"Of course I didn't have the courage then. But I was driven forward by youthful indiscretion and a desire to explore the world. A year before Mirka and I embarked on our spectacular journey, I rode a motorbike with a friend through central Asia, and as soon as I returned home I knew I wanted more," says the man, who works as a business security consultant at Aricoma.

Do you see any connections between your work and the world of engines?

Motorbikes serve as a great opener for me when communicating with customers, because many ride motorbikes. Thanks to them, we have a common theme from the start and it's through them that we strengthen our working relationship. Especially in the field of cyber security, we build our business relationship on trust, which is also deepened through our common interests. I see my role as a consultant similarly to that of a waiter in a restaurant. A waiter, like me, understands the wishes of the customers and is able to properly arrange them with his fellow chefs and serve their order on a silver platter so that they are satisfied.

I hear you still prefer paper maps? Isn't that a bit old-school for someone who works for the largest Czech IT company?

It is, but I like the balance of working with the latest technology, using AI, but I stay loyal to pencil and paper because I find it more convenient. Paper maps never go anywhere, I don't have to scroll, I scribble on them where I've been and where I want to be. But at the same time, I have Google maps where I put hearts on places I'd like to see. I'm basically a hybrid creature, I like old things, but at the same time I keep up with technical innovations and advances.

What gave you the idea to go on a round-the-world motorcycle trip with your girlfriend? We're back in 2014 when, for example, internet access or electronic visas were still in their infancy...

The decision was made at Christmas and today I know it was the best thing I could have done at the time. I was living in Prague then and I wasn't happy with my life. So I decided not to wait for anything, I sold my flat and we went out into the world at a time when my peers were starting to have children and mortgages.

You spent two years on the road together in the saddle of a motorbike, yet when you returned home you broke up...

Yes, that trip was a big and difficult test for our relationship. My second best decision in life was that we went our separate ways. I always say that everything bad is good for something, and that has been proven many times on our journey. When things happened to us, we met good people who helped us. And every situation made us stronger and taught us how to solve problems. If I hadn't broken up with Mirka, I wouldn't have my current partner, my son, the new house we just moved into, and I probably wouldn't even be at Aricoma.

What bike did you ride around the world?

It was a 2005 BMW 1150 GS Adventure. I still have it, I bought it from a gentleman who had a similar name to me and the same initials, which I took as a sign. I've put 175,000 km on it, it's very well used but I keep it serviced, I ride it all the time and I'll never sell it.

What's your favourite moment from your two-year adventure?

I think of the whole trip as an exploration, because it made me find places I want to go back to, but also places I won't go a second time. Every day brought something beautiful, like when it stopped raining in Kyrgyzstan, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared in the sky over green lakes, pastures with wild horses and yurts, all at 3000 meters above sea level. Or I like to think of the Huascarán National Park in Peru, which we drove through and through, and where we also stopped at the memorial to the Czech mountaineering expedition that died there in 1970. There is also the Artesonraju mountain, which is shaped like a pyramid and was used as a model for the logo of Paramount Pictures. Or Mongolia, a green moonscape, but no one there. And then suddenly a Mongolian peeks out from behind you, who must have come out of nowhere. I have another experience from the local market, when I gave a lecture in Czech to about 30 Mongolians about motorbikes. They probably didn't understand me, but they listened attentively, nodded their heads and after about 20 minutes shook my hand.

You like to share your travel experiences in your lectures. After one of them, you were approached by Jota publishing house to write them down in a book.

I face all challenges head on, so I threw myself headlong into writing the book. I'd never done it before and if it wasn't for a skilled editor, I would never have put it together. I've been writing it for two years in the evenings, but I'm glad I took the plunge. Maybe when my son starts reading, he can be proud of me at school.

I try to make my talks inspiring so that people take courage and go on their own journey. To take that first step, pick themselves up and go. Anything that happens after that, they have to figure out on the fly and on the spot. But the most important step is to pick up and go. Not to wait until 60, not to wait for something to happen, but to go out and see the world.

What interests your audience the most at your lectures?

Most often they ask me why I didn't go around the world with a friend. But going out into the world with a partner opens doors with the natives and makes it easier to communicate with them. When two men on motorbikes arrive in the countryside, they look like raiders out to conquer something. But when a couple arrives, it opens up the maternal instincts in people and they want to help them and invite them to their home or for a meal. Since returning from my trip in 2018, I have been guiding in South America, where I go regularly for a month at a time with a group of about seven men. There it was evident that the local people in a remote Peruvian village, for example, looked down on us and were afraid.

In addition to the travel lectures, this is the sixth year you have organized the three-day summer festival Cestovar, which brings together motorized travelers from all over the country. Tell us more about it.

The event takes place at the flooded quarry Srní near Hlinsko in Vysočina, and every year around 200 of us gather. We spend three days together by the waterside and talk about travelling on two or four wheels. We invite travellers who tell us about their experiences in lectures, but there is also an accompanying programme in the form of the Cestoboj race, which is drinking beer on the ex, overcoming the track on a folding bike for time and an exhibition jump into the water. This festival has a unique atmosphere, we all know each other and come here to relax. This year I would like to link our festival with the topic of IT safety and spread awareness about how to behave on the Internet.

How much has the world of travel changed in the last ten years? What is different than when you started organizing your life's journey?

Today it's fashionable to travel. When I went to Armenia and Georgia on motorbikes with a friend in 2013, it was an event. I only knew of two people who had been there before us like that. We wrote an article about it and it was exotic. The year after that we were in Central Asia and I also only knew of one person who had been there before us. Today, hundreds of Czech bikers go to these countries every year and nobody thinks it's anything special.

When we went to South America in 2016, we had 4500 people following us on Facebook without advertising. Today people can afford to travel. Often they already have some assets and are eager for experiences. Eastern countries are also more accessible, today you can get a visa for the whole of Asia electronically. In 2014, I had to approach an agency that sent our passports, including our itinerary and a list of hotels booked, to Berlin, where they confirmed our visas, and then returned the passports by post. Nowadays, all it takes is two clicks and I can go anywhere.

Where are you going next?

This year so far just to work, because we need to finish the house and we have a wedding in September. So we're going to go to a few reunions around the Czech Republic and enjoy Cestovar. But then I'd like to go on a honeymoon sometime in October somewhere I haven't been before, like Oman, Dubai or the south of Italy. Since we have a toddler, it will definitely be by car and in comfort.

But it's true that my appetite for travel is not going away and I already have a little worm in my head about what I'll do next. Although it may sound like a cliché, with the birth of my son, I'm happy to be home. So now I'll be working for a while and spending my time off with my family. And I'm looking for a camper van.