Moving to Hungary just before the crisis

Hi everybody,

Taking the plunge and daring to move abroad is a real challenge, but when your move to Hungary is marked by an unprecedented health, social and economic crisis, as we have been experiencing for just over a year, this change can be much more significant and demanding. If you moved to Hungary shortly before or during the pandemic, we would like to know more about your experience.

When and under what circumstances did you move to Hungary?

What impact did the restrictions have on your integration into the country?

Were you able to make new friends in your host country and get used to the new culture and environment?

Have you had the opportunity to discover the country or the region where you are staying despite that?

Do you feel "at home" in this new place?

Thanks for your contribution!

Diksha,
Expat.com team

Perhaps it is good to create some new topics on the Hungary forum, I have to say however if looking at expat.com as a whole the forum is not doing bad at all. I do look at other (country) forums (Alanya in Turkey, Batumi in Georgia) and by comparision they are of far less quality).
As for me in Hungary just early retirement (cheap (relative), friendly people, good culture, ....) Many reasons.

I do appreciate efforts to make expat.com more attractive, but I really think for Hungary no incentives are needed (many (perhaps not so many but very active) good contributors. Generic items are (in any case by me) not so much appreciated, the Hungary forum is doing well.
Best to focus your attention on other countries (sub-locations) where there is a big need for active contributors.

I hope you will get your bonus, but for me expat should do better rather then pushing topics which (implicitly or explicitly are already covered).
Sorry for the harsh remarks, but these posts sound far too generic for me.

cdw057 wrote:

Perhaps it is good to create some new topics on the Hungary forum, I have to say however if looking at expat.com as a whole the forum is not doing bad at all. I do look at other (country) forums (Alanya in Turkey, Batumi in Georgia) and by comparision they are of far less quality).
As for me in Hungary just early retirement (cheap (relative), friendly people, good culture, ....) Many reasons.

I do appreciate efforts to make expat.com more attractive, but I really think for Hungary no incentives are needed (many (perhaps not so many but very active) good contributors. Generic items are (in any case by me) not so much appreciated, the Hungary forum is doing well.
Best to focus your attention on other countries (sub-locations) where there is a big need for active contributors.


A valid comment, I have informed the Admin team.

Hi cdw057,

Trust that you are fine.

I would like to thank you for your comment above and thank you for your suggestions too.

Well, since a few years we have concentrated all our efforts to activate global forums. However, we are also planning to activate sub locations too but first we need to set up that new activation project.

Note that we have taken note of your suggestion. However, for the time being, we shall continue to launch important topics on global forums but soon, it will evolve.  :idontagree:

Thanks,

Priscilla
Expat.com Team

cdw057 wrote:

Perhaps it is good to create some new topics on the Hungary forum, I have to say however if looking at expat.com as a whole the forum is not doing bad at all. I do look at other (country) forums (Alanya in Turkey, Batumi in Georgia) and by comparision they are of far less quality).
As for me in Hungary just early retirement (cheap (relative), friendly people, good culture, ....) Many reasons.

I do appreciate efforts to make expat.com more attractive, but I really think for Hungary no incentives are needed (many (perhaps not so many but very active) good contributors. Generic items are (in any case by me) not so much appreciated, the Hungary forum is doing well.
Best to focus your attention on other countries (sub-locations) where there is a big need for active contributors.


There are quite a lot of people in the Hungary forum but perhaps less than 10 who are the regular posters who do all the "heavy lifting" as contributors.   I expect the same occurs in other "busy" country forums - I suppose all the "big" countries are busy - US, Germany, Japan, Australia, Korea, India etc.

I've been in some of the other forums for other countries and they have no significant contributors.  I'd feel a bit of a fraud hanging out in say, the Djibouti forum when I have nothing to do with the place and moreover, only marginal curiosity about it.

Hardly surprising really some forums are less frequented - we couldn't expect say, Cape Verde or Andorra or Saint Helena, to be totally overwhelmed with contributors.  Shame as I'm really curious about Saint Helena (tried to go there but couldn't do it as the airport was closed).

Definitely would be good to get more diversity into Hungary at least.

More than 5 active is already a big achievement from what I have seen, The expat,com for Hungary if to compare to eg British expat or the Dutch Hungary forum is so much better. Yes i do look at these other Hungary forums from time to time, but this forum is the best (compared to others).

Of course there are other means of communication but plain old forums suit me well.

Priscilla wrote:

Hi cdw057,

Trust that you are fine.

I would like to thank you for your comment above and thank you for your suggestions too.

Well, since a few years we have concentrated all our efforts to activate global forums. However, we are also planning to activate sub locations too but first we need to set up that new activation project.

Note that we have taken note of your suggestion. However, for the time being, we shall continue to launch important topics on global forums but soon, it will evolve.  :idontagree:

Thanks,

Priscilla
Expat.com Team


Thanks Priscilla, we do appreciate all you do for us here.

I was coming here from long before the crisis so I can only really reflect on the current impact on my lifestyle.
I think very few places have freedom of movement right now and unless you have very good reason or a registration you cannot enter Hungary.
However some places are worth waiting for and I do believe people are allowed to visit for commercial reasons and to look for property or to maintain their own homes.

Hi Diksha,

I first came over here in October 2019 for a week's holiday and bought a house but before I bought it I made sure I would be able to get a residents permit which took about one and I think it was around 10,000 or 12,000 forint which was a lot easier than I expected.

I moved to Hungary on the 2nd February last year and I have been working on my house ever since to modernize it and to convert the attic into bedrooms.

I think I have settled in quite well with the help on some v good Hungarian friends, some of which speak quite good English and I am slowly learning Hungary little by little one word at a time.

As for the effects of the pandemic, it hasn't been a real problem we can still go shopping but you must wear masks😷 when in public but I'm still trying to find out if I will be able to get the vaccination over here and one of my friends says that because I am disabled I might be able to get healthcare for free.

Regards

Steve