A turning point

It's nearly a year since I last updated this blog. I'll try to do better in future!

After helping my father settle into his new home in a retirement village in September 2018, which included cleaning out a freezer from his old house ("Dad, are you absolutely positive you want to keep these frozen fish fillets you've had since the late 1970s?"), I returned to the Northern Hemisphere, which is where I now feel most at home.

I spent four days in Honolulu to break up the long flight. I was last there in 1996, for my first marathon. Apart from visiting Doris Duke's amazing house, ShangriLa, I mostly walked around the city and took photos.

From Hawaii I flew to Vancouver, to see Sarah and her dog Teddy in Deep Cove. My visit coincided with Bard on the Beach's season of "As You Like It", which was terrific. Sarah's brother Chris started BB some decades ago and it's showing no sign of flagging.

After a flight across the country to Toronto, I nearly missed my connecting flight to Newark after having a ding-dong argument with a US immigration officer with a power complex. Welcome to the United States ... NOT.

I only had six weeks back in my regular place on the Upper West Side this visit. It was the usual fabulous mix of work, morning runs in Central Park with friends, lots of films, photo walks, exhibitions (especially Anne Lindberg's "The Eye's Level" at the Museum of Art and Design), a Broadway show ("To Kill a Mockingbird", with Jeff Daniels), the Blessing of the Animals ceremony at St John the Divine Cathedral, Halloween.... There's always lots to see and do in New York, and after spending months there every year since 2009 I now know a lot of people. I didn't get off Manhattan very much during this short visit.

A couple of days in Dublin broke up the flight back to Europe, which is nowhere near as onerous as flights from Europe to Asia or Oz. I headed straight for the Irish Film Centre. Very disappointed that Foam Cafe has closed. It had the BEST seafood chowder. Bummer.

I was very happy to return to Budapest, which coincided with Julie and David also being there. Winter was starting, but I got straight back into a running routine with Rio, and caught up regularly with Sharon, Alexandra, Kate (on a visit from Japan) and other friends. I'd moved my stored stuff to Alex's place in the summer, but decided that after the next bout of travelling I would rent a place again in Budapest and create a real home base.

Following a few days in Debrecen (in Hungary), I spent a week in Kosice and Bratislava (Slovakia) before flying to Amsterdam to have Christmas with one of my oldest friends, Chris, and his family and to have a couple of runs with Maria, who was visiting from New York.

I'd decided not to spend the coldest winter months in Budapest, because the icy conditions underfoot are hazardous for me, so I flew south to Greece, where, not long after I unpacked and set up temporary home in Athens, it snowed.

An old friend from our Hong Kong years (Sue) took me in hand during my long stay in Greece.

Apart from a month back in Budapest in April, I spent about five weeks in the islands (Cyclades – Naxos, Paros, Syros, Mykonos – and Hydra, where I had a great couple of days of walking and talking with an Irish journalist I met in a restaurant) and three months in central Athens. I really like Athens. It's a great destination for a five-day jaunt from anywhere in Europe: easy and fabulous to walk around, with lots to see (street art, street life, relics of the past, museums, great food, reasonable prices). I'll be back. Nice people, too, especially Roula and Joanna. I ran/walked a half marathon on very little training, apart from a couple of runs with the Athens Hash House Harriers and a few jogs on my own.

While in Athens I met my goal of finishing the first complete draft of my memoir. Yay, me!

The islands were interesting during the winter off-season. They're not places I feel any desire to return to, except for Syros and its capital Ermoupoli, which is a real, working city year-round and not a tourist town and has an annual film festival.

Spring was definitely in the air in Budapest during my return visit for April. I'd been having withdrawal symptoms and needed a good dose of it before my time in Greece was up and it was time to return to New York. Miki and I went for a hike up near the Slovakian border and on another day walked around Lake Tata (with Joki the Yorkie), which I want to return to and run around with Rio. Friends Alan and Sue were in town, and Alan and I re-created a photo taken of us when we were maybe five years old.

May was spent back in Athens and Ermoupoli, before I switched suitcases back in Budapest, saw a perfect apartment to rent, signed the lease, handed over a wad of cash, then flew to London to see Michael and Eddie before returning to New York for June and July.

Maria and I went down to Annapolis, in Maryland, to spend time with friends Heather and Joe and to rendezvous with Sue and Bob, whom we met a few years ago at a marathon in New Jersey and last saw in Budapest in 2017. We ran a 10K race, but I was very slow. I also spent four days in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for a Dead Runners Society get-together. That was a blast from the past, with friends made during my first DRS conference in 2009 and since then.

I didn't run much while in New York, for the first time ever. But I walked hundreds and hundreds of miles, and in the other boroughs, too, not just Manhattan. Street photography is such a passion for me now... I saw many films and exhibitions as well. I love spending time in New York. It's one of my homes, with friends, routines, favourite places, favourite foods. But a couple of months is enough. After that, I start to get twitchy.

