I’m a survivalist who’s hacked the travel system by visiting nine countries after starting with just a penny: Adventurous Brit’s incredible journey across Europe – and how he managed to fund it on the cheap
- Kerr Rawden, 29. completed stunning solo journey across continent in a month
An adventurous Brit believes he has hacked the travel system – touring nine European countries for just a penny.
As the cost of living crisis grips the nation, daring Kerr Rawden challenged himself to trek from Weymouth in the south of England to Turkey – where he would cross the Bosphorus Bridge into Asia.
And in a stunning journey that saw him staring down jackals in wolf-infested Bulgarian forests, flogging kebabs to cannabis-smoking hippies in Amsterdam and kayaking a stunning 200km down the empty Danube, the 29-year-old completed his mammoth challenge in just one month.
Armed with just a towel, changes of clothes, a hammock, a torch and his trusty penknife, he set off to travel the continent in a stunning solo journey.
Kerr – who runs a gardening company in Somerset – said: ‘I wanted to do it to push myself to get out of my comfort zone, and do something crazy, do something that would have me on my toes after a period of time where I felt a bit stagnant in life here in the UK.
In a stunning journey that saw him staring down jackals in wolf-infested Bulgarian forests, flogging kebabs to cannabis-smoking hippies in Amsterdam and kayaking a stunning 200km down the empty Danube, the Kerr Rawden completed his mammoth challenge in just one month
Armed with just a towel, changes of clothes, a hammock, a torch and his trusty penknife, the 29-year-old set off to travel the continent in a stunning solo journey
Kerr challenged himself to trek from Weymouth in the south of England to Turkey – where he would cross the Bosphorus Bridge into Asia
‘I’d seen someone in America do something kind of similar so I wanted to kind of one up them and do it across Europe in places where I don’t have the right to work and speak the language.
‘And it was a great way to kind of see Europe in a different kind of way. I wanted to meet people, see beautiful places, and I loved the idea of getting across that bridge to Asia and being able to say I got across Europe for a penny.’
Kerr, who was born in Kenya and spent much of his childhood in the Spanish mountains, decided to set out on his mission after failing to get onto Netflix series Alone.
A keen survivalist, he grew frustrated while living back in the UK after the pandemic forced him home from Indonesia.
He had spent the first six months of lockdown isolated on a remote island – where the looming threat of supply ships not coming drove him to develop his skills, spearing fish and learning to make fire through friction.
But – despite spending much of his twenties travelling – Kerr has lived at his family home since returning and was ready for another adventure.
Using his gardening box company Happy Growers as inspiration, he set his goal as a Turkish orphanage, who he would donate seeds to to help them grow their own sustainable food.
He is going to visit it at a later date, where he will teach the children how to grow and cultivate the plants.
He started his journey with just a penny – which he had to turn into enough money to get him out of the country
The mammoth trek included a stunning solo kayak 200km down the river Danube
Documenting his journey for his YouTube channel KerrBear Adventures – he is hoping to raise awareness of how you can live sustainably and save money in the cost of living crisis, and says he will donate a seed for every new subscriber he gets.
Looking back on his trip from the bridge overlooking the edge of Europe, he continued: ‘It felt really good. It was a huge dopamine dump. It was a massive rush.
‘It had only been a month, but it felt like it had been three months and thinking about all the things that had happened in such a small period of time that had enabled me to get there, all the people that had helped me, all this crazy or stupid little hustles that I had done.
‘All the moments – the lows, like waking up in poo or running out of food and water on the Danube.
‘But then the highs as well – it was a rollercoaster of emotions.
‘But it was really satisfying and exhilarating to have made it that far.’
Kerr started off his mammoth journey in Weymouth, stringing up a hammock underneath the pier and slowly trading his penny for a pen, then a pound, and finally making some money selling bottles of water for £1 each to tourists.
The entrepreneur – who was quickly moved on by the harbourmaster from his camping spot – was then able to make enough money to travel to London by catching spider crabs and flogging them to a Chinese restaurant.
Even from the start he had to have his wits about him – while camping under the pier the first night he woke up to find the tide had come in and he was stranded in his hammock
He was able to make enough money to travel to London by catching spider crabs and flogging them to a Chinese restaurant
When on the capital’s streets he turned this into a small fortune by heading to the jewelry quarter – and trawling the streets with a flashlight looking for diamonds.
Documenting his journey on his YouTube channel, he bought a passage to Amsterdam, where he made money by collecting refundable bottles from bins and sold chicken kebabs to people enjoying the city’s cannabis laws.
From there, he hitchiked to Germany with at grand total of £59.86 – where he worked at a fishing festival in Bavaria who gave him free food and drink.
Moving from there to Prague, he had more money than any point on his trip, after collecting more refund bottles – and he endered the Czeck Republic with £72.81.
