Forty-five-year-old Petr Florian has been working for the transport company as a public transport driver for four years. From time to time, he takes a break from the wheel and goes on a few days or weeks of wandering on foot, not only in the Czech Republic.

Adventurer, wanderer, traveller.

He describes himself as an adventurer, wanderer and traveller. He has been hiking in the mountains with his parents since he was young, and as an adult he has done more demanding treks in New Zealand and France, and hiked with friends in the Czech Republic.

„But it caught me fully six years ago. I was finishing up one of my previous jobs and a friend happened to tell me that he wanted to go on the St James“ Way from Seville to Santiago di Compostela and walk 1,000 km. I thought it was a great idea and joined him. I jumped in headfirst, not knowing anything about long-distance walking. I set out in the wrong shoes, with an old backpack, and I am still amazed that I walked that far. It was also during the outbreak of the covid pandemic in late February 2020. So we had to end our journey after 500 km and we returned home on the last plane, then the world closed," he recalls of his first journey, which, although it was not completely fulfilled, certainly did not deter him from further adventures.

„Wandering and climbing long routes is a different world - for example, last year I walked a charity march of 100 km, which we had to complete in one piece, without sleep. In the end we got a bit lost and covered a whopping 118km in 36 hours. It was an interesting excursion into what happens to the body when it lacks sleep. Sometimes you can be delirious, hear wolves that are not there, you can even sleep while walking... But then you can fall off a cliff if someone doesn't pick you up with sticks and wake you up in time. I have had such experiences,“ described one of the hikes Petr Florian.

Second trip to Santiago di Compostela

„The journey is the destination. That's why my friends and I wanted to walk the entire 1,000 km route to Santiago di Compostela again this March. I'm a social person, I like to walk with a group, and only rarely walk shorter routes alone.“ He goes on to say that pilgrimage is about not thinking about anything other than basic human needs when doing a long route - where you sleep that day, what you eat during the day, you have to carry enough water and drink. And then you just have to put your left foot in front of your right, your right foot in front of your left... and go. Even that's hard.

Article continues in magazine Dopravák