Just before midnight on 3 August, I arrived back in Budapest with an extra suitcase containing books from the stash I've been keeping in New York (including all my printed Facebooks going back to 2007) and the keys to the new apartment where I've now started the next stage of my life.

Spring cleaning

I'm in Rotorua for two weeks to see my father and to make sure he's happy enough in his new living environment. I couldn't come to New Zealand from Budapest (via the film festival in Sarajevo) without also visiting my family and friends in Australia, but it was definitely not my plan A. I'd been down this way for three months not long ago. But plan B reverts to plan A when I reach New York in a couple of weeks. Yay!

My life has continued to be hugely busy. After two months in Kuching (February and March), I spent six weeks in Hong Kong, staying back at the Helena May where my freelance life started 32 years ago. Around the demands of my workload, I ran with Paul, saw quite a bit of Polly and other friends, caught up on lots of films, and took about a thousand photographs. Photography is my new passion.

Back in Budapest from late May, after a week or so in Belgium and the Netherlands, I moved into Julie and David's apartment while they are away. I love my routines in Budapest, especially running with Rio, seeing friends for meals and films, and walking all over the city. I took a two-week trip to the UK (Devon, Cornwall, London and Hayling Island), which was so warm and sunny I thought I'd taken a plane to the wrong country. I ran a half marathon in Torquay. Great to see friends Polly (who was visiting), Linda, Peter and Amanda (who came up from Cheltenham so that we could spend the day at Kew Gardens), Michael and Eddie, and Wendy.

In late July, I went to Switzerland for a trail half marathon from Klosters to Davos. It was also a rendezvous with Maggy from Iceland, Susan from Amsterdam (she and I also ran a half in May in the Netherlands), and Julie, Gill and Chris from the UK. Davos was chocka with ultra-orthodox Jewish families.

I entered some photographs in an international competition a few months ago and was encouraged by the feedback: my strongest photographs have a narrative or pose a question of some kind. I've set up a Facebook page specifically for my photography. A visual complement to this blog, it's called "Robyn Flemming Photography: My Own Two Eyes". I also now post some of my photographs to a website for sale, and Getty Images has selected four of them for its library.

I'm making some progress on my book. I imagine a year or more of steady work is still needed to cut and shape it so that it's ready to show those who know about these things.

February 2018 … I'm in Kuching, and all's well

I haven't had time to update this blog since I was in Copenhagen! I'm based in Budapest but have spent time in Reykjavik, New York, London, Berlin, Florence, Bologna, Rome, Malta, New York again, Warsaw, Paris, rural southwest France, Bordeaux, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Lisbon, Sarajevo, Istanbul, Chennai, Kuala Lumpur, Rotorua, and Oz (Albury, Melbourne, Sydney, Gosford, Ballina, Byron Bay, Brisbane). I'm now back in Kuching for two months.

Please friend me on Facebook for regular updates.

Autumn near the Arctic

Apologies to the two or three people I know who are not on Facebook and look to this blog for updates on my travels. The last six months just got away from me...

For most of the year I've been very happily ensconced in Budapest, for the past two months in an apartment that I'm leasing and not just occupying. There is a profound difference. Budapest is now my home base. I'm still travelling, but Budapest is now my starting point and point of return.

Since Miki's and my holiday in Portugal in the spring, I've been to Italy, Austria and Spain, and am now in Copenhagen en route to New York via Iceland.

I had a fabulous time in May travelling by train around northern Italy on my own before spending a few days with Giorgio and Amy near Turin. It's a beautiful country. I spent time in Udine, Trieste, Padua, Venice, Verona, Bologne, Florence ... then Innsbruck and Salzburg. I loved making up my itinerary as I went along.

In the summer I spent eight days in Barcelona, coinciding with a visit for a few days by friends from Budapest, Jules and David. There is still more I want to see in that part of the world.

The year has brought new friendships in Budapest and deepening friendships with people I've now known there for two or three years. I love the city and my life there.

Apologies again for the bare-bones nature of this blog. Facebook is my daily visual diary and I just don't have enough time to do much with this blog along with my other creative efforts and work.

Playing in Portugal

Somehow, a planned week's holiday in Portugal with Miki turned into just that: a holiday! No work appeared in my in-tray from the day our holiday started until the day I returned.

What a fabulous destination! We hired a car, so we had the flexibility to see the highlights between Lisbon and Porto, just inland from the Atlantic coast (including the westernmost point of Europe). We covered quite a small area in total, but Portugal gives you lots of bang for your buck and you don't have to drive very far between places worth seeing.

Miki negotiating a tight turn on the Obidos city wall

Nazare beachfront from the cable car

I immediately liked Lisbon. Sintra and its palace were pretty, but we suspect we didn't see as much of the place as we should have. We both loved the walled city of Obidos, where we walked the wall just before the rain started at around breakfast time.

