Ex stockbroker Tomislav Perko reveals how to travel with no money

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This was published 8 years ago

Ex stockbroker Tomislav Perko reveals how to travel with no money

By Rosanna Price
Updated
If you're game, hitchhiking is a good way to get around a country for nothing - just look happy and wear clean clothes.

If you're game, hitchhiking is a good way to get around a country for nothing - just look happy and wear clean clothes.Credit: iStock

From successful stockbroker to poor traveller, Tomislav Perko has no regrets. His travel bug recently landed him in New Zealand... And maybe this time he'll stay.

The published travel writer is in the country sharing his tips on globe-trotting on a budget, having travelled through more than 50 countries over five years - without almost any money.

"I lost my job, I didn't have any money," Perko said.

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He had been a victim of the 2008 financial crisis in his home of Croatia, which left him unemployed even with a Masters of Business and Economics.

Before the stockmarket crash, Perko was a typical suit, he would go to fancy restaurants and he bought everything he wanted.

"I kind of thought working on your career and having as much money as you can that's the real success."

Tom Perko thumbs a ride on Great Ocean Road.

Tom Perko thumbs a ride on Great Ocean Road.Credit: Facebook

Once he was left in debt and had lost colleagues he thought were friends, he realised making money was not the purpose of life.

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Luckily Perko had been playing host to a lot of travellers who would "couchsurf" (stay on his couch for free) at his house.

Eventually the people he met persuaded him that life abroad could be a good way "to find peace of mind".

"I hosted around 150 people in the course of one or two years and I think that was actually the biggest inspiration for me," he said.

"When you have people in your living room giving you their experiences...I realised anyone can travel if they really want to."

But he was still broke.

So he identified the three main factors in travel, and then he cut those costs for himself on his voyages:

TRANSPORTATION

• Hitchhiking - lessons Perko had learnt included the need to "look happy" and "wear clean clothes".

• Biking - it's generally cheaper than driving, he said.

• Car relocations - driving cars that need to go from one city to another. Perko is using this method to see New Zealand.

ACCOMMODATION

• Couch surfing, which is where you can find people online willing to lend their couches and homes to travellers, for free. "Most of the time I used couch-surfing," he said.

• Camping - "If you have your tent you can sleep almost anywhere you want."

• Volunteering - there are a lot of opportunities around the world where you can work in exchange for accommodation, maybe even food, he said.

• House-sitting, which Perko is doing in New Zealand.

• Home exchange - "For people that are a little bit older...home exchange is perfect," he said.

OTHER EXPENSES, INCLUDING FOOD

• Cook where you're staying

• Eat at cheaper local places

• Another alternative method of eating he tried was "dumpster-diving".

The best place to dumpster dive is in developed "rich" countries, like Australia, he said. Supermarkets throw food out into big waste bins at the end of the day, he said, so some of his friends took him along to go search for a meal in there.

"Over 40 per cent to 50 per cent of food that is being produced is being thrown away." Most food is packaged, so it's not rotten, and it's still very good to eat, he said.

In Australia, Perko actually got a job diverting traffic where he worked for 13 days on $20 an hour - the income would have paid for eight months of travelling, he said.

Earning money when you travel, where you can, is also part of the budget experience. Perko even busked on the street using his repertoire of four songs.

After a brief respite at home in Croatia to publish his book 1000 Days of Spring, Perko had to make a direct trip to New Zealand.

"I've heard so many beautiful stories about the nature and about the friendliness of people," he said.

He woke his girlfriend up in the middle of the night and told her he had to come to New Zealand. Two weeks later they were on a plane.

They have been here for five months already and are looking to stay longer - it could be months "or years, who knows?"

Perko has documented his and his girlfriend's expenses in New Zealand on his travel blog.

Stuff.co.nz

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