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Abstract

-Cola</h2><p id="69cb">The Czech Republic provides opportunities to discuss the concepts of communism and capitalism. As always, travel provides experiential learning opportunities, even for something like communism, which disappeared from these lands over 30 years ago during the Velvet Revolution.</p><p id="8243">This time, hands-on learning comes in the form of soda. During the communist era, Czechoslovakia closed off to the rest of the world, and items like Coca-Cola couldn’t cross the border. The government supplanted this sweet treat with a creation of their own: Kofola.</p><p id="02f3">The Czechs liked it so much that it remains a popular drink today.</p><figure id="ac0b"><img src="https://cdn-images-1.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:800/1*A72NLpvBi2txIyAYqjwbqQ.jpeg"><figcaption>Czech and American children carve pumpkins for Halloween. Photo by the author.</figcaption></figure><h2 id="7f10">C is for Crossing Cultures</h2><p id="c652">Travelers consume culture like popcorn, sampling foods, viewing performances, noticing dress, and hearing music. Better travel experiences include a sharing of cultures to create an equitable exchange and mutual interest.</p><p id="efd5">You live with your host family in autumn, your children missing home and pining for the upcoming Halloween holiday. The Czech boys, you find out, have never celebrated Halloween, and you decide to remedy that. Together, your two families carve pumpkins, plan costumes, and cook classic American Halloween treats: ghost deviled eggs, Oreo cookie spiders, and wrapped hot dog mummies.</p><p id="1df2">You invite the Czech children’s first cousins over, all 13 of them, and all of the children knock on the doors inside the house, trick-or-treating. Hard candies emerge from the laundry room, chocolate from the bedroom, and lollipops from the living room.</p><p id="e022">There’s nothing like sugar-generated laughter, games, and as the stars emerge, a spooky movie to bring people together.</p><p id="8246">Stephanie Tolk is the founder of <a href="http://www.deliberatedetour.com/"><b>Deliberate Detour</b>,</a> a company that supports traveling families in making their dreams come true. She’s a co-author of the new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BPGHVXFX?fbclid=IwAR0OiNcpHV7eu2M28tcAFl-RBi7kvk33p9gZHA1z23XJS05npQ86QVlJKrY#customerReviews"><b>Worldschooling: Innovative Parents Turning

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Countries into Classrooms.</b></a> Stephanie also has a comprehensive course called <a href="https://www.udemy.com/course/worldschooling-a-comprehensive-guide-to-long-term-travel/?referralCode=EE198052FC20CC381836"><b>Worldschooling: A Comprehensive Guide to Long-Term Travel</b></a><b> </b>for those interested in the lifestyle.</p><p id="e736"><i>This story is part of a series called A to Z Challenge through In Living Color.</i></p><p id="7b3b">You might also like:</p><div id="1ab8" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/altitude-ancient-agriculture-and-art-in-the-andes-68c7e3cc7891"> <div> <div> <h2>Altitude, Ancient, Agriculture, and Art in the Andes</h2> <div><h3>In the path of the Incas in the Sacred Valley of Peru</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*ZdoKA4gSMQ42TOolcr06kg.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><div id="c2c4" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/beauty-batik-boats-boredom-boys-fea54839a2c0"> <div> <div> <h2>Beauty, Batik, Boats, Boredom & Boys</h2> <div><h3>Bali and its neighbor, Lombok, show two sides of Indonesia</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*a2WTPrtXQNfsu01FPWDQ0w.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div><p id="c554">And this travel stories:</p><div id="2459" class="link-block"> <a href="https://readmedium.com/moving-beyond-the-tourist-sites-as-worldschoolers-6e349b330a68"> <div> <div> <h2>Moving Beyond the Tourist Sites as Worldschoolers</h2> <div><h3>A travel tale featuring Italy</h3></div> <div><p>medium.com</p></div> </div> <div> <div style="background-image: url(https://miro.readmedium.com/v2/resize:fit:320/1*3BDDj6lX_KCzIY64CTfo6g.jpeg)"></div> </div> </div> </a> </div></article></body>

Community, Castles, Coca-Cola, and Crossing Cultures

Part of the A to Z Challenge series featuring the Czech Republic

American children in their host village of Stramberk, Czech Republic. Photo by the author.

C is for Community

Guide books, blogs, vlogs, and social media posts point you to the same destinations as you plan your trip to the Czech Republic: They suggest similar sites in Prague, a few surrounding castles, a stop at the beer museum in Pilsen, and perhaps the small town of Karlovy Vary.

The entire eastern half of the country, ignored by these expert sources, draws you near. You connect with a host family in a far eastern city, just an hour from the Slovakian and Polish borders, where you head with your family ostensibly to teach English.

In reality, you’re warmly embraced by a family with three sons, and the English teaching is casual: you speak the only language you know as you cook together, hike together, play together, and explore together.

Hukvaldy Castle, Czech Republic. Photo by the author.

C is for Castle

Not only does the Czech Republic have very famous castles to which tourists flock, but hundreds of castles dot the landscape throughout the region. With your children, you discuss life in the 13th century, describing what you know of the middle ages, a time when powerful lords held land farmed by serfs, the walls of the castle protecting the entire community when invaders approached.

Your children go hiking in a nearby forest and happen upon a ruined castle, its name lost to time. They explore the site, walking along the tops of walls where a roof once sat, jumping across an open door, and imagining a thriving community here 800 years ago.

A girl tries Kofola in Stramberk, Czech Republic. Photo by the author.

C is for Coca-Cola

The Czech Republic provides opportunities to discuss the concepts of communism and capitalism. As always, travel provides experiential learning opportunities, even for something like communism, which disappeared from these lands over 30 years ago during the Velvet Revolution.

This time, hands-on learning comes in the form of soda. During the communist era, Czechoslovakia closed off to the rest of the world, and items like Coca-Cola couldn’t cross the border. The government supplanted this sweet treat with a creation of their own: Kofola.

The Czechs liked it so much that it remains a popular drink today.

Czech and American children carve pumpkins for Halloween. Photo by the author.

C is for Crossing Cultures

Travelers consume culture like popcorn, sampling foods, viewing performances, noticing dress, and hearing music. Better travel experiences include a sharing of cultures to create an equitable exchange and mutual interest.

You live with your host family in autumn, your children missing home and pining for the upcoming Halloween holiday. The Czech boys, you find out, have never celebrated Halloween, and you decide to remedy that. Together, your two families carve pumpkins, plan costumes, and cook classic American Halloween treats: ghost deviled eggs, Oreo cookie spiders, and wrapped hot dog mummies.

You invite the Czech children’s first cousins over, all 13 of them, and all of the children knock on the doors inside the house, trick-or-treating. Hard candies emerge from the laundry room, chocolate from the bedroom, and lollipops from the living room.

There’s nothing like sugar-generated laughter, games, and as the stars emerge, a spooky movie to bring people together.

Stephanie Tolk is the founder of Deliberate Detour, a company that supports traveling families in making their dreams come true. She’s a co-author of the new book, Worldschooling: Innovative Parents Turning Countries into Classrooms. Stephanie also has a comprehensive course called Worldschooling: A Comprehensive Guide to Long-Term Travel for those interested in the lifestyle.

This story is part of a series called A to Z Challenge through In Living Color.