Home Featured Traveler Featured Traveler : Diana Nagy, the Determined Dreamer

Featured Traveler : Diana Nagy, the Determined Dreamer

Editor

March 13, 2018

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The Travel Speak’s Featured Traveler : Diana Nagy

Diana shares her story with us in our series of interesting and inspiring traveler stories.

You can follow Diana on her vibrant Instagram profile.

Here she is sharing a travelogue from her dream trip to Singapore, Australia and Indonesia(Bali).

Introducing Diana Nagy (unedited)

I am from Hungary, which is small country on the borderline of the European Union and the Balkan. I’ve always been a dreamer and loved traveling since forever. In fact, when I was around 10, my first dream job was being a stewardess.

A post shared by Diana Nagy (@dinatheonly) on Sep 30, 2016 at 4:02am PDT

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I was 23, freshly graduated from uni, but I didn’t care much about my degree at the time. So I decided to level up my bartending skills in a popular club in Budapest and travel the world.

Anyhow I didn’t get too far: got stuck in love with Paris. I tried really hard to get away, even moved to Barcelona for the perfect weather and fun people, but Paris dragged me back again after a short while. In 2016 I decided I had enough parties and bartending experience (having worked at one of the private cult clubs of Paris @Chez Castel) and it’s been time to focus on a real career and traveling outside of this old continent. So I moved home, applied for a postgrad translator course and started saving up for my great Aussie trip in 2017.

Diana’s Travel Speak – Travelogue (unedited)

Finally the day came much faster than I was expecting. All the sudden it was 2017 July and I had a few plane tickets with a roughly planned itinerary and the tiniest backpack ever (as it turned out later on due to many backpackers commenting on it). In the before year all I was doing just preparing for exams and university admissions meanwhile working full time to save up for this trip, so really I didn’t even have time to count down the days.

Singapore

A post shared by Diana Nagy (@dinatheonly) on Oct 16, 2017 at 5:29am PDT

Is just so much fun! First I was exploring China Town, around my hostel which was really close to my heart with all the Buddhist and Hindu temples plus the cheap markets for food and souvenirs made it all easy to be a tourist in such a high-tech and luxurious city. I loved the Gardens by the Bay, the river bank bars and nightlife, the mixture of cultures and outdoor activities everywhere, at any time. I spent a week in Singapore and I found some interesting program for each day, even on a backpacker budget.

Australia

Sydney was my first stop and despite the bumpy start I really enjoyed my stay. Although, I have to say I found Sydney much more expensive than Singapore. This city most certainly has the best coastline ever. Fine dining is also something to enjoy while you are there.

A post shared by Diana Nagy (@dinatheonly) on Aug 24, 2017 at 1:40am PDT

As I had no strict plans I asked my friends in Sydney to advise me where to go and then I started checking what could fit in my budget. And this was my biggest mistake. If you ever go down under, make sure to have you trip planned to the last detail and check prices and distances.

A post shared by Diana Nagy (@dinatheonly) on Aug 5, 2017 at 12:32am PDT

Anyhow I decided to stick with my ultimate plan and visit the heart of Oz: Uluru (a.k.a. Ayers Rock or ‘The Big Red Rock’) and on the way make a few stops in seemingly cool places. Sunshine Coast is pretty average, so I moved on towards Agnes Water or Town of 1770 which was just a blast. I stayed for 2 weeks in a backpacker hostel where I finally adjusted to the Queensland lifestyle and enjoyed life barefoot. Eventually I hit the road again for many days to get to the Red Centre. I didn’t wanna leave Alice Springs, even on my last day, when I had no more clean clothes I was hiking in my PJs.

Indonesia

A post shared by Diana Nagy (@dinatheonly) on Sep 2, 2017 at 6:37am PDT

I left from Darwin with sorrow in my heart… I should’ve stayed longer. Anyways, I thought Bali would cheer me up. Luckily I booked a bungalow just out of the touristy Ubud, Seminyak zone, near to one of the oldest buddhist temples and the coolest hidden beaches with a crew of surfers. I was really happy to learn a bit of surfing, the waves are really cool in Bali and thanks to my awesome teacher I had my moment on the board.

~ Dina

Places Visited

Austria: Vienna and the mountains for snowboarding
My neighbors: Romania (by train around Transylvania), Slovakia, Croatia (family vacations on the beach and hiking), Slovenia
Poland
Czech Republic
Bulgaria
Greece
UK: Swanage, London (my first trips without parents), Belfast
Germany: Munich, Cologne, Dusseldorf
Italy: Milan, Verona, Pisa, Bari, Polignano a Mare
France: Nice, Cannes, Puy-Saint-Vincent, Paris, Deauville, Montpellier, Orleans, Saumur, Grenoble, Chamonix, Mont Blanc
Switzerland: Fribourg, Geneva, Lausanne, Bern, Gruyeres, Basel
Spain: Barcelona, Ibisa
Netherlands: Amsterdam
Ireland: rural areas above Northern Ireland, Galway, Connemara NP, Aran Islands (Inishmore), Killarney, Cork, Dublin
Singapore
Australia: Sydney, Manley, Katoomba, Sunshine Coast, Agnes Water, 1770, Arlie Beach, Townsville, Alice Springs, Uluru – Kata Tjuta, Darwin
Indonesia: Bali

Next trip to: Iceland (hiking the highland with a backpack and tent)

Top tip for travelers

Just make friends with locals and let them show you their hood!

Palau Ubin: when you have time to explore a bit around Singapore or just want to go to a beach, skip all those offered in the City and visit this little treasure land. You can rent a push bike and ride around the island in 1 day, sip coconut and make some monkey friends. This is the only rural village in Singapore today. As it’s also closer to Malaysia, the beach is nicer, however still cannot compare to the neighbor’s. As Malaysia is only just a short bus ride from Singapore you may also go there for a day or two if you wanna dip your body in the ocean. Just avoid any Singapore beaches in my opinion as they are rather dirty.
Do not miss the Red Center in Australia. It may seem to be far off from the fancy coastlines but you will have a once in a lifetime experience. Just go during winter season (remember it’s from June to August) when it!s not so hot. Also another reason to visit Oz during winter season is that there are the least of the many deadly animals around during this time. I haven’t seen one spider during my trip and i was in the outback by bus. Also all the deadly shark and stingers were gone so I could actually dare to swim in the ocean, surf and spot whales.
Bali: I would recommend, if you like mountains (like me) rather go to the northern part of the island or if you wanna surf don’t hesitate to book way below Ubud: Impossible has really good waves.
Ireland: Connemara National Park must get on your bucket list along with the Ring of Kerry. Forget Dublin, get drunk there and have some fun before or after visiting those two awesome hiking spots.
Hungary: Budapest is great fun, most folks speak English but don’t be shy visit the countryside. I would recommend to push bike around lake Balaton and test our pretty good local wines.

+1 For all the world: just make friends with locals and let them show you their hood!

Diana’s Favorite Travel Quote:

“We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home.” – Australian Aboriginal saying

Get inspired by The Travel Speak’s comprehensive list of all time best travel quotes.

Editor’s Note

Traveling teaches you a lot. It can also help you become a better person with compassion, determination and grit. Diana’s such traits of determination and grit come out from her story.

Thank you Diana for sharing your travel story and valuable tips with us. We absolutely concur with you on making friends with locals. Just ensure that you read about local culture and dos/don’ts in order to not get into trouble.

We wish you all the best. Keep traveling and sharing your stories with us.

Happy travels.