I’m back in Prague, and things are the same but different in this dynamic place. After having been in Asheville for a few months, Prague feels more crowded and hectic than I recalled, and I suppose it might just be, as it continues its huge growth as a very popular city both to move to and to visit as a tourist. I read the other day that Czechia has more Ukrainian refugees per capita than any other EU country, and there are several hundred thousand here. That has certainly contributed to growth. And though there are more Americans moving to Czechia, the 11,000 or so here thus far means that it’s a very small group compared with many other foreign nationalities.
I recently went to a couple’s apartment for pancakes after a Saturday morning run through the city, with this being an annual Prague Social Runners event. At this get-together, beyond a few Czechs there was a German, a Ukrainian, a Russian, two Brits, an Indian, a Spaniard, an Iranian, an Uzbek, a Canadian, a Romanian, a Portuguese, a Serb, a Slovak, and more. Oh yeah, and one American — me. Prague is a diverse city with people from all over, which I thoroughly appreciate.
It’s a bit of a reality czech for me on this visit, at least in this first month, as this is the first time I’ve had to file a Czech tax return and pay income taxes, plus I need to decide within the next few weeks whether I apply for 2-year residency or call an end to this czechsperience. There are many factors worth consideration, and I seem to currently be craving ease and familiarity instead of dynamism and adventure. I’ll let you know in a future post what I decide!
I was not a tax resident in Czechia in 2025, so I am not required to pay taxes on unearned income, but I did have to pay income taxes for earned income associated with my Czech trade license for consulting services during the time the trade license was active. I also pay social security tax and a monthly health insurance premium. I was pleased to have found a great local company for preparing Czech tax documentation and determining what I owed for last year and what I should pay periodically this year. The social security tax is pretty high, but less than in the US. My understanding (to be verified once I obtain US tax assistance) is that the US and Czechia have an agreement whereby one only needs to pay into one social security system at a time.
Now that the tax authorities know my rough annual income, I know what my monthly health insurance premium actually is, and it’s $165/month for full coverage (no deductible). I determined that it would be over $1100/month for high-deductible (several thousands) US health insurance. So honestly that’s a big consideration. Yes, I pay extra for the residency services etc, but I’m saving a huge amount on health insurance! That Czech insurance covers me in the other EU states also. When I’m outside of the EU, I pay for a travel health insurance package based on Czech residence, and it’s got two options: rest of world without the US, or rest of world with the US. But even the one which includes the US is less expensive than having regular US health insurance, which I suppose is because it’s of limited term and doesn’t cover preexisting conditions.
Unfortunately my normal US accountant, who’s based in Asheville, indicated that he’s not comfortable with helping file US taxes for someone with foreign tax obligations, because he’s not aware of all the associated tax details. Fair enough. So I’ve been researching and interviewing tax helpers for expats. Now that my Czech tax filing is done, I’ll move on to US taxes. Wish me luck! I recall when living in Sweden how the Swedish tax return was pre-filled, and was just a few pages, while the US tax return was a large, heavy multi-volume pile of pages, haha.
Determining and then tracking the various logistical aspects of Czech life can be tricky, and not only for taxes. I’m leveraging a Google Drive folder with loads of subfolders and files thereunder to help me handle it all. Now that things are mostly in place, it’s normally quite manageable, and the tax return work (for Czechia anyway) was surprisingly straightforward. But if I apply for residency, I imagine that there’ll be a lot of paperwork yet again, though supposedly much less than for the 12-month visa.
Travel tips:
When making an accommodation reservation on Booking.com, be sure to leverage the mobile app, as there is often additional saving offered there just for using the mobile app itself. You can use the website on your computer if you prefer, for searching, but once you’ve chosen a place, make the reservation on the mobile app, just in case you can save even more.
My son recently called my attention to the US Bank Altitude Connect credit card, which I’ve found to be a great free card with no foreign transaction fees. They’ll reimburse for your TSA Pre fee, or for most of a Global Entry account cost, but the main draw for me has been the free Priority Pass airport lounge access (four times a year). Nice facilities, free food and drink, fast Wi-Fi, clean restrooms, and away from the hustle and bustle. Totally worth it! Not to mention the points you can earn for free travel. I don’t believe I’ve ever mentioned a specific credit card here before, but this one is so under the radar that I wanted to let you know about it.
Czech language fun:
I’m not actually sure exactly what it means, and it seems rather nonsensical, but how about this Czech phrase without traditional vowels?: “PRD KRT SKRZ DRN. ZPRV ZHLT HRST ZRN.” –Something like “The mole farted through the sod. He first swallowed a handful of grains.”
There may be historical reasons why certain words are similar or even the same across different meanings, but it does make learning a language trickier. Here is an example: “východní východ” is “eastern exit” — is there some connection between east and exit? Yes — according to ChatGPT, the eastern and exit connection is that the sun goes out (exits) from hiding in the east, haha. Here’s another: “doprava” can mean “traffic” or “to the right”. And one must look closely to distinguish between an entrance vs an exit with “vchod” vs “východ”. I recognize that every language, including English, has examples like these, but I definitely don’t/can’t take any of these in Czech for granted. In English I often don’t notice these sorts of things because they just got implanted in my brain long ago along the way so as to not stand out.
English language fun:
Now, for English! Here are some funny ambiguous sentences found in real news articles.
“The judge sentenced the killer to die in the electric chair for the second time.”
“No one was injured in the blast, which was attributed to the buildup of gas by one town official.”
And here’s a poem (from an anonymous source) reflecting the inconsistent and confusing pronunciation inherent in modern English:
I take it you already know
Of tough and bough and cough and dough?
Others may stumble, but not you,
On hiccough, thorough, slough and through.
Beware of heard, a dreadful word,
That looks like beard but sounds like bird.
And dead: It’s said like bed, not bead —
For goodness’ sake, don’t call it deed!
Watch out for meat and great and threat…
They rhyme with suite and straight and debt.
A moth is not the moth in mother,
Nor both in bother, nor broth in brother.
And here is not a match for there,
Nor dear and fear for bear and pear,
And then there’s dose and rose and lose —
Just look them up — and goose and choose.
And cork and work and card and ward,
And font and front and word and sword.
And do and go, then thwart and cart,
Come, come, I’ve hardly made a start!
A dreadful language? Why, sakes alive!
I’d learned to speak it when I was five.
And yet, to write it, the more I tried,
I hadn’t learned it at fifty-five.
Karlín neighborhood:
In this current visit to Prague, I’m staying in the Karlín neighborhood. It’s a fast-modernizing area of the city, and I rather like it. It’s a mix of old and new, with loads of apartment buildings under construction. Karlín is quite flat (and flood-prone, alas), and it’s one of the very few neighborhoods with a grid street layout. But right behind it is a huge ridgeline which separates Karlín from the Žižkov neighborhood. It’s quite the climb to go up and over this “hill”, though there is also a pedestrian tunnel, so you can walk right under, if you dare — the entry sign days “Neboj”, “Fear not”, haha.
Today’s fun music videos:
I learned this year that making musical instruments from vegetables is a thing! At least in Europe and Japan, anyway. Here are a couple of fun examples of multiple musicians playing with their food:
Today’s Stoic quote:
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
Major Meander 