From Banja Luka to Half the World: How Robert Dacešin’s Story Began

“They only found it after opening a folder with a list of all countries in the world - between Iraq and Somalia,” Robert Dacešin tells HEDONIST magazine. The Banja Luka native has traveled across half the globe. Maybe even more. Singapore, Brunei, Jordan, China, countries across South America, Malaysia, Vietnam, Seychelles, Kenya, Zanzibar, New York, Istanbul, Cyprus…

“People who don’t know me well think I just travel the world and do nothing else. Very few actually know what I do. I completed a master’s degree in economics in Bratislava, worked as a tennis umpire, speak five languages, and I wrote a tourist guide for Banja Luka. Along the way, I ended up traveling across half the world. I even made it to South America - to Brazil, a country I had dreamed about for years,” says Dacešin.

The First Change of Direction

At his first job, he had 18 days off per year - and that was it.

“But what is 18 days? That’s two trips,” he says.

A few extra days could be added through holidays and weekends, but it was never enough. He always dreamed of leaving “properly” - spending two months in a distant country while earning money by simply opening and closing a laptop.

“I finished university, then sat at home with a master’s degree, five languages, and the fact that I had officiated matches for Rafael Nadal. I sat there a bit longer. And a bit longer. About six months. Sending my CV every day to dozens of places. Usually, I wouldn’t get a single reply. Then I decided to learn digital marketing. And everything changed.”

First, the World Came to Him

Before he set off into the world, the world came to him.

While planning one of his early trips to Vienna, he discovered a platform where people offer free accommodation to other travelers. He started hosting.

People from more than 15 countries passed through his apartment.

“The more I hosted, the more I realized I could do it too. That traveling cheaply is actually the simplest thing in the world, and that all the obstacles I saw existed only in my head.”

Today, his experiences go far beyond what he could have imagined as a high school student.

“I’ve traveled to nearly 50 countries. I’ve been to five continents. I’ve learned five foreign languages. I worked as a tennis umpire at some of the biggest tournaments in the world. I officiated matches for Nadal, Murray, Berdych, Del Potro, Ferrer, Monfils, Fognini, and many others.”

He hitchhiked through villages in Georgia, volunteered in an orphanage in Tanzania, walked through the ruins of Chornobyl, explored remote parts of Colombia, ventured into the Amazon in Ecuador, cooked Vietnamese food with locals, climbed Mount Etna, walked through volcanic mud in Azerbaijan, lived in student dorms in Valencia and Bratislava, and rode jeeps through the desert in Qatar.

Some of those stories will be published on the HEDONIST website in the coming days.

Hummus and Falafel

An essential part of Dacešin’s travels is also food. In Jordan, that meant hummus.

“If I had to describe Jordanian food in one word, it would be hummus. Whatever we ordered came with some version of it. Another would probably be falafel, because it’s everywhere. If you love Arabic cuisine, I think you’ll really enjoy the food in Jordan - it’s truly authentic. I recommend trying baba ghanoush and kofta. The most popular drink in the country is black herbal tea,” says Dacešin.

• Written by: Goran Dakić / HEDONIST
• Originally published in HEDONIST Magazine, Issue 01, 2020