My name is Petr Michalik. I am 28 years old and have been an insulin dependent diabetic for nearly 4 years. I grew up in a village in the northeast part of the Czech Republic, which was at that time Czechoslovakia. When I was about a year old, the doctors found out that I had to be on a gluten-free diet. After graduating from the Technical University of Brno as a civil engineer, I started to work as an auditor in Prague. 

Soon after moving to Prague and starting a new job, I got typical diabetic symptoms. After a couple of weeks of suffering, I was diagnosed as a type 1 diabetic and hoped that my diagnosis was at one of the better hospitals in the Czech Republic. It was a shock, but was perhaps harder for my relatives and friends than me, because I was already used to a restrictive diet. I just thought it would be similar. But it was different. I did not know what I could or couldn't do. I began taking the first steps: educating myself and starting to do sports. 

In a couple of months, I was already doing all day cross-country trips. I liked outdoor activities since I was very young: hiking with my parents all around Czechoslovakia; then later on orienteering and bicycling. Now, my favorite activities are mountaineering, mountain and road biking,and orienteering. 

I have experienced mountains in Norway, Iceland, Slovakia and the Alps in Austria and Switzerland. 

When I found out about IDEA 2000, its people and their ideas, expedition idea, etc., I knew I found what I was looking for since I became diabetic. I am happy that I can share others' experience and that my experience will be shared in the future and that I can help IDEA 2000. In August of 1999 I reached the summit of Mont Blanc and look forward to reaching new heights with my IDEA 2000 team members.

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