Bratislava airport (source: Jozef Jakubčo, Sme)
When I received an invitation to speak on a radio programme about people who experienced life abroad and then returned to Slovakia, I wasn't immediately sure of what I might want to say.
In my years working for The Slovak Spectator, I have heard countless stories of foreigners who live in Slovakia, as well as Slovaks who have returned to Slovakia from abroad. Does it even make sense to seek a single pattern in those stories?
Sure, Slovakia is a beautiful country, but many of us would probably make do without its beauty, if they could find comfort in the roar of the North Sea, a Sunday walk along the Thames, or a view of Prague Castle every day.
In this country, no return home is overlooked, which I suppose makes Slovakia different from more successful or more confident countries. If you return home to France or the Netherlands, people around you are not likely to keep asking what made you do it. It's clear to them: where else would you want to live?
