- When do you leave?
December 2003
- How long do you plan to be away?
1-2 Years
- How much have you saved?
$18,000
- How old are you?
29
- Nationality
Poland
- Where do you live now?
Seattle, USA
- Occupation
Scientist
- 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
- Have you traveled around the world before?
No
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- How much planning and preparing have you done?
Planning is for tourists
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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...
- What is the biggest myth that people have about round-the-world traveling?
That only crazy people do it.
- 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.
- What is your advice for people planning their own RTW trip?
Think it, plan it, do it!