Program Director Paweł Kunz
The Program Director of the ZWROTNIK Travelers Festival is Paweł Kunz – a journalist, tourism industry expert, and passionate traveler who has visited nearly 130 countries around the world. A devoted advocate for the charm of Polish regions and a practitioner of modern communication methods in the tourism sector. For many years, he has been sharing his knowledge and experience through numerous television programs, while also being active in radio and on major online platforms. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the travel website PanPodroznik.com, the author of articles in tourism industry publications, and a moderator and speaker at tourism congresses, travel festivals, and webinars. A travel marketing expert, he actively promotes cities, regions, and destinations – spreading awareness and best practices in tourism promotion.
You might come across Paweł Kunz on a plane, on a hiking trail, at the edge of the world – but also on a TV screen, on the radio, online, at a travel festival… or even in your own city, school, or university. Because he enjoys sharing. Not only his travel experiences, but also emotions and clever tricks for traveling cheaply and scoring unbelievable flight deals around the world. Mallorca for two cents? Palestine for 80 PLN? The USA for 250 PLN? Svalbard for 370 PLN? China for 400 PLN? Lake Baikal for 700 PLN? These are just a few examples of tickets he’s turned into extraordinary journeys.
As a child, he would often play with a globe… and always dreamed of seeing with his own eyes the places where his finger stopped. Aconcagua, Gibraltar, Nordkapp, Ararat – these names sparked his imagination. His curiosity about the world and its people has stayed with him to this day. He tries to “catch up” with those childhood dreams – as time, opportunity, and funds allow: once more survival-style, now more classic.
So, TRAVEL. Far and near. By hitchhiking, bike, car, train, airplane… and by other, sometimes rather odd, means of transport. Mini catamarans in Ukraine? A dog sled in Lapland? A camper in Canada, a kayak in the Caribbean, a tractor in Ireland, and a car trunk in Siberia? On water, land, and in the air. To places that are not always popular destinations, often in typical backpacker conditions. Why? Because that’s where you can find the true spirit of a country – and feel free. Or ask others what that word means to them.
Travel experience? Well, he gets around the globe a bit. He’s been at 7546 m above sea level and 418 m below sea level. He’s visited nearly 130 countries – including the biggest (Russia), the smallest (Vatican), and supposedly the most important (USA). He’s eaten scorpions in China, drunk kumis in Kazakhstan, ridden the Trans-Siberian Railway twice, buried a geocache in Luxembourg, survived a visit to the hottest place on Earth, and lounged on the beaches of Goa in India.
He painted graffiti on the wall separating Palestine from Israel, hiked the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland, avoided landmines in Laos and persistent women on the Argentine-Chilean border. He crossed the Taklamakan Desert, roamed the Silk Road, chased the northern lights in the Arctic, delivered humanitarian aid to orphanages in Kyrgyzstan – and skinny-dipped in Svalbard at 78° 13’N, just 1,100 km from the North Pole.
The list of Paweł Kunz’s adventures goes on. He hunted for vampires in Romanian castles, the Loch Ness monster in Scotland, ice sculptures in Murmansk, and traces of a bombing near the Georgian–South Ossetian border. He ran from the military on the highest peak of European Turkey – and twisted his ankle while descending an extinct volcano in Iceland. He fended off bears in northern Canada and monkeys in Costa Rica, explored the Negev Desert near Saudi Arabia, and nearly caused a diplomatic incident in northern Siberia… in winter. He slept in Spała, drank in Piła. He’s been to Hell and Heaven (both in the Końskie commune in Poland).
