Daily BrewEdmonton man travels the world with Coca-Cola in hand and posts to YouTube
Many people talk about dropping everything and traveling the world, but few actually make the trip.
Duane Perera did just that, and has the Coke cans to prove it.
Spurred by a failed relationship and his 30th birthday looming, Edmonton's Perera took off to see the world. He filmed his journey and shared it with fans on YouTube, each video featuring him drinking Coca-Cola in the exotic locations he visited.
He chose to feature Coca-Cola prominently in the videos because of how readily available it is worldwide.
"I remember going to remote villages in Africa, and Asia, they didn't speak English at all, but they still knew what Coca-Cola was," said Perera in an interview with CTV Edmonton.
Perera posted videos online throughout his trip, keeping viewers in the loop with his year-long sojourn and received lots of positive response to his adventure diaries. His trip ended with a final video showing him in 48 different cities across 36 countries, posing with a Coke in hand each time. He has received nearly 400,000 views on his YouTube channel, ResetGrowLive, so far.
A trip that takes you to Oktoberfest in Germany, La Tomatina in Spain and up Mount Kilimanjaro doesn't come cheap. Perera managed to rack up $27,000 in credit card debt over the course of his travels.
"Not exactly the most financially responsible thing to do," Perera said to CTV.
But he remains optimistic he won't have to foot that bill alone. He says he's hopeful Coca-Cola will want to turn his footage into a commercial. There have been early talks with executives in the U.S., but nothing yet set in stone.
Until then, Perera will return to his life in Edmonton where he is a music producer (the music in his final video was created by his company). Perera says he hopes others will be inspired by his adventure and will take risks of their own.
"This is an investment in myself, and I've learned so much on this trip and I can take those lessons with me for the rest of my life," said Perera to CTV.
Perera encourages his viewers to share their own travel dreams on Twitter with the hashtag #CokeAroundTheWorld.
Here's a five-minute look at what Perera's journey was like:
(Screengrab from YouTube)
