Wojciech Cejrowski, pronounced Voycieh Ceyrovski, is the Polish equivalant of the Crocodille Hunter. And while I may have exaggerated a little due to the obvious fact that his shows are not at all animal related, I wanted to make a strong point about the wackiness of this travel guru. Cejrowski is a world traveler, but he’s not your typical “Rick Steves” if you know what I mean.

Cejrowski’s passion is Latin America and though his hit TV show “Barefoot Around the World” takes you all around the globe, you can really see a sparkle in his delivery when it comes to all things Latin America. In the show, where as the title suggests he walks barefoot EVERYWHERE, he feels at home no matter where he’s at. On a a busy street in Mexico City, or deep in the jungle in Peru, it’s amazing how well he fits in and how people just seem to just accept his quirkiness.

His travel books are the only one’s I’ve ever physically cried of laughter to. Sometimes I don’t even think he intends to be funny. It’s just the things he does with people around him, some of whom see a white man for the very fist time, are hilariously amazing.

My comparison to the Crocodile Hunter derives from his complete lack of fear when it comes to travel. In his book “Gringo Among Wild Tribes” he describes his journey through the unfinished section of the Pan-American Highway. As a reminder, the Pan-American Highway is a 29,800 mile stretch of road from Alaska all the way down to Brazil, however interrupted between Panama and Colombia for many reasons, one of them being dangerous tribes that kill anyone crossing through their land. Cejrowski managed to walk out alive.

Besides never putting on shoes he does have another quirk, one which I particularly happen to applaud; he always wears Hawaiian shirts. ALWAYS! Hawaiian shirt Friday’s are one thing, always wearing a comfortable and a colorful shirt that says “hey, cheer up, life’s good” is just awesome.

Cejrowski is capitalizing on his fame as one of Poland’s best known adventurers with stores selling his favorite tea Yerba Mate and even Hawaiian shirts by his very own clothing line, WC Collection. I happened to stop by one of hist stores before Christmas and took a photo with a life-like cardboard cutout dressed in a Hawaiian shirt. This might be as close to the guy as I’ll ever get, or as close I’ll ever want to get. Karolina, on the other hand, actually met him at a book convention where he was signing his travel collection and posing for photos never assuming the same face twice.