It began 30 years ago. When I was a boy I wanted to become Indiana Jones. School = prison & tortures. Truancy = freedom & the meaning of life. Wanted to live in Nautilus. As Nautilus was difficult to come by, I planned to live on a tree. Thor Heyerdahl was my hero and the slingshot was my weapon. Considerably nutty about mythology and the story of exploration since the day I learned to read. Problematic. First escape from home at the age of 12. Eight years later I found myself digging Neolithic burial grounds.

 

Traveling. It started with journeys in time, into my beloved ancient history. It seized me. At the age of 17 I was finally unleashed and the first real independent trip set off - into the realm of mythological creatures, Greece. One hot evening, July 1992, leaving Warsaw, heading south, a backpacker was born. An unforgettable overland trip from Poland towards the Mediterranean Sea. Over 2000 kilometers one way onboard a semi-trailer truck. Dispatched into the unknown, as I believed at that moment. And so it began in the real world - I became instantly addicted. To experience what I had read about before. Since that time I've managed to cross six continents and visit 108 countries.

 

Uncovering settlements and examining skeletons threw me into anthropology. Years passed, more mythological creatures were met, more countries visited, more stones touched. Among several passions I'm devoted to - traveling combined with ethnographic and social research within different regions of planet Earth, is my biggest lust for life. Best thing, if it's done on a motorcycle.

 

Motorcycles, I love them. As much as all types of language studies, trekking, knowledge, ancient words (and worlds), studies in religion, art, diving, mountains and wildlife. Always trying to learn as much as I can about local people and their life. A forgotten Amazon village or a giant metropolis.

 

Backpacking on a shoestring, hitchhiking, living on the road. Countless days that I survived for less than 3 dollars. Now, AD 2015, it can still be easily achieved in many regions of the world, if you have a tent, sleeping bag, cooking equipment, water supplies, basic nutrition knowledge, and don't mind harsh conditions. 

 

All of my travels have been theme oriented. From the first moments on the Greek soil in 1992 till the last hours of the recent world ramble 2014 - it has always been the pursuit into the world of history, archaeology, anthropology, architecture, heritage, ethnicity. I call it the ethnic trails. 

People sometimes ask me, how did I do it. At the beginning, starting with the first trips across Europe in the early 90's, I was fortunate to be supported by my family. I bought my first motorcycle in 1993 and so it started. Roadtrips.

 

There's adrenaline and dopamine behind it, true. Why most of the base jumpers are constantly smiling? Because there's a lot of dopamine in their frontal lobes. To get my regular dose of felicity, every two years I used to make a "crazy Ivan" move, stop working, suspend all duties, get my backpack and stride the planet. Unrelentingly, with passion and fury, through jungles, mountains, deserts. Ring out the old, ring in the new.