When I was younger, I spent most of my holidays at home. Well, the times were different and this also affected me. Despite the fact that I could see the hostile areas between Austria and Germany, I usually only made it as far as the banks of the Lipno River on this side. I could go no further. Any further was an iron curtain. Or there was a relatively open border to the so-called friendly countries, but it was far away and beyond that there was not much worth traveling.

But nothing lasts forever. Thus ended my childhood and youth, and the world was divided into the progressive world and the so-called progressive world. And perhaps because of the limitations that had accompanied the first half of my life, I finally began to indulge in what the new era made possible. In other words, I finally began to travel.

Of course, it wasn\’t much at first. It was never a good thing to go to a neighborhood as a poor relative and see, among other things, a sign in a store that said “Czechs don\’t steal.” But it was a positive change. It was a change that never took hold. And the years that have passed have brought me, like all Czechs, many more positive changes.

So today I no longer have to worry about traveling even to the most remote places. I am no longer afraid to travel. And thanks to what we have become over time, I am no longer ashamed to be Czech in a foreign country. Even if we are not proud of it yet, far away from home, they don\’t know how miserable our politicians and our economy are. We have similar shortcomings everywhere.

My holidays are routinely punctuated by acting like a civilized person among strangers and people who barely know our country. And for that I do the same. That is my greatest joy. At least on holidays, they are treated as people who deserve to be treated well. I would not change that. I wouldn\’t trade it for something as mundane as sunbathing on a cheap beach with a travel agent.

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