It was special because it was told by the survivor, who had an honour to be citizen of this amazing city during it’s hardest times. It was special because it was told from the living experience of a child, who was 8 when it all started. A child who spent almost every night during the next 4 years, in the basement of his grandmother, wondering when and where the next bomb will hit. It was told by the child who lost some of his closest family members, and at the time did not understand the true nature of his parents tears. It was told by the child, who grew up 50, in only 4 years of his life.
It was told by me.
When the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Siege of Sarajevo ended in 1996, it took several years before first, traditional tourists, started arriving to Sarajevo.
As youngster, who started his high school education 1999 and his university education in 2003, I never dreamed, that in years and decades to follow, my main preoccupation will be one of the most beautiful industries, industry of tourism.
My economics studies, as part of Sarajevo University, were always filled up with lots of great entrepreneurship adventures. Those adventures, often included some of my best friends, what made them even greater adventures. Some of them were successful, and some were not, but life, in those early 2000s, seemed very beautiful and full of hope for a young Sarajevo boy.
In 2004, when my father, an amazing visionary, turned our family home at Baščaršija, in the old part of Sarajevo, into hostel kind of accommodation, in Sarajevo in that moment of time were very few tourists, and even fewer accommodation providers. Later, when we got listed at the Hostelworld.com, first travellers started arriving to our hostel, and we were very proud of that. We were able to make decent living, and in the same time meet new friends.
After the Siege of Sarajevo, my mother, was always very persuasive to me to learn English language, by forcing me to attend English courses and even have private teacher from time to time. Today I think, this was one of the best investments I have ever made, even though I hated those courses constantly.
In 2005, I was 21 years old. With language skills in place, and backpackers at our hostel, it did not took me a long time to understand that people who were coming to Sarajevo and Bosnia at that time had no clue what to expect here.
Bosnia and Sarajevo, understandably, for them were just passing by destinations, just out of war and all about the war. Not safe to wander around and nothing much to see outside of urban parts of Sarajevo, and possibly Mostar.
Having that perception, I felt urgent need to show them the best of Sarajevo and make them understand what Bosnia and Herzegovina really is. My dream was to break the prejudice, and show Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina in the best light possible. Equally, during those years, I needed extra money to make summer time holidays trips with my friends to Croatia.
So, I had an idea to offer some Sarajevo based tours to my hostel guests, those who wanted and dared to learn more.
Originally, with my father guidance, as an ex Bosnian army soldier, in 2005, I crafted Sarajevo Total Siege Tour. Sarajevo war themed tour, which covered detailed story of downfall of Yugoslavia, and modern World longest siege, Siege of Sarajevo.
It was a tour which at the time, for several years, hired only one person. It is a tour which today, “hires” so many Bosnians willing to tell their stories, and break the prejudice about their country.
While it was one of the first Sarajevo war related tours on the market, it certainly was the most special one.
It was special because it was told by the survivor, who had an honour to be citizen of this amazing city during it’s hardest times. It was special because it was told from the living experience of a child, who was 8 when it all started. A child who spent almost every night during the next 4 years, in the basement of his grandmother, wondering when and where the next bomb will hit. It was told by the child who lost some of his closest family members, and at the time did not understand the true nature of his parents tears. It was told by the child, who grew up 50, in only 4 years of his life.
It was told by me.
It was so deeply told, that our hostel guests, started recommending not only the hostel, but the tours offered by the staff, and hostel bookings boomed.
In 2009, when I graduated university, and before I started my masters degree, I was thinking what do I want to do in life.
Do I want to find a job and start working as most of my friends were doing already? Or do I want to be a storyteller? Should I find the job or should I create jobs?
I decided to make my own decisions.
I decided to put tours online.
While reading the book called Funky Business, I defined myself, Sarajevo Funky Tours, or the Funky Tours was born.
Until today, breaking prejudice, still is the vision.