Flying Home For Christmas - Slovakia

"Driving home from Christmas" was playing in my ears as I flew over the Atlantic on Sunday. On my way back to my homeland, Slovakia. Just then, I realized I had not written a single piece on my country ever since I started this newsletter. That's 37 weeks. As one of my dear subscribers replied to the newsletter from 2 weeks ago: " Maybe before checking the world's 7 wonders people should visit their own country, they would be surprised. I'm guilty of this as well." And so - while all the spotlight is oftentimes on international travel. How well do you know your own country?

Christmas movement

First things first. As this idea came to me on my flight back to my homeland - I wanted to share a bit of an insight into how travel patterns shift in December. I bet every one of you reading has hopped on a flight just before the December holidays. Many travelers are returning to their home countries in order to reunite with their loved ones for the holidays. The December travel happens all around the globe. The reasons may vary, but the movement is there.

For example, destinations in Southeast Asia are facing the incoming waves of snowbirds. Countries like Japan are experiencing a surge in winter tourism, particularly for skiing, with hotel bookings increasing dramatically compared to previous years - something will elaborate more next month!

In Europe, domestic tourism peaks significantly in December, with EU residents making an estimated 92 million trips, primarily for family visits. This represents about 8.6% of all trips made throughout the year. Fair to say Europeans value festive time with their loved ones!

But, what if domestic tourism has higher potential than just visiting families & friends? What if instead of our focus on international travel - we decided to visit 1 new place in our homeland every year instead?

Domestic travel trends

Domestic travel is a hard one. With the globalization of the world & it is more borderless than ever before - it's hard for many of us to justify spending our money & time exploring the country we were born in & live in. Especially with limited paid time off and a seasonality. Even for me, it does feel hard to justify choosing your homeland over the exotic. Every country has a different size, different geography, different climate, etc. Hence for some - it may not be such a challenge to spend their travels domestically. Think of Brazil, the USA, China, Indonesia, or Colombia. These are all ecologically, geographically & culturally extremely diverse countries - making it easy for locals to be "well-traveled" people despite never even leaving their own countries. The same could be said for places like France or the UK with their overseas territories (ehm ehm). But what about countries that were not blessed with as much diversity? How does domestic tourism work there?

Let's have a look at a graph comparing domestic trips per capita + ecological/cultural diversity.

Pretty staggering isn't it? Now that got me thinking about how am I contributing to the low per capita trips in Slovakia.

My travels through Slovakia

I always felt that I have traveled through Slovakia a lot. Even back in my time in elementary school & high school. We used to have plenty of bus trips around the country visiting famous castles, museums, and zoos(lol) in order to educate ourselves a bit more in regards to the great history of this small country. I was learning about the famous writers & historians. Naturally - I was always very interested in the history of (Czecho-)Slovak mountaineering. As someone who grew up in a small town in the middle of a mountain valley - outdoor sports & in general spending time in nature has been a big draw to me. Also, to every foreign person I talk to - I always advocate that nature is what makes Slovakia worth a visit. Forget Bratislava. Rent a van and travel through the national parks. Even visit some of those that are less known & popular. That's exactly what I did with some of my best friends when covid hit. Being stuck in Slovakia, not knowing what the summer of 2020 was going to look like we suddenly realized, how are we going to spend our summer holiday if we can not travel abroad? This question was asked in almost every household (privileged enough to travel) around the world. And so the world has seen significant growth in domestic travel & "staycations" in 2020.

So, me & my friends rented a van. We drove to the places we have not been before. Even rode horses to "track the wolf's footsteps" in the forests by the easternmost border with Poland & Ukraine. We made countless amazing memories that I often think back to when thinking of traveling through my homeland.

Writing this article made me realize that despite my being a sort of lifestyle outdoor enthusiast & spending time in the outdoors - there is still so much left for me to discover in Slovakia.

Even despite its low ecological & cultural diversity index.

Out of 9 national parks I visited 5, but explored just 3 of them. Out of the 8 biggest cities, I've only been to 4.

As the time of the year is coming when most people write down their New Year's resolutions - I always keep 1 on my list. Visit 1 new country every year. Perhaps from this year on - I will write 1 new - visit 1 spot in Slovakia that I have never been to.

Think about it when planning your 2025 travels. I'm not saying domestic travel should or will replace international one. But travel itself is enriching in any form. So visiting your national parks may be the weekend getaway you need.

I promise it will give back more than what it takes.

PS: Happy Holidays!