Bartek Kwieciszewski

1. When do you leave?
   December 2003

2. How long do you plan to be away?
   1-2 Years

3. How much have you saved?
   $18,000

4. How old are you?
   29

5. Nationality
   Poland

6. Where do you live now?
   Seattle, USA

7. Occupation
   Scientist

8. Is this job one that you actually like, or are you only doing it to pay for the trip?
   I'll come back if they'll have me

9. Have you traveled around the world before?
   No

10. What is the route you plan to take/places you plan to visit?
    Poland, the Arctic in Finland, UK & Ireland, France, Switzerland, Italy, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Russia, China, Nepal, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, Bali (oh yeah baby!), the Oz-land and Kiwi-land, Fiji, Ushuaia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Belize, Mexico and back home. All subject to change of course as I have only a one way ticket to Berlin.

11. Why did you decide to take this trip? What got you into this type of travel, and/or influenced you to go?
    There are too many reasons to list in such a short space. This is a Walkabout for me, a journey of discovery, shedding a lifestyle, prejudices, getting over problems and hangups... It's about 1/3 pure wanderlust, 1/3 escapism and 1/3 catharsis and therapy.

12. What is your biggest fear about this trip?
    That upon coming back I cannot get back to "regular" life and just want to keep on drifting for the rest of my life.

13. Are your family, friends, co-workers, etc., supportive of you? What is their opinion of your going around the world?
    I haven't told many people yet, but most of the ones that I've shared the plan with are very supportive.

14. How much planning and preparing have you done?
    Planning is for tourists

15. What are you packing? What do you consider your most indispensable item(s)?
    My (incomplete) packing list:
    Good hiking boots and sandals
    Journal
    Digital camera with plenty of flash memory
    3 pairs of pants
    3 shirts/t-shirts
    3 changes of sox and boxers
    personal hygene stuff
    money
    passports

    I'll think of other stuff later, but I'm not leaving without my journal to write in.

16. How do you think your round-the-world trip will change your life? How do you think it will affect and change you as a person?
    I hope it will make me more confident, more friendly and more optimistic about life and people. I hope to find my true self, as I have been lost in the recent years.

17. If you had to sum up your thoughts/feelings about your round-the-world trip in one sentence, what would it be?
    Journey of discovery.

18. Why do you think people should go on round-the-world trips? Why not just take a regular old one- or two-week vacation instead?
    RTW trip is not a vacation. It can be a great learning experience for the traveller: learning to live on a shoestring, learning to accept others, learning about yourself...

19. What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
    That only crazy people do it.

20. Why do you like to travel?
    "To travel is to live" - Hans Christian Andersen

    Travel opens your mind, broadens your horizons, destroys your stereotypes and makes you a better person inside.

21. What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
    Think it, plan it, do it!