Working Abroad Q&A: Each week, Irish Times Abroad meets an Irish person working in an interesting job overseas. This week, Marcus Bradshaw, from Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare, tells us how he came to be working as a tour guide in Prague
When did you leave Ireland, and what were your reasons for leaving?
I left Ireland on the Erasmus university exchange programme in September 2012. I was supposed to return to Dublin in June 2013, but I started a business here instead. I spent the summer working in Prague and returned to Dublin in September to complete my degree. The Irish economy was still on its knees and I had created a job for myself abroad, so once I sat my finals, I got back on a plane.
Why Prague?
I was something of an eternal student, so I hadn’t held a full-time job before coming here. I spent four years studying architecture before realising that I didn’t want to be an architect, so I withdrew from the course and read History and English Literature at Trinity College instead. The opportunity to study abroad came as part of the course in Trinity. However, the irony of going to Prague to study English literature was not lost on my family.
What do you do there?
I run a small company called Naked Tour Guide (www.nakedtourguideprague.com). We provide historical walking tours for independent travellers and small groups of people. It's a lot of fun. (And yes, we wear clothes.)
What career path did you follow to arrive at your current position?
It all started with a summer job in Kilmainham Gaol, where I found that I had a real passion for storytelling, or “teaching history on the hoof”. Later, I worked as a guide in Trinity College, leading groups on the official tour of the campus and using the proceeds to help pay my tuition fees. Once in Prague, I started studying Czech history and the need to support myself, coupled with my experience in Dublin, led me to establish myself as a guide here.
How did you go about setting yourself up in business as a tour guide in Prague?
I had to apply for a trade licence to work as a guide. It required a bit of paperwork and a patient Czech-speaking friend to do the translation, as I didn’t speak Czech at the time.
What are the challenges you face in your work?
Finding customers or, more accurately, having customers find us. Our biggest challenge is to effectively market our tours in a very crowded market. Thankfully, we are now established enough to have built up a small fan base, so many of our customers find us through word-of-mouth. Also, we’ve recently started working with other small companies running similar tours in different countries. It’s an exciting project that helps our customers connect with other great guides, while helping new customers find us, and allowing us to establish connections with guides all across the world.
What does your working day look like?
My schedule is varied, depending on the time of year, the number of tours we have running and the number of guides available to work. We run three tours every day, at 8am, 11am, and 8pm. I love the early morning tours because the city centre gets so crowded during the day. It’s so nice to have the place to ourselves and our customers really appreciate that. On a particularly busy day, I might end up running three tours myself, which can be a lot of walking and talking. If I’m lucky, I’ll probably squeeze in a Czech lesson in the afternoon, along with an hour of admin.
Do you think working abroad has offered you greater opportunities?
Not at the start, but I think that doors are opening for me now as I learn more of the language.
What advice would you give to someone interested in pursuing a career abroad?
It’s easier if you plan it.
Are there any other Irish people in your business/social circles in Prague?
The Irish embassy here is great for bringing people together and I met a good friend through an embassy event. Similarly, she did Erasmus and met a Czech guy. They’re now married with two kids, and she is living in a village outside Prague. We occasionally team up to compare notes regarding our efforts to adapt to our adopted cultures.
What is it like living in Prague in terms of accommodation, transport, social life and so on?
I absolutely love living in Prague. My boyfriend and I rent two rooms in an old apartment building in a working-class district in the centre, which we are slowly doing up and transforming into a home. I have four trams just outside the door, and so I can be anywhere in the city in under 25 minutes. Social life here tends to involve beer – as it is literally cheaper than water – and the trams run all night, so there is never any problem getting home after a night out.
Where do I see my future?
I tend not to look too far into the future, but I don’t see myself moving back to Dublin. As a general rule, rent, transport, and beer cost four times as much in Dublin as they do in Prague. I find Ireland to be very bad value, and I am reluctant to give up my good quality of life here. I’m a country bumpkin at heart and I like the idea of settling in the countryside, be that Mayo or Moravia. Being in a relationship with a Czech changes the equation, as his family and friends are here, therefore any decision that we make, we’ll make together.
Is there anything you miss about living and working in Ireland?
I miss the warmth and the wit of the Irish people.
If you work in an interesting job overseas and would like to share your experience, email abroad@iristimes.com with a little information about yourself and what you do.