In Nazare we took the cable car up the cliff-face to an upper town for great views of the town and beach (which looked very like an Australian beach).
















In Alcobaca and Batalha we saw some incredible monasteries, the latter one being my favourite for its very stark, unadorned, soaring interior.

We didn't have any sightings of angels or virgins in Fatima, where we lit some candles for family and friends. Just outside of the town the next morning we visited some caves that are 100 (or 200?) million years old.

Mid-journey we spent a day in Coimbra chilling and shopping. I had my best dinner of the trip at an Italian place on the river: seafood risotto. We had been sampling Portuguese tarts every day, but from here on we wouldn't find ones to beat the ones we had in Obidos, Alcobaca and Coimbra.

Coimbra, looking up to the university buildings

We spent two nights in Porto, which we both liked. I loved the steep-sided river and mass of bridges, one of which I ran across. Cable cars and funiculars are popular in Portugal, and we jumped on every one we saw.

We decided to take the train back to Lisbon instead of flying, which was much the better choice. I decided not to do the Lisbon half marathon that I was entered for. I wasn't trained, the arrangements for the 35,000 runners to get to the start were complicated, and thunderstorms were predicted. But basically, I was just a wuss.

Porto 

I lucked out with a Jewish film festival at a great little cinema not far from our hotel, where I saw five films over the two days we spent back in Lisbon.

Miki was a great travelling companion: even-tempered, flexible and funny.

Our flight back to Budapest was delayed for three hours because of a strike by French air traffic controllers, but the flight itself (via North Africa to avoid France) was smooth. I was very aware that I felt I was coming home when we landed at 4 am.

Mucking about in Marrakech

The last time I was in Morocco, I broke my right (dominant) arm two hours after I'd flown into Marrakech. That was just over two years ago. This time, I've had more luck. The only damage (so far) has been to my wallet. I came to see friends from Australia who are here for the Biennale – Jules and Yvonne, Rita and Anne – but have also caught up briefly with my cousin Kylie (last seen in Amsterdam in early 2015), photographer friend Alia (New York last summer), online runner contact Ahmed (first meeting), and Abdou, who works with Rita and got me to Casablanca, and then on to my flight to Malaysia, after my arm operation in January 2014.

It's a spectacular time of year to see Marrakech: perfect temperatures and deep-blue, cloudless skies. I'm not able to take Rita's tour with the others into the mountains. Work eased up for just enough time to enable me to be a tourist for a week in Marrakech during the Biennale art fair, but not a traveller for another fortnight in Morocco. Miki and I are heading off on a jaunt in a couple of weeks and I need to finish up some jobs before we go.

After seeing a physiotherapist in Budapest I've decided to keep running so long as my back isn't hurting. I missed the morning chats and laughs with Rio too much. I've had random runs with Barb and Maria, and new training friend Kate, but I'll hope to get back into a routine soon. Just to keep me on task I've entered some events in the US later in the year.

Last month I decided on the spur of the moment to take the train to Pecs, in Hungary, for a couple of nights. I loved it, and ended up staying for four days. I also spent a few days in Vienna, where I got my bearings for the first time. I've also topped and tailed this visit to Marrakech with overnight stays there, in the Museum Quarter.

A new friend in Budapest is Andras. We met at a screening of the Woody Allen film Manhattan, and film has become our thing. He works in the business as an extra. It's early days in the new year, but things are looking good so far.

A little less rootless

Last year seemed like a very long one. I’ve been on the move a bit less than in recent years, but the start of 2015 feels like 24 months ago, not 12.         

A very quick recap: After seeing in the new year in Budapest, I made quick visits with cousin Kylie (visiting from Oz) to Berlin (where I had dinner with artist friend Norbert and Marisa from Malta) and to Amsterdam (saw Susan from New York, and NZ cousin Sarah and Simon) before I flew back to Asia. In Kuching I spent time with Emily, Min and Sam, Ivy and Swee, and other friends made in recent years, and had my annual health checkup. There was nothing wrong with me that wasn’t already wrong with me. I learned while I was there (staying at the Batik Boutique Hotel, as usual) that my application for a Hungarian residency permit had been approved for five years. 

This has changed everything!         

I spent February, including Chinese New Year, in Hong Kong, which was busy and fun and felt like home again. It offered up some new people (among them Joanne, Andy, and Sylvia). Spent time with Polly, Linda (who was on a visit from the UK), Carol, and Cathy and David. Hiked and ran with Cathy and Jocelyn. I gave a talk at Women in Publishing, which I helped start 25 years ago. A quick visit to Zhuhai to spend a couple of days with old Oz bestie, Chris M, and Xiao, who returned the visit to Hong Kong.         

