The article focuses on the mobility, and the lack of thereof, of Slovenes in the 19th and the 20th centuries. Due to the changes of state and social systems there was a wide range of possibilities, from unrestricted emigration (during the era of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, for instance) to the ban of emigration (during the period of the so-called Second Yugoslav Republic to the beginning of the 1960's. for example) Migrations were especially frequent in ethnically mixed border areas (such as Fruli-Venetia Giulia, Resia, the Prekmurje region, Bela krajina, Istria, etc ). In their new surroundings, immigrants were traditionally the upholders of the traditions from their homeland, especially of the language (dialect), customs, food culture, etc. The author illustrates his theses with a number of concrete examples.