In terms of traveling - a lot had to do with access to money. If you had money, you could travel. There were hassles, but many people managed to do it.
I had little money, but I managed to travel. The first time was the toughest experience.
Remember also that traveling in those times was more expensive - think about air fares.
What are you talking about? Who could afford it? Have you ever heard about hitchhiking? Not recommended in DDR though. I tried it unsuccessfully and was stopped by DDR police half way to Hof, returned back to Bautzen (Budziszyn), interrogated and then sent back to Polish border. So the train was the only effective option to go through DDR and to reach the West.
And ferry to Scandinavia was also not that expensive and one could pay in Polish zloty. The fare included Swedish table and few drinks at the bar. Those paying in Polish currency had a choice of Polish vodka and Polish beer, all the others - all those colourful drinks and Tuborg beer. It was the first and the only time I felt discriminated against. :-)
This were times when being a flight assistant was a top-job (especially in Eastern Europe, but even in other countries it still had the "glam" factor).
That's very true. :-)
do you know anything about the so called Polonia companies that were set up in the beginning of the 80's?
I knew about one, Dalimpex Ltd. in Etobicoke (west Toronto), Canada, but it was set much earlier by PRL as an import-export company, dealing with heavy machinery and tools - among other things. Rumor was that they also did some spying on Toronto Polonia. A company of this name still exists, listed as one of the Food Products in Mississauga, at new address. Check this report from 1989, where they presented their view on foreign markets, especially the Canadian one, citing some numbers,
dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a345082.pdf
Toronto Polonia companies have been doing a lot of business with Poland. For example, Polimex: travel, tours, parcels, cargo - they have been here for ages. Everyone here used their service at least once. There are several Polish bookstores, so someone has to deal with import of books and magazines. And food - a lot of imperishables are imported from Poland: confectionaries, herbal teas or even coffee (sic!).