Drago Hrstić shares life story of poverty and global travel

Drago Hrstić, a resident of Gornji Grab near Ljubuški, has shared the remarkable story of his life, spanning from extreme childhood poverty to traveling the world as a seafarer.

Born in 1944, Hrstić recalls a childhood marked by severe hunger during the era of labor cooperatives, noting that his family sometimes had to eat grass to survive. He vividly remembers secretly planting handfuls of corn as a young boy in hopes of providing food for his family.

After serving in the navy, Hrstić worked in Austria and Germany. He credits an act of honesty in Austria—returning lost jewelry and a watch to the police—with helping him secure employment. His career eventually led him to work on American ships, where he experienced life-threatening storms in the Pacific. Despite his global travels and years of hard work, he currently lives alone, manages his own land, and does not receive a pension.