I was in Europe for a bit this summer. I wanted to go to a technology conference to meet fellow hackers internationally. I saw that EuroPython (the Python language conference of Europe) was in Florence, Italy this year. They were offering scholarships for students for free tickets to the conference plus hotel. I applied, pointing to my many contributions to Python like my Python web framework.

I got it, and had a fantastic time. It was incredibly well-organized, and I met some brilliant hackers. My room-mates made Kivy touch platform, psyco, and the Italian Pirate Bay. I met Armin Rigo, the hero-genius behind PyPy.

I gave a talk about my minimalist with-statement based Python templating system.

Google also hosted a programming competition, Google Code Jam. I got 2nd place among all contestants at the conference and I won a nice new Android phone!

It was a good trip that paid for itself.

Hungary is known for its Turkish baths. The Ottoman Turks conquered the area at one point in Hungary's history. The baths are very authentic and fun. Szechenyi baths are the most well-known.

Szechenyi baths are great, but they are a huge tourist attraction. If you like to live more like a local, the Margit Island baths habitate almost entirely locals, at least on the weekend. The people selling food there speak only Hungarian, because they never see any tourists. Margit Island is the big island on the danube between Buda and Pest. These baths are only outdoors, (they don't have any fancy indoor baths), but they do have a water slide and a wave pool! It's very fun, and I recommend you visit; they have the same hot, warm, and cold baths as does Szechenyi.

Hungarian is very different from almost any other language, so it would be an interesting learning experience (as well as practical when visiting the Margit baths) to learn at least a few phrases like greetings and how to order food and drink.

The national liquor there is called palinka. My favorite is cherry but they have various fruit palinkas there such as pear and peach.

You'll probably end up doing this anyway, but walking by the Danube at night (or even day), and seeing the many gorgeous bridges lit up is an unforgettable setting. The Opera House, and actually most architecture there, is beautiful as well.

I recommend the ruin pubs. They are friendly and relaxed with an interesting decor. I lived by Instant (pronounced IN-shtant), which is a cool one. A big, popular one is Szimpla (pronounced SEEM-pluh) nearby. Szimpla has one seating area with a bathtub chair.

I really love Corwin Teto (the rooftop club at Corwin mall in the summer). It's big and open-air and friendly, and they have theme nights like Reggae Wednesday.

I had a lot of fun trying out goulash almost every day. Some places have excellent gyulas, but many have mediocre. If you have just one good experience of the spicy, meaty dish, then the whole trip is worthwhile.

Hungarians also love their pastries, cottage cheese -based deserts, paprika (mmm, paprika crackers!), and sweet wines. Try them out at the local supermarket.

I like to travel light. Anybody who has traveled significantly understands the importance of staying lean. A heavy bag, or series of bags, can ruin the experience of hopping from city to city, which can color the whole trip. Practically, it can cost extra money to move extra bags on a flight or drop off the bags at a bag holding service. Waiting for a checked bag can add more than an hour to your commute time at some airports in certain seasons. Every time I traveled to Miami airport, I waited for at least half an hour and once 2 hours for my checked bag to circle around the carousel.

Some people think that they travel light, but they do not. One checked in bag is not light. Checked bags are the bane of the traveler. You do not want to wait for your bag to come out a turnstile. It is boring and tedious and you never want to do it.

One carry-on is much closer to the ideal. My friend the other day went to Hungary. He decided to travel light, and just bring one duffel bag. He bought some clothes, and other essentials. But if you are running around a city for a whole day, say on a 12-hour layover in Milan, rolling a bag around can start to tire you out. You can check it in, which I did in Zurich, but that delayed my 10-hour layover by over an hour. I would have much preferred to travel with little than to bring even one small bag.

My friend took a small amount, but he could have taken less. I took one small backpack to Hungary. It contained my MacBoook Air laptop, which fits in a manila envelope, an Amazon Kindle, a legal pad, my passport and money, my 3oz green travel towel, my Vibram five-finger shoes for running, my sweat pants for sleeping, and black shorts for running.

