this is not easy to handle even if you start having a good job.

I admire your determination and wish you luck but if you find NZ Dysfunctional and Budapest airport not great I don't think you are made to travel the world (Most of countries in the world are third -world and much more disorganised than Budapest)

A move to a more rural place ( i guess?) in NZ or Australia would have been more appropriate perhaps ? Not a poosey paradise but a place where you can be far from any sort of degeneracy

[JWLZG]

(04-04-2019 02:11 AM)jselysianeagle Wrote:  

Listen to Tinder Scientist, OP. Your current situation is more dire than you realize. You sound young and inexperienced. $600 in savings is barely enough to move apartments in your own city, let alone up and move to a whole other country where you don't speak the language or know any locals.

Good luck to ya, though. You're goin to need it...

He's 23. Not that that's any excuse; I've met people at that age who've done some fucking incredible things. But I'd grilled him in his other thread as to whether he'd had significant life experience, be it a uni degree, a job held for any length of time, etc etc. Fulfilling social circles, etc. He seems to have dodged the question. I mean staying afloat in a country where English is thin on the ground — to say nothing of holding a job in a foreign country where you have a dubious history of getting out in the big wide world — kinda requires the social nous for networking and palm-greasing, so....

I do have ideas in mind that he could get on to, but by this stage, he'll have to PM me with his hat in hand, practically ready to thank me on bended knee.

(04-04-2019 08:06 AM)zatara Wrote:  

Your embassy won't pay for flights for you home. The NZ foreign affairs government website itself states it pretty clearly:

Quote:

What NZ Embassies can't help with

Consular and embassy staff can't:

pay bills for hotels, travel, legal or medical expenses or the costs of returning a body to NZ

Will your family definitely pay for a last minute flight back to NZ for you? You'll be looking at NZD$1500 for that if you book it two weeks in advance, more if its even shorter notice.

I'm sorry I'm not trying to be negative here but you really need to get some better plans in place or you're going to end up in real trouble here. Your posts don't give the impression that you've done much research, or given much forethought, to this.

Confirming this from first hand experience years ago, at least for the Australian side of things. My trip to the embassy was mainly regarding a damaged passport, and thankfully, I was much closer to home, but the most they could provide in that regard was a complimentary phone call home to speak to family. In your situation, and even further from NZ, I can't blame the embassy staff if they were to laugh at you.

(04-03-2019 11:11 PM)Tinder Scientist Wrote:  

I would forget about London entirely since that would be financial suicide with your funds (And not sure how UK/NZ visa works but I assume they will ask for proof that you can sustain yourself). They might even deny you entry at the airport and force you to book a ticket back.

NZ$600 is not even enough to scratch your arse with in Amsterdam, let alone London. And yes, getting a working holiday visa (let alone a Blue Card — which I'll assume the OP won't qualify for as he hasn't answered whether he's got a degree) in most Schengen countries/the UK will require you to have enough funds in the bank for a return flight — something to the tune of €2.000. I know: I've looked at both and was in the process for one myself last year (successfully).

In addition to that, airport/border immigration officers will invariably ask to see proof of a return flight, health insurance, and/or sufficient funds in the bank.
Don't think that the ones in the UK will quarter as a Kiwi passport holder. Being a Commonwealth citizen means jack shit as far as (im)migration rights in the UK are concerned. Once again, I'm speaking from experience, not pulling ideas out of my arse, which is something that you should've tried not doing before your hasty fleeing of your hated NZ*.



Personally, if it was up to me, I'd require that applicants for an EU work visa have not just the required funds for a return flight, but additionally sufficient savings to live off for 3 months, to prepare for shit-gets-real scenarios if it takes longer than expected to find work.

(04-03-2019 10:38 PM)The Catalyst Wrote:  

People seem relatively happy, fulfilled, and well-adjusted with no obesity or other SJW or other degeneracy. Very comforting/relaxing. In NZ there are a lot of people who seem almost psychotic(significant minority- but also everyone else who treats it as normal), which to me was horrifying and depressing.
[...]
Overestimated how white it would be. From my POV Budapest seems like a multicultural city. I thought Hungary was white nationalist. If so, white nationalism seems dead in the water/a pipe dream. So many non whites(I notice other Asians- less than NZ but still a significant amount to me) and they don't seem super integrated culturally. Might just be a foreign part of town though with the hostels and all. As a non-white this might be better for me but I do think in the abstract there are a lot of benefits to WN so it's sort of sad as well.

If this was your prime concern despite how far up shit creek without a paddle you are, you seriously need to get your gonads adjusted. Which begs the question of why did you choose Hungary to begin with. Because it belay some fantasies of yours of being a bastion of white nationalism? Because you were hoping to work your way to becoming Viktor Orbán's right hand man? Were you hoping to re-enact a latter-day version of the Beer Hall Putsch in a bid to save European White Christian Civilisation™?

Dude, you weren't even able to plan this step rationally; what makes you think you could rise to the task of playing Captain Save-a-Ho for "White Christian Civilisation™"? Unless this is a massive troll job, or you were trying to prove hard that right-wingers were that maladjusted, this entire odyssey of yours is the act of an extremely immature and inexperienced internet radical.
Your recent posting history gives the lie to your complete unpreparedness for your impulse flight of yours. The fact that at the eleventh hour, you took the effort to hijack and sidetrack Roosh's thread about his sister to take a completely unrelated swipe against "liberals", shows how messed up your priorities are, not to mention, ironically (so much for evil liberals), an absolute lack of respect on your part.

That the last paragraph of your rambling OP contained that much bother to rag on NZ — for the goddamn umpteenth time in your posting history — is an indicator enough that you need to fucking grow up.

Realise that any differences in political beliefs is absolutely immaterial to the tone I'm taking with you. In spite of your utter hatred of "liberals", I literally do not take one's political affiliations into account when castigating them over poorly thought-out life decisions that potentially hinged upon their political passions.

Anyway, I'm not sure about loaning money — the way you're wording it in your OP is unfortunately really not that confidently written — but if you do manage to hitchhike to Berlin, I'll be able to offer you a sofa to crash on for a few days, a beer, some groceries, a change of clothes, and potentially a job offer. I might have to give you a verbal arse kicking to boot, but nothing that you don't deserve. You'd need to get your shit together, and quick smart, wrt preparing your documents for a visa.