Today, people travel much more than they used to. Due to contemporary transportation means, globalization and integration, the most distant places have become easily accessible. Lots of people enjoy spending holidays abroad and often go to exotic countries like Bali, the Philippines, Kenya or New Zealand. Tourist agencies offer a wide range of tourist options ranging from lazy beach holidays to safari or diving tours. There are offers to meet the requirements of the most sophisticated clients, and skilful tourist managers can design individual tours according to tourists' personal desires.

It seems that any destination is possible if only the tourist can afford the cost. Surprisingly enough, but in spite of growing possibilities more and more tourists reject the idea of an exotic holiday and choose to explore their own country. It's a good tendency I think, as if people don't know their own country, they will never be able to appreciate other countries' natural wonders and cultural treasures.

My dad has been working in the tourist business for many years and he detected the homeland-focused tendency years ago. Having it in mind, he started a little family business — . a small animal farm in the countryside. That was a risky thing to do — he had inherited an old farmhouse and a large plot of land from a distant relative but he had never been in farming and didn't know how to run the business. However, he knew the tourism business from the inside out, and he decided to combine them both.

He sold most of the animals and kept only a few cows, sheep, goats and nanny goats. Then he bought several horses, ponies and donkeys to add them to the herd. To make the farms population diverse, dad brought a couple of camels, several fallow deer and some roe deer. We certainly didn't get any income selling milk or meat, but surprisingly many city people came to spend weekends in our farmhouse. They brought children with them — the children were happy to see a real cow or a goat, they were delighted to feed the animals and to have a horse ride or a trip in a cart pulled by donkeys or deer!

Dad and the rest of the family got deeply involved in the business that started as a hobby. Our animal farm has turned into a real tourist attraction and we have had to hire several people to mind the animals, to run the inn and to entertain the guests. Actually, as we are getting more and more skilled in farming we are considering the possibility of buying some more land and are planning to expand our business so that we can produce dairy products, too. Frankly speaking, I never saw myself as a farmer, but unexpected things happen.