I realize that I could have brought even less.

I did not need my travel towel, since anywhere with an actual bath or shower will also have some kind of towel since nobody expects anyone to travel with towels. My apartment had a maid who provided towels. Hotels provide towels. Even hostels have them available.

I hurt my toe, so I could not wear my Vibram running shoes. I wanted to run, so I just took a run around Budapest with my sandals, and it was fine, and in some ways better. I learned that I don't necessarily need my Vibrams either. Budapest clubs are not so haughty as to disallow sandals. Europe is littered with H&M stores, which have quality fashion at absurdly low prices, so i shopped for clothes there instead of packing clothes.

I recently started to use the Kindle app on my iPhone 4 on my 35-minute walks to work. Of course, the large-screen Kindle DX is a hugely better experience. But, the iPhone has the advantage that it is always in my pocket, always. It's also faster to turn the pages and scroll through books. The new version includes the Oxford English Dictionary, so I can look up words, highlight, and take notes much more quickly than on the Kindle. I love my Kindle DX, but it is unnecessary for travel. Although I have to hold the smaller font closer to my face, the Kindle app on the iPhone 4 delivers an acceptable experience.

The legal pad, sweat pants, and shorts I could honestly buy anywhere in the world. They would not be as high quality, perhaps it would be white paper instead of legal paper, maybe some random shorts instead of high-tech Lululemon gear, but they would work for a few weeks of travel.

In fact, if not for my work heavily involving computers, I would not need a laptop either. The iPhone would serve me fine for checking email and reading news. Relieving myself of this, I would need to take none of these things to Hungary.

I could travel naked, with clothes of course but with nothing else really. No bags, no trinkets, nothing to hold me down.

I took a run in Palo Alto the other day, around Stanford. You see, Stanford has this large park area called "The Dish." Everyone from Stanford knows about it, as it is a popular hang out spot for the day (at night, mountain lions roam). The Dish lies about 1 mile from the main campus. It is a large, hilly area, from which its name is derived: Stanford locates a (few) large satellite dishes on the tops of these hills, hundreds of feet up, pointed at the sky. Stanford is nice enough, however, to also maintain a running path there and allow the community as a whole to use it.

Anyway, I was running through the park in my Vibram five-finger shoes. The Vibrams help keep me my feet strong and fit. They are also small and light, which makes them great for travel. I was busily enjoying them, when this guy came up behind me. He said, "Nice Shoes." "Thanks." I was tired, so I did not immediately know what to say next. Then I looked down at his shoes, and he was running on the trail with sandals. I was astonished. Sandals easily fall off, so they require a certain continuous focus and muscle tension to keep them on.

I asked him about it, and he shrugged it off as nothing. He wanted some Vibrams, but he was able to pull these off in a pinch. He would be running barefoot, but the soles of his feet aren't toughened up enough for that, he said. "Wow," I muttered. This guy is intense. I tried to keep up with him for a 3rd loop around, but I was dehydrated and exhausted and I could not make it all the way up the second climb. I walked home. This thought lingered, but I kept my Vibrams.

But this guy helped me notice that my Vibrams were not entirely necessary. I do love them, and they make walking barefoot, flat great. But I may not need them. As you know, I am religiously careful about owning stuff, and I am constantly evaluating the few things that I own or consider owning within my stuff minimization framework. I thought that Vibrams would help me stay fit and lean, minimizing a beer belly, while themselves being light and small enough to throw into a bag without taking up much room as shoes would. They do, actually. Yet, if I can run with sandals, then I don't need them.

I did run in sandals in Hungary in this past trip. I could not use my Vibrams because I had a huge gash on my toe and I lost a toenail. It was painful to touch my toes, yet I could still run in my sandals with only a slight change in my form. Moreover, my new form for long-distance sandal running, based on my research, is an even better form for health and efficiency. The constraints of my stride imposed by the sandals force me to run in the optimal style.

I will probably not buy another pair of Vibrams once these wear out (the seams along the toes keep ripping, which I would call a defect in the manufacturing or design as many of my friends have the same problem).