About me

Hi, my name is Vicky.

I am a Globetrotter

I love to travel, always did, always will do. I have been collecting memories of a fully lived life and I want to remember. That is why I created in 2016 the Memories of a Travel Addict Chick.

I am a Swiss-Hungarian citizen, I was born and raised in Hungary. I received my Diplomas in Budapest in Tourism & Hotel management and International Relations.

The past 20 years I lived and worked in 10 different countries.

At the age of 21 I spent my University traineeship in Switzerland and Los Angeles, California.
After I received my Tour Guide certificate in Hungary I was showing for a short time the sights of Budapest to English, German and Spanish guests.

And my travel journey started in 2008, I was working for more than 11 years as a Tour Guide for the German Thomas Cook Travel agency in the Canary- and Balearic islands (Lanzarote, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Mallorca), on several Greek islands (Crete, Corfu, Rhodes, Kos), on Malta, in Sicily, in the Maldives, in Sunny Beach (Bulgaria) and in Punta Cana (Dominican Republic). ➡️The Life of a Tour Guide at Thomas Cook 💛

In my free-time I traveled to numerous countries and cities: Thailand, Cambodia, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Israel, Mexico, Bali, Amsterdam, Rome, Barcelona, Lisbon, Berlin, Vienna, Paris, London, Prague, Venice, Tuscany, Crete, Rhodes, Havana & USA (Miami, New York City). Check out my travels HERE

Since 2019 I have been living in Budapest, Hungary and I continue discovering the World from here.

In my blog I show you what I saw and – since I was living in the above mentioned holiday destinations – maybe I can give you more insider tips about the places, people, food, habits…etc than those who traveled there for only one/two weeks.

I am a Person with Disability

I not only travel rather want to be an inspiration to those who live their lives in a more difficult way.

I have been hard-of-hearing due to a concert at the age of 18, so for more than 20 years. It was a shock for me and I couldn’t accept it for many years that I had to wear hearing aids. Even with the latest technology, it is a constant struggle to understand, to read lips and it took for me double the time to learn languages. But I did, I can speak English and German at an advanced level and in 1 year with an intense course I could learn Spanish and reach an intermediate level. So do not tell me you can’t, if I could do it. Since it happened at an adult age my speech is not affected, but “I hear with my eyes”, I watch, I observe, I deduct. Yeah, one must survive somehow… It is a joke of fate that I have been working in such professions (as a tour guide and now as an admin assistant) where communication must be done in foreign languages at a higher level. Maybe I like extra challenges 😁

How I lost my pancreas and spleen – what silent celiac disease can do to your body

I have been living with Type 1 Diabetes for 2 years due to an operation. Unfortunately the doctors didn’t discover that I had had Celiac disease (= gluten-sensitivity) the past – probably – 15 years.

Long story short: It started in 2014, I suddenly fainted in a shopping center and was taken to hospital where the doctors discovered a neuroendocrine tumor on my pancreas. It was producing insulin so my blood sugar dropped, that is why I fainted. I was operated and the head of the pancreas was cut off, thank God I had no metastasis and I didn’t need chemotherapy but a monthly hormonal injection for many years yes.

Everything was fine till 2016 when I fainted for the first time and was taken to hospital again. Altogether it happened 4 times during the years and nobody knew WHY I had internal bleeding.

Altogether in 6 years I received blood countless times, I had 5 Gastroscopies (tube with camera inserted into the mouth – terrible), 4 Colonoscopies (camera up your @ss), 1 Balloon enteroscopy (into the mouth – under anesthesia thank God), 1 Endosonography (EUS) (a f@cking thick tube into the mouth – the worst ever!), 3 Capsule endoscopies (tiny capsule with a camera swallowed – easy), 4 different Isotope scans (like cholescintigraphy, octeroscan – fancy names, huhhh, it is when radioactive isotope is injected into the veins so the scan can read it. You remain radioactive☢️for some days, beware where you pee), 2 CT-s, 1 angio CT, 1 MRI and 2 ultrasounds to get “You must have some internal bleeding somewhere” and “come back every month for a general blood test”.

In 2022 May on a Friday morning I was rushed again (for the 5th time) to the hospital with severe internal bleeding. At the beginning, I thought I would get blood again, have a gastroscopy, and then after a few days they would send me home from internal medicine department.
No, it was more serious now, I also thought so when I was transferred from the ER to the intensive care unit after a CT scan, saying “I will be safe there”.
At the ICU I was still talking. The intensive care doctor was walking in front of me nervously while they put the cannula in my neck. I didn’t understand why he was so impatient, we weren’t in a rush, were we?!… They calmed me, I didn’t even understand why, because I wasn’t in pain. Then suddenly I felt the need to cough and I was choking, I just concentrated on blowing blood bubbles and getting air while I was laid on my side.
Then I blacked out.
My blood circulation collapsed, they called the surgeon ( my savior!) urgently, they didn’t have enough time to push me up to the operating room, they operated me there. The only solution was to “sacrifice” my pancreas and spleen, which stopped the internal bleeding.
Only after the operation the histology revealed that the cause was Celiac disease. So the 2 slices of pizza 2 days before my operation, must have been the last drop in the glass for my body.

And the only thing the internal medicine doctor – who treated me for at least 2,5 years – should have mentioned “Heyy, it might be celiac”. It could have been avoided that I almost died.
Everything was caused by this special illness, silent celiac disease: the neuroendocrine tumor (according to my gastroenterologist), my fatty liver, the internal bleeding, the iron deficiency anemia.

And what is left for me?
I have a 40 cm long scar on my belly (can’t be a model anymore😇), I have Type 1 diabetes (giving insulin to myself), I avoid gluten (eat special glutenfree food), I take extra enzymes (no pancreas no digestive enzymes), beware of animals and tick bites (without spleen can get easier blood infection).

It is a difficult sometimes living with Type 1 Diabetes and celiac disease, check the blood sugar, check what I eat, give insulin, take medicines, be everything gluten-free etc etc. Since I am partly AI (=I, the Robot 😎🤖) due to my sensor, my life is much easier, but always a roller coaster.

So if you have Type 1 Diabetes remember, it is not the end of the World!
Check out how to travel➡️5 + 2 Things to pack when traveling with diabetes

I do intend to continue living my life just as before: I plan, I work and I discover the world. Just there must be extra preparations 😊

Please do not forget:

If you are living with a disability too: You are not alone!
If you have Type 1 Diabetes and you have a bad day: Life gives the hardest battles to the strongest soldiers. (Cliché, but true)
Do not be ashamed of your disability! That is the most difficult part, I know! You are not less!
Please do not feel annoyed if those who live with disability ask for help. Just give them the necessary accommodations in the workplace, at home, in a shop, at the theater, in a restaurant and anywhere.
If you see me smile at you, and you think it is so easy for me: Before you start to judge me, step into my shoes and walk the life I’m living, and if you get as far as I am, just maybe you’ll see how strong I really am.. (Also a cliché, but think about it. Isn’t it true?) But why not smile? I am ALIVE 😎

In my photo and travel blog I show you what I saw and you can get some inspiration here and also tips about traveling with special conditions 😁

Vicky