Back to Budapest for three months, March through to late May, to start taking up my residency. Ran the Vivicitta Budapest Half Marathon. Spent a lot of time seeing cultural events with Miki, Julie and David. Through the Budapest Zombie Runners group I met two special guys, Riyadh and Tiago. I took holidays in Slovenia (where I met the Two Joans in Ljubljana) and with JB in Croatia (Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik, where I ran a race along the old town walls, plus a hard, hot and hilly half marathon, and met Aussie runners Louise and Sandra). Visitors to Budapest were my near-oldest friends Barb and Bill, and Di. Other new Budapest faces were runners Andrea and Robert, Agi, and Nozzies Karin and Virginia.         

I spent June and July in New York, back in the apartment beside Central Park where my books are on the shelves and my runner friends are at Engineers’ Gate most mornings at 5.30. I wrote nearly 300 pages of a first draft of my book, ran races and saw lots of films. I had a week-long break in Toronto (to see former Hong Kongers Sarah and Will, and Frances) and Montreal (where I caught up with visiting Dead Runners Laura and Rob). Chiu Yin organised a writing workshop with the writer Amy Hempel at Tuxedo Park, where I met Sheila and Joni. Dominic was in town from Tokyo.         

Back to Budapest for August and September. Through running I met Kristy, Barb and Maria. Many fun morning runs with Riyadh. Saw lots of Hungarian and other foreign films at local arthouse cinemas. Miki became a close friend. He and I visited Istanbul for four days. I called in to see Kadir, manager at the AgoraLife hotel in Sultanahmet, where I stayed for a month in 2011. Chris H came for a visit from France. Visitors from Oz: Susy, and Kevin and Simone. Ran my third Wizz Budapest Half Marathon. I started working on my book again from scratch with Judit, a writing coach in Budapest.         

To New York to do final training for an October marathon (my fifth) in Pennsylvania (Steamtown) with Maria. My time wasn’t my best, but it was good enough to qualify me for Boston in 2017. New pal Sue also qualified in her first marathon. I completed the other races I need to do to get entry to 2016 New York City marathon. My 63rd birthday. I continued to work with Judit on my book. Another writing workshop at Tuxedo Park with writer Laura Shayne Cunningham, Chiu Yin, Sheila and Joni. Spent time with Liliane from Lausanne (we met in 2011), Vince from Hong Kong, Fran (we met in Kuching in 2014) and caught up with visitors from Oz: Lynne and Greg, Robert and Merelin, and Bridget.         

In early November, I returned to Budapest. Ran the Way of Knowledge Half Marathon (my 38th). Worsening back pain took me to an orthopaedic specialist who took spinal X-rays and diagnosed scoliosis on top of the osteoporosis I already knew about. No more running… I’m still getting my head around what that means. In December I took a weekend break in Zagreb, during which I left my bag containing passport, cards and cash in a taxi. There was a happy ending after a very charming Croatian geologist came to my rescue.        

I’m finishing up the year with a week on the border of southern Hungary and Serbia, checking out secession-style (art nouveau) architecture while I plough through a very heavy workload.

New York: My work here is (nearly) done

A very busy six weeks back in New York. I had three main goals: to run my fifth marathon; to earn the final race credits I need for a guaranteed place in next year's New York City Marathon; and to continue making progress with my memoir.

Two weeks ago, Maria and I spent the weekend in Pennsylvania where we both finished the Steamtown Marathon. Maria had a personal best time (her third marathon), and I had a good-enough time (4:21:37) to qualify for the Boston marathon in 2017.

In last weekend's 5-mile race in Central Park I placed third in my age group (out of 37) in a reasonable time of 46:23. I hadn't run since the marathon two weeks ago, as I've been sick with a head and chest cold. I have one more race (5K) this weekend. I've done well in it the two other times I've run it.

I've continued to work by Skype with my amazing writing coach (in Budapest). Judit Kiss is reviewing and commenting on chapters of my memoir as I write them. It's coming along.

As always, I feel very at home in New York and love my life in my 'hood, the morning training with the 5:30 a.m. group, seeing films, catching up with local friends, and seeing non-NYC friends: Vince from Hong Kong, Fran (whom I met in Kuching), Liliane from Lausanne, and Bridget from Oz. This week there are other visitors in town, and Sunday is the NYC marathon. I'll be out cheering friends who are running it. Then on Monday I return to Budapest for an extended stay, during which time I want to finish my book.

At home in Budapest

BUDAPEST, August 3–26: Hot, hot, hot! Work. Writing. Gyros with Miki at Ararat • Coaching from Judit • Runs with Barb, Kristy and Maria • Runs with Rio • "Son of Saul" • Moved from Jules' and David's apartment to Oliver's (opposite synagogue) • Susy and the big storm • Susy lunch • Jules and David returned • Kevin and Simone at Mazel Tov. Chris.

ISTANBUL, August 27–31: Holiday with Miki • Hagia Sofia • Blue Mosque • Sufi dancing • Prince's Islands • menemen with simit bread • Pudding shop • Kadir at AgoraLife Sultanahmet. Chris.

