One solution is to pass the information to the parent and let it change the path.

• Unix, single command:

  chdir `perl -e 'print quotemeta("/some/path")'`
  [download]

• Unix, multiple commands:

  $ cat script.pl
  print("set var=val\n");
  print("set foo=bar\n");
  print("cd /some/path\n");
  
  $ script.pl > temp_file && source temp_file && rm temp_file
  [download]

  I'm sure it can be done without a temp file, but my sh scripting is rusty.

• Windows, multiple commands:

  >type script.pl
  print("set var=val\n");
  print("set foo=bar\n");
  print("cd \\some\\path\n");
  
  >for /f "usebackq delims=" %%f in (`script.pl`) do %%f
  [download]