Last week I wrote my first trip report as I was travelling and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed writing it and keeping it updated as the trip progressed. In some ways it kept me more connected to the travel and I did a little more exploring of the airport and lounges than I might usually do.

I have three quite different short haul trips coming up over the next three weeks so I’m going to continue with the trip reports, at least for a little while.

After last weeks detour to Air France, this weekend it’s back to flying on BA for a quick trip to Budapest. This trip has come about due to: a soon to expire IHG suite night award, a distinct lack of remaining holiday days left because of the number of trips I've made to Bucharest this year (to be explained in a forthcoming report in a couple of weeks), and a desire to depart from T3 in order to enjoy a lounge safari.

Budapest was an easy choice for this break and with the use of vouchers and Avios this is a very budget friendly trip. In order to maximise the time in Budapest I’ll be using a lot more organised tourism instead of the “follow your nose” navigation I often employ when exploring a city.

Late yesterday afternoon there was a small bump in the road, my originally planned flight BA888 LHR-BUD was cancelled and so I have rebooked onto the earlier BA874 departure. This means there'll be limited lounge time, which I will do my best to make the most of!

I was also looking forward to my first flyertalk meet up in the Qantas lounge, organised from the BA Travel Meet Up thread, however with the new earlier departure time this meet up no longer works, which is a great shame.

And with that brief intro, the taxi arrival is imminent and it’s time to wash up my coffee mug and head off to Newcastle airport.