Budapest bound

I've had two fabulous months in New York, training with the morning crew (including Susan visiting from Amsterdam), running races (including a Team Championship 5-mile race with the Hudson Dusters this morning) and writing the first draft of my book. I had a goal of returning to Budapest with 100 pages, but I have 280. A serious think about structure will be required once I'm done with the first draft, then the hard work of cutting and moving to produce a second draft. I had some welcome advice from writer Amy Hempel at the first get-together of a writers' group based in Tuxedo Park, organised by my friend CY.

Each time I come to New York I make a side trip to a new city. This summer I went to Toronto (to see Sarah and Will, and Frances) and then on to Montreal (where I had brunch with visiting Dead Runners Laura and Rob, last seen in 2009 in St. Louis, Missouri). Montreal didn't do much for me, but I enjoyed my second visit to Toronto.

As always in New York, I've seen some exhibitions and lots of films. I always feel very at home here, but I'm excited about returning to Budapest tomorrow.

Summer in New York City

I've been very, very busy writing my book... Finally! I have nearly 200 pages done. I had hoped to be able to use this summer to complete a first draft, and it looks doable. I feel very happy about the way it's going.

In addition to writing, I've been running with the 5.30 am group and have run four races (one on each weekend I've been back). Last week's 10K in Queens was good for a third place in my age group, but yesterday's 5-mile race to celebrate Pride Week (I was in seventh place) was my fastest-paced run in two years. I now need to start getting some long runs in the bag.

I've been seeing a lot of films and exhibitions and generally really enjoying being back in New York, and in my neighbourhood.

Manhattan Transfer

Tomorrow I'm returning to New York for two months. I'm looking forward to spending time there and getting back into running with the 5.30 a.m. group (including starting marathon training with Maria), racing in New York Road Runner races, and in other ways channelling my inner New Yorker.

Budapest is turning into a great love. I've had friends visiting, who have also been seduced by the city's charms and very affordable quality of life. I'm expecting an influx of visitors over the next few years...

Last month I took a mini-break in Ljubljana that included a 'Slovenia in a day' whirlwind excursion to Lake Bled and an amazing cave system. Earlier this month, I had eight days away in Croatia, in Zagreb (Museum of Broken Relationships), Split and Dubrovnik for a two-mile race along the top of the city walls and a hilly and hot half marathon. I was with a friend from Oz, and we travelled around by train, bus and ferry. It's an easy destination in a part of the world I'd like to explore some more.

Miki has become a very dear friend. Since Julie and David returned to the US for an extended visit,  we've spent a lot of time together visiting the thermal baths, hanging out and, lately, running together! We're planning some mini-breaks for later in the year.

This month marked the fifth anniversary of my departure from Australia on my open-ended journey.

Taking up residence in Budapest

I've been back in Budapest for five weeks, putting down roots, discovering new networks, establishing routines, meeting new people, making some new friends and setting some new goals. My longest stay previously as a visitor has been a month; this time, as a resident, I'm home for three months. It already feels different. I have no doubt that I belong here. When I first started spending time in New York, I felt that everyone in that city had squished up a bit to make room for me, as if we were all riding in the same bus. I feel that here, too. Obviously without Hungarian language I'm never going to understand a lot of what's going on around me, but I'm finding it interesting to make my way as best I can while I get myself set up with the things I need for my daily life. It's good for me. I'm having to be patient and polite and accommodating, and appreciative of the efforts that other people are making.

I feel very lucky to have met some fun and interesting people, especially through running, among them Andrea and Agi (who are Hungarian) and Riyadh (from Libya). I have a lot of running goals for this year, and I need to be training regularly if I'm to meet them. But even more than that, running with friends is one of the things I most enjoy doing.

So much of Budapest's beauty and appeal is freely available to anyone who walks its streets. But the city is multilayered, and the building frontages often conceal amazing inner spaces, ruin pubs, art zones, squares, parks, and more. The challenge is to see what's behind those facades (what's inside the square, not outside of it). Becoming a resident is my attempt to do that.

I'm staying in Jules' and David's apartment in District VII (the former Jewish ghetto area near the beautiful main synagogue) while they are visiting the US. Their friend Miki and his Yorkie, Joki, have become close friends of mine. We've taken to going to the thermal baths (Rudas and Gellert in the past few weeks) and cultural performances together.

As usual, I'm seeing as many films and exhibitions as I can squeeze in around my workload. Highlights have been the Sylvia Plachy photography exhibition at Mai Mano Haz and the 33rd Hungarian Press Photo Contest show at Robert Capa Center, and the films "Balaton Method", "For Some Inexplicable Reason" (for a second time), "Wake in Fright" (screened by an Australian Film Club), "Salt of the Earth" (about the Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgrado), and a couple of Swedish films (especially "Hotel") as part of a Scandinavian film festival.