But, after buying a second-hand kayak in Bratislava he was back down to £7.71, and by the time he reached Budapest he had just 59p – where he had to resort to dumpster diving for food.
But, after selling his boat, he was back up to nearly £50 when he arrived in Romania, and from there he hitchhiked through Bucharest before crossing Bulgaria on foot.
By the time he reached the Bosporus Bridge in Istanbul he had just £3.05.
But not all was smooth sailing – despite stunning views and friendly locals, Kerr told of terrifying moments in his journey where he found himself gripping his penknife for the illusion of protection.
But not all was smooth sailing – despite stunning views and friendly locals, Kerr told of terrifying moments in his journey where he found himself gripping his penknife for the illusion of protection. Pictured: Under a bridge in
While kayaking 200km along the Danube in an inflatable boat, in a terrifying moment he ran out of food and water
He desperately hoped for a café to refuel on the river banks – but at one point had to resort to survivalist foraging
He said: ‘I brought a Swiss army knife with me and there were two moments where I took it out of my bag and put it in my pocket.
‘The first was in Slovakia – it was alone Danube when I pulled up off the river amd it was pretty much dark.
‘I was hiding under a bridge and sleeping in the kayak – it was a tiny little industrial town, rundown, and I was immediately harassed. I went back to my bush and hid there till morning.
‘The other time was in Bulgaria as I was making my way to the Turkish border. I thought I would camp in the woods that night then do the border crossing in the morning.
‘These words are full of bears and wolves – people told me about this, but I had realised how everyone has this country or people that they are a bit scared or that they don’t know so much about and there’s a bit of prejudice. So I started to kind of not really taking people’s warning seriously.
‘I didn’t see a bear or a wolf, but a jackal crossed right in front of me as I was walking to the waterfall.
‘This massive dog – I was terrified. I froze where I was standing.
‘And the jackal sauntered along in front of me. And then he turned and saw me.
In one low point, he slept at a truck resting point and woke up surrounded by human poo
At points, the journey was more civilised – in Germany he worked at a fishing festival in return for food and drink
‘Luckily the jackal was more scared of me than I was of him and he bolted – but I thought: “I’m going to take my knife out of my bag and put it in my pocket, just in case.”‘
Even from the start he had to have his wits about him – while camping under the pier the first night he woke up to find the tide had come in and he was stranded in his hammock.
And while kayaking 200km along the Danube in an inflatable boat, he ran out of food and water.
Desperately foraging to survive, he collected whelks and boiled them in an old beer can over a fire.
He said: ‘When I was on the Danube, I ran out of water a couple times. There was a day where I was paddling without water worrying: am I gonna get to a little cafe or something.
‘Eventually I did and I managed to refill some water. But then I ran out of water again and I was forced to do this impromptu survival challenge.’
It took him almost a week in total solitude to complete the journey through the river – and he even paddled nude for stretches after seeing noone for days.
As he kayaked closer to cites, he found himself rocked by the wake of huge ships as he desperately tried to stay afloat and carry on paddling.
Desperately foraging to survive, he collected whelks and mussels and boiled them in an old beer can over a fire
On one day, while paddling the Danube, his entire meal was a single mussel (pictured)
Kerr sent his family photos every day – but made sure to keep the worst of his experiences out of his texts.
He added: ‘They know I’m kind of I do this sort of thing. Maybe not something this crazy, but I’m always out camping and getting myself in sticky situations.
‘When I first told them they were like: “What? Why!”
‘It was a but of a shock but they also understood that I just wanted to go on an adventure and see what happened.
‘It’s all about the experience. That’s what I was looking for.’
And not everything went to plan – Kerr brought his bank card as a backup just incase he realised he had got in too deep, and lost it while just half way through the trip.
He had also planned to deliver two of his plants to the Istanbul orphanage, but the journey was too much for the dwarf green bean plant and the venus fly trap was left behind on the train in Germany.
Kerr continued: ‘I should have put a lot more planning into it. I had a few vague ideas but I think in the video it comes across like I’ve planned it a lot more than I actually did.
After buying a second-hand kayak in Bratislava he was back down to £7.71. Pictured: Leaving Slovakia
Kerr has recommended anyone who wants to go on a ‘crazy adventure’ to follow in his footsteps – but says they should be a lot more prepared than he was
‘A lot of the time it was like the night before and I was like: “What the hell am I gonna do tomorrow?”
‘When I was on the Danube I didn’t see anyone doing the same thing the whole time, apart from one other German guy who had started in the Black Forest in Germany and was making his way down to the Black Sea.
‘He was a canoe instructor for 20 years and he was doing it properly – and he was like: “You’re an inflatable kayak without without the lifejacket on. You’re an idiot.”
‘That was when I realised I really didn’t put much thought into this.
‘It was incredible. And if someone wants and wants to go on a crazy adventure, go for it.
‘But perhaps put in a bit more planning than I did!’
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