In Communist Czechoslovakia, it wasn’t so difficult to find a sense of freedom. All you needed was a backpack, a guitar, and a place to sleep under the stars. That has always been the escape strategy of the Czech tramps, outdoorsman, and women who hike, camp, canoe and ride the rails. Inspired by the American West, tramps adopted country songs, cowboy dress and English names and rolled them together into a distinctly Czech subculture that offered a taste of romanticism and freedom. But in today’s democratic Czech Republic, there’s little reason for rebellion and escape. Is there still a place for these old romantics and the youth culture that defined them?