A happy new year in Hong Kong

Pak Tai Temple

If I weren’t heading back to Budapest on Friday, I would stay on here in Hong Kong for another month or two. I think it has resurfaced as a place I’m very happy to call home for a while. If all goes well, I’ll return early next year for an extended stay. So, home for me is now Budapest, New York and Hong Kong: a very nice balance of the old world of central Europe, and the new worlds of the West and East.

View across to Kowloon from Bowen Road on a clear day

Hong Kong is still fascinating, three decades after my first visit on a business trip  from Sydney in 1985. I moved up here in 1986, and left at the end of 1993. I’ve been back to visit half a dozen times since then, but this time has offered up something quite different: not just the chance to spend time with old friends who live here (I’ve known Cathy and David since 1971, Peter since 1987, Polly since 1988) or whose visits coincided with mine (I’ve known Chris since 1973, and Linda since 1985), or with people I’ve gotten to know on more recent visits (Cathy, Carol and Christopher in 2010 and 2011). I've been fortunate this month to meet some new people who already feel like part of my cobbled-together family of friends: Joanne, Jocelyn, Andy… At the start of a new lunar year, I’m very aware of how lucky I am to have all these interesting, courageous, creative, empathetic, funny, generous and loving people in my life.

The air quality in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta is appalling. Some days it’s just a grey soup. But once or twice there has been a break in the haze and there have been glimpses of blue sky and clouds. I don’t know when was the last time there were stars visible at night.

Chinese New Year decoration at I.M. Pei's Bank of China building

Ferry to Lamma Island from Aberdeen

Reclaimed Central waterfront area

Old Hong Kong, Ching Lin Terrace, Kennedy Town

Fishing village, Cheung Chau Island

I’ve enjoyed getting away from Central and doing a walk up in the New Territories with Cathy and Jocelyn, and across the Dragon’s Back to Shek O on the other side of Hong Kong Island with Polly, Peter and Sally. Jocelyn has become my occasional running partner along Bowen Road, where over the years I’ve run countless repeats of the 4 km path that skirts the hillside and overlooks Central, Admiralty, Wanchai, Causeway Bay and Happy Valley. I have two half marathons coming up and will need to get back into a better routine in Budapest.

Last week I spent two days in Zhuhai, near Macau, visiting a very old friend who was visiting his wife. It’s a long story… The best word I can think of to describe the whole area around there is “blighted”, but it was fun to spend time being silly with Chris. We went to a small village where we were a novelty and the local people seemed all to be on happy pills.

Hong Kong actually comprises something like 260 outlying islands in addition to Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon peninsula that’s attached to mainland China. Fishing is the traditional industry on the inhabited islands, and it’s always fun to visit a fishing village for a seafood lunch. I went with Cathy and David and friends of theirs to Lamma a week or so ago, and with Joanne and Andy and other friends to Cheung Chau yesterday. I have many memories of other lunches and dinners in those villages. Hong Kong is about so much more than shopping. (But I HAVE bought a couple of pairs of shoes!)

With Rose and Xiao, my old friend Chris's sister-in-law and wife, Zhuhai District, Guangdong Province

I’ve visited a couple of new temples I wasn’t aware of when I lived here, one with Sylvia, a local history buff and head of the Hong Kong Gardening Society, and a former publishing colleague, Peter. The other one I discovered by chance after a run last week. I gave a talk at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club (FCC) to about 20 members of the Women in Publishing Society, which Polly and I started in about 1990. I’ve been to see a couple of films with Cathy (“Nightcrawler” and “St. Vincent”). (I’m timing my visit next year to coincide with the European Union and International film festivals.) I love that Cath takes lunch to the movies, complete with a little salt-and-pepper shaker and napkins. Polly and Charlie made a traditional New Zealand roast lamb dinner at Pol’s gorgeously renovated apartment to usher in the Year of the Sheep. Her fat cat Cartoon must be on his (her?) eighth life by now. Christopher invited me for a drink at the FCC, where we talked with a friend of his from Agence France Presse about property (Chris self-publishes in this area), scuba diving and publishing.

Linda, Polly, Catherine and I had an unexpected opportunity for a reunion dinner when Linda’s visit to Hong Kong to see her married son (he was six or so when I last saw him!) coincided with my visit. We were able to have a couple of long chats, our first since August 2013 when she came up to London from her home in Cornwall to meet me for a two-day catch-up. Polly has taken me to dinner at the FCC and the LRC (Ladies’ Recreation Club, where she plays tennis). I’ve walked all around the SOHO area, which didn’t exist when I lived on Old Bailey Street, opposite Victoria Prison, in the early 1990s. There are new areas being gentrified all the time, with lots of fabulous cafes and restaurants. The relocated Police Married Quarters is also now a very groovy showcase area for local artists, designers and other creatives. The area behind Queen’s Road East is also having a resurgence.

