Man goes on world tour with $5, visits 50 countries

ISTANBUL

A 29-year-old man from the Marmara province of Sakarya, who left his university education halfway through due to his dream of making a world tour hit the road with $5 in his pocket, has traveled to more than 50 countries in five years.

Setting out to experience the “modern hobo culture,” Ensar Sevindik chose a life that he would lead by trusting only the people he would meet on the way, after his first trip to Georgia and Russia.

The modern hobo is defined as the modernized version of migration, where those who are overwhelmed by cities or plazas travel the world using technology in the best way possible.

Stating that Jack London’s The Railroad Vagrants, which he read when he was 16, was influential in his decision, Sevindik said, “London was after pure road adventure. I sought the same with my adolescent energy, and then my interest was always in that direction. What I read and watched was all about adventure and the road.”

Noting that he only had $5 in his pocket when he left Türkiye, the “full-time traveler” finds his way around mostly by hitchhiking, but also by plane, train, ferry and bus when necessary.

Underlining that hitchhiking journeys have a philosophical aspect to him rather than being free, Sevindik said, “You cannot find a better way to understand the local culture than hitchhiking in a country you just visited. In fact, thanks to the hitchhiking trips I made in South America in the last 10 months, I can talk Spanish now.”

For accommodation, Sevindik uses a mobile app which allows him to meet new families all over the world.

Expressing that he has sponsorship agreements with two different companies, Sevindik said, “I don’t make big money. However, if you can communicate with people and have survival skills, you don’t need to earn thousands of dollars a month to travel the world.”

Stating that he could never adapt to settled life and always had as much as a backpack, the traveler said, “I didn’t need much. I didn’t have relationships or materials that would keep me stable in one place.”

“The greatest awareness I have gained is that no matter where we are in the world, regardless of nationality, culture, language, religion or race, it may be an indigenous tribe or a metropolitan person, in fact, we are all essentially the same.”

Sevindik, who is now in Bolivia’s Samaipata town, plans to work as a volunteer at a local cafe for a while in exchange for accommodation and food, then move on to Peru and continue his journey till arriving in Alaska.