By default, $HOME/perl5 is where perlbrew puts all its stuff, including perlbrew itself. This can be adjusted when you install perlbrew using an environmental variable (PERLBREW_ROOT I think). I assume you already added the appropriate file you need to source on login to $HOME/.bash_profile or $HOME/.bashrc. You probably also installed cpanm via perlbrew install-cpanm. Both "binaries" perlbrew and cpanm are used no matter what perl you use. I do not recommend adding a directory in @INC that is outside of the isolated perl environments you're created with perlbrew, unless it's via FindBin and managed directly in any Perl programs you're writing. The idea is that perl and all modules installed via cpanm. Unfortunately while perlbrew does a phenomial job at allowing one to manage perl environmental contexts, it's isolation stops there. For example, any modules that rely on libraries installed on the system (e.g., libopenssl) will all find the same libraries unless you've taken the steps to install your own set of libraries and fiddled your LD_* environmental variables appropriately.