"Hi Adam,
Sounds good! Actually I am in Malacca now, on my way to Singapore and probably Indonesia later. I'll go to Johor Bahru tomorrow morning and will give you a call. Where can I find you?
-Witek"
I gave Witek info on how to find the boat, and sure enough, the next afternoon he was standing on the dock.
Witek has been traveling for the past two months. Like me, he recently finished grad school and set aside some personal time to go see the world. Two months ago, however, he embarked on a very different journey.
Witek left Poland on a flight to Finland, traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia, took a train across Siberia, crossed Mongolia, traveled south through China, hopped on a plane from Shanghai to Kuala Lumpur, and now he's in Singapore planning his next move (most likely on a plane to Indonesia). He has one more month of travel planned, and he's trying to decide how to fit Borneo, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos into his itinerary.
We sat and swapped stories from our respective journeys, and I think we both felt a little jealous of the other.
He carries nothing but a school-size backpack, travels by train and bus, and stays at hostels and cheap hotels. He said the only difficulty he encounters is finding good internet cafes; transportation has been very good and there are always hostels close to train and bus terminals.
Although the EYE of the World crew is seeing the world by sea, Witek is a prime example of another great way to travel.
Classroom Exercise:
Take a world map and trace out Witek's route. How does it compare to the EYE of the World route?
PS: We sent the above photo to both of our mothers.