I have seen my accountant and finalised my accounts for the last two years, done a heap of work, and read some books, including a reread of “Never Enough”, about the murder of an American Merrill Lynch high-flyer by his shopaholic wife in 2003, a case that shocked the expat community and delighted the local Chinese. Nancy Kissel is still serving her life sentence at a women’s prison here in Hong Kong. I’m talking with two people here about books they are writing, one about the horseracing scene which is hugely popular with the local Chinese. I went to a dinner in Hong Kong Park where I spent a lot of time talking with an expatriate New Zealander about publishing, dogs, art and many other topics of mutual interest. Joanne and Andy invited me for a delicious dim sum brunch at City Hall, on the edge of a wasteland that used to be the seabed in Victoria Harbour. Jo grew up in Hong Kong in an American expatriate family, went to college in the US and returned to Hong Kong to live. Andy, a Briton, lives in Thailand. Through Cathy and David I met Liz and Ian, who divide their year between Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand and Barcelona; and Heather and Craig, who have done a lot of walking in places like Nepal.

This has all been in just three weeks! My visit has coincided with Chinese New Year. It feels to me like something new is beginning; that I’m entering a new stage of my life. It’s a life I never imagined I would have and I’m profoundly grateful for it.

A change of focus

The big news since I arrived in Kuching three weeks ago is that my application to become a resident of Hungary – specifically, Budapest – for at least the next five years was successful! It all happened very smoothly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world for me to decide to put down roots in a city in central Europe I'd never thought to visit before September 2013. Now it feels like home. In fact, it will be a base for all of Europe. Being a resident will mean I don't have to keep an eye on day counts within the Schengen Zone, so I'll be able to explore more widely and not have to carry everything I own with me everywhere. I still have a foot firmly planted in New York, but I'll be spending less time in Asia after next month.

It's always great to see Min and Sam, Ivy and Swee, Emily and other friends here, but it's not really been a very social visit. My workload has been heavy, and it's been very wet, so we haven't run much. It's been fun to be present for my Friday Night Flicks movie screenings at the Batik, now in its second year. I've also had another complete wellness check: there's nothing physically wrong with me that wasn't wrong with me last year, which is good news!

Kuching is getting ready for Chinese New Year, with decorations going up all over town.

Terminal 2B or not 2B?

Twice within a week a Hungarian taxi driver asked me if I wanted terminal 2A or 2B at Budapest's international airport. The second trip had long been scheduled: a return to Malaysia; the first was a spur-of-the-moment excursion.

My cousin Kylie broke her ankle at a very convenient time for me, if not for her! I was able easily enough to change my plans and fly to Berlin to meet her the day her bus tour ended. (She had been one week into her two-week bus-about holiday when she fell on an icy road in Slovakia the day her group was due to travel to Budapest. I saw her there, where she decided she could continue on the tour after I offered to help get her and her luggage from Berlin to Amsterdam the next week. The alternative was to cancel her holiday and fly straight back to Australia... Not fun.)

So, I flew to Berlin to meet Kylie on January 2. Once she was organised in our hotel I walked over to see my friends from Malta, Norbert and Marisa, who have a gorgeous pad on a street that was once divided by the Berlin Wall. We had a lot to talk about: I hadn't seen Marisa since I stayed with them on Gozo in 2007, and I hadn't seen Norbert since he stayed with me in New York in 2010 or 2011.

The next morning Kylie and I took the train from Berlin to Amsterdam. This was the challenging part of the journey, but we finally found our seats and got all our bags together in the one place. I then disappeared into my book for the day.

After we checked into our hotel in Amsterdam we went to a hospital to see what was needed as follow-up to the treatment in Budapest. They basically said there was no point in doing anything until the Monday (it was now Saturday), so I spent Sunday catching up with people: Sarah, a cousin from New Zealand I'd never met (this time on Dad's side) and her partner Simon for a fun brunch at Paper Planes; and Susan, a runner friend from New York, for an exhibition of Vivien Meier's photographs at Foam Museum. Kylie managed to rest her foot and have fun in her own inimitable way.

Monday morning I had to head back to Budapest, and Kylie went off to hospital where she had an operation and an overnight stay over the next few days, in time to fly back to Oz at the end of the week (yesterday).

In Budapest I had a terrific meeting with Orsolya and Zsofia from the Hungarian House of Photography to discuss an idea I've put to them and Albury Art Gallery. That night I took Miki, Jules, David and their visiting friends Lori and Ted to dinner. I'm leaving some things at Jules and David's, which is a great help.

And before I knew it, the taxi driver was asking me yet again if I wanted 2B (or not 2B)...

I'm now back at the Batik Boutique Hotel in Sarawak, where I have my Kuching routines, including running in the predawn with Min and now also Swee.

Budapest: A fling becomes a long-term thing...

I believe in making plans, but I’ve also learned to go with the flow of my life when events take me in unexpected directions. Making plans is efficient; being flexible about them is where life’s surprises lie.

