Rok Kofol is a traveller in his own league. His life is travelling, or travelling is his life. He is devoting his whole life to experiencing and getting to know as many things in the various places of the world. Some of it was probably in his blood already, but for the rest his parents contributed. His first journey was to East Berlin, while he was still in his mother’s stomach.
Rok, what were the next traveling steps around the world?
Rok: »My family stayed in Berlin for a year and then we moved to Prague, where we stayed four years. I vaguely remember the days, but my parents say I spoke Czech like a professor. Maybe it stuck somewhere in the back of the brains. Next we returned to Slovenia, where I finished my schooling, including the Faculty of Economics. During my study years I travelled regularly and used up all of my free time for that. Usually these were long summers between June and September. After graduation I wanted to do what I was learning for, but soon realized that an office is way too small and confining for me. I’ve seen too much of the world already by then, to be satisfied with sitting in an office the whole day. After five years of working I’ve decided to take a year for myself. The reason was that I had a terrible urge to backpack for a whole year and so I went to South America.«
This is how Rok got to see that monotony of daily office work is not what he wants in life. We all know how important it is to like what you do, or even better, to do what you like, but only a handful of people actually decide to live that way. Rok decided to start and market travelling and to live and enjoy while fulfilling his dream to travel. After four years of travelling he gained so much experience he started marketing it through guiding. He says about himself that he enjoys doing it, he soaks up tropical moisture, fights the monsoons and every now and again curses the harsh Himalaya winds, but thoroughly enjoys things like dancing the folklore dances in the Andes and much more.
How do you look upon your beginnings in the tourism sector?
Rok: »I’ve found memories of it, reaching back to the times of my travel lectures where I kept reliving my adventures. It was at that point that we established the Shappa society, through which we organized the travel account seminars. It was at that time that I still held my regular work. After five years of employment and another year travelling I was sure that I’d find a job that suits me perfectly. But the year of travel changed me in a way, as traveling gave a meaning to my life. That’s why upon my return, I’ve started considering a more active role in the Shappa and that was over 10 years ago already. At the beginning I was guiding groups of travellers around the world on my own, so I couldn’t take more than 2 or 3 groups annually. I needed help with organizing travels and guiding groups. Usually I took the group to the destination and when it was time to return, the group would go home and I’d stay at the destination for a while. That was how I got to discover some new things. My friends found this very interesting, so they’ve joined me and we made a programme for a journey and our group grew from year to year. With their help the organization grew to the point, where we can offer over 30 organized journeys annually.«
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Rok travels when he feels he has to and he constantly hears the call of distant places that beg him to discover them. Sometimes, however, he just takes a look at what the weather is like somewhere and sees if he has the time to go where he hasn’t been yet, and goes off to find something new. He doesn’t bother countring the countries he’s visited or making lists of places he hasn’t seen before, as there are always places he’d like to see for the first time or revisit, and they keep changing. Countries like Nicaragua or Yemen are places he always likes returning too, because of what he experienced there. Australia and New Zealand are always attractive as well, but as they’d take more time, hed wait a while so he can take his son Beirut with him, when he’s old enough.
Is there some place that you’re especially found off?
Rok: »Over the years you start looking differently on things, and you start to appreciate different things, and some become more important than they were in the past. It’s like that with travel destinations as well. I’m still very fond of Yemen, Myanmar, Nicaragua and the deserts of Egypt. But somehow Peru still holds a special place in my heart. I’ve experienced so many things there, met so many nice people there, not to mention the excellent food. And as I’ve quite fluent in Spanish I got to know the locals so much better. I’ve learned their customs and they also approach me differently seeing we can communicate. I’ve really experienced a lot there, enjoyed among the tall mountains, saw the beauty of Cordillera Blanc and Cordillera Huayhuash, which are both amazing. I’ve also cycled their mountains and it was a special experience to pedal through their road blocks… «
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For many people it’s difficult to combine travel and family life. But parents who travel regularly know, it can be rather easy. How do you combine the two most important things in your life?
Rok: »When I became a father, it was an indescribably moment of happiness. I’m already getting my son used to travel and he’s already been across some oceans with me. I see no reason why a small child shouldn’t go on at least one real journey ever year. Besides, we’ve started organizing family travels as well.«
So the whole family is involved in travelling. It becomes the way of life and you just can’t do without it. Travel becomes part of you and once you start you cannot stop. Even though Rok lives from his travels, he never says that he travels for business. He always has a feeling he travels for himself even if he’s at the same destination for several times. He is always accompanied by a group of different people so each journey is different. During the guided tours he also has his own journey with friends and family. He says he spends very few nights at home.
The journeys you’re guiding are usually quite different, not standard with many monotonous visits to museums and cities or other tourist traps?
Rok: »The purpose of such travel is to get to know the country in a whole new light. You get to know the land and the people as they are. Their typical life, as you become part of it, becomes real, but it doesn’t exclude seeing the most famous sites along the way. Every visitor want to see, what the country is best known for. In order to get a different experience of the country, I usually include sporting activities. These are things like guided cycling tours, hiking, canoe rides, and so on, but for something like that the guide has to have the sporting spirit within. But these are not extreme endeavours, for which you’d need special preparations. «
On his travels Rok doesn’t even think about bad experience. Sometimes something bad does happen, but he doesn’t take it to his heart, and it usually turns out it’s not as bad as it seemed. He knows and understands that not all people prefer such journeys, as are the ones he organizes, still there’s a traveller or two in his groups that expected something more standard and such people get on Rok’s (so called) “black list”.
Traveling is what completes him. It is what he wants to be. He had always travelled and will continue to do so. It’s the best thing that can happen in one’s life, to do what you want. I wish Rok many more adventures and many nice things to happen and I’m sure the best is yet to come, when he starts traveling with his son.
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