SLOVENIA'S 5 CORE VALUES

I've wanted to hike for years, but I didn't have the company to go hiking with. I was taught at home that it was not wise to go hiking alone. I understand their concern that comes with going on an unfamiliar path where there may be challenges of one kind or another, which are easier to overcome in the company of other people. 

Nevertheless to the knowledge but my whole being told me otherwise. And I also met many people who said: 'Going to the mountains alone - that's the best!' Itak meet new people along the way." Their belief is resonated with me.

So last year was the first time I did it, when I went alone to our local Porezen. I went there from Cerkno. Not only did I face the fear of go aloneI also went on a much longer journey than I was used to before. I had 1300 metres of elevation gain ahead of me, and that also made me jlajfalo Back. 

But I believe that everything happens as it should, and that if you send a request up high, Heaven will respond. As I walked, I met a larger group of people walking along the same path towards Porezen. They belonged to different generations. Some of them I knew from the school where I work, others I met anew. We didn't walk together, but every now and then we would meet at rest stops where we would open up to each other, share our experiences and hiking tips, and check if we were all OK and able to walk further. All this until the very top, where we started squealing with joy because we had reached it. What a milestone, what energy! And this in the company of people who understood this breakthrough. 

This is one of the many incidents I have experienced in the mountains since then. Feelings of connectedness with other people. The respect you receive with a greeting and during a short conversation with passing hikers. I notice that foreign visitors have quite a problem with this. I have often received a thick stare or a negative exhale from them instead of a greeting. What do you say, Slovenians, let us teach them our etiquette? Then the trust you experience from the cordial hut keepers who, in addition to giving you advice or directions, offer you the best hot meals and make you feel really welcome. Miles away from civilisation, people, or Slovenians, become even more connected and help each other. And that is really nice to experience. 

Since then, I have met people on different trails, with whom we have been searching together for the right direction because the trails are less well marked. At the top of one hill, an elderly gentleman with more strength in his arms helped me to make the nicest possible stamp in my mountain diary. I met people with whom we could both share deeper life thoughts and debate about which flour to use to bake homemade bread. I met people who have survived the worst possible scenarios in life, but still bravely go on living and find that beautiful, calming corner in the mountains where every problem we face seems irrelevant. 

I am not the first to say that hills heal. And this is also evident in the people who like to visit them. 

Mojca Jeram, 18 Aug 2025