This lesson hit home on day 2 of this year, when I flew into Marrakech for a planned month-long visit that would include a half marathon race. I was then planning to spend February in Spain and Malta, where I was entered in half marathons in Barcelona and Valletta, and to visit Cairo for a week on my way back to Kuching at the start of March. Instead, within two hours of arriving in Morocco, I had a broken right (dominant) arm after walking into the path of a cyclist. I had an operation on the arm that night and would be without the use of my arm for the next six weeks.

There wasn’t much I could do except change all my plans and follow my gut feeling, which was to fly immediately to Kuching and gratefully accept the help of my family there: Min and Samantha, and the crew at the Batik Boutique Hotel, my home in Malaysia.

After further surgery in Kuching to insert a plate in my arm and two months of physiotherapy, I picked up my original plan and moved to Ubud, in Bali, where I had a very busy couple of months working on a huge job for a brand-new client that had appeared out of nowhere. Some friends came to stay for a couple of weeks, which I really appreciated. I was feeling a bit battered…

I brought forward a planned December visit and spent June and July back in Australia. That visit didn’t go as I’d hoped, either. I made a quick visit to my father in New Zealand before heading back to Kuching for a couple of weeks to take part in the inaugural Kuching half marathon/marathon. I hadn’t run during the first half of the year, and I finished the race just on the back of the few runs I had had in Albury. I ended up on the ground at the finish with leg cramps – a first for me.

That night I flew to Istanbul, where I spent a couple of days before returning to Budapest for my third visit in 12 months. I caught up again with new friends Julie and David, who by then had become old friends. Through them I met Miki and his dog, Joki. I ran my second Budapest half marathon, which is a fabulous event. I was sorry to leave Budapest: it was taking hold of my heart.

After flying to Dublin for an appointment with my hairdresser Carly, I returned to New York and settled into regular running training with the 5.30 am crew. I only ran one race, the 5K on November 1 from the United Nations Building to the New York City Marathon finish line the day before the marathon. My time was 55 seconds slower than the year before. I was grateful it wasn’t slower. It was fun also to spend time with friends from Albury who came for the marathon. During my two months in New York I saw lots of films, got to know Pat and Steve a bit better (new friends from 2013), and worked hard on the project I’d started in Kuching in February, which dominated my whole work year.

In mid-November I spent 10 days in the South with a very old friend from our Hong Kong years. We visited friends of mine in North Carolina, then checked out Savannah, Georgia, for a week. I had thought I would fall in love with Savannah, but it didn’t happen. Instead, I was feeling a very strong pull to Budapest.

To St Augustine, in Florida, for Thanksgiving with the family of one of my oldest friends. When I met Barb I was 13 and she was 15. Her family always felt like my family, too.

Back to Dublin for another hair appointment with Carly and a quick flit to Belfast before flying on to Budapest.

Plans were in place to spend a week in Hungary before returning to Spain: I would be in Valencia for three weeks, where I was entered in a half marathon, and in Barcelona for about four days to visit a new friend from New York who spends six months a year there. Accommodation and flights were booked and paid for. I would then return to Budapest for two days before flying to Kuching.

During the flight from Dublin I realised I didn’t want to leave Budapest so soon after arriving. I’m sure I would have had a great time in Spain, but it hit me that I really wanted to stay on in Budapest, and that I could change my plans. It was sort of a revelation, like realising I was in love. I thought about it for two days and then cancelled everything. I moved into an apartment and gave myself over to this beautiful, amazing city, where I feel completely at home.

... So at home, that I’ve applied for a five-year residency permit. Jules and David recommended a wonderful attorney, who prepared all the paperwork. I’ll know in a few weeks whether I’ve been accepted. I’m reconciled to getting only a two-year permit, which I expect I’ll try to extend later if my life stays on this course.

In the process of putting together my application I thought about why I wanted to base myself here.

When I left Australia nearly five years ago, I didn’t have a five-year plan. I intended to keep travelling for as long as it felt right. I hadn’t anticipated that I would feel so at home in Budapest that I would want to make a commitment to it and be able to call it home for most of the time that I’m not in New York. I feel a strong urge to set up a physical home here. But more than that, I want to contribute to the community in some way.

I have had an idea that might create something new and of benefit to a whole bunch of people, both here in Hungary and in Australia. It fits perfectly with my interests, skills and vision, and I’m incredibly excited about it. The first steps have been taken, but a meeting early in January, a couple of days before I fly back to Malaysia, will hopefully start the ball rolling.

Just as I thought my plans for the next week or so were in order, a cousin from Australia arrived in Budapest on a tour through Central Europe. Kylie broke her ankle in Slovakia on Boxing Day and has had to reassess the rest of her trip. We worked out a new plan together that will give her the support she needs after her tour group disbands and also give me some unexpected opportunities.

Yes, this year has been all about being flexible as my life becomes bigger than even I can plan for.