
Traveling from China to Europe on a cargo ship - kareemm
http://america.aljazeera.com/multimedia/2013/11/27-days-on-a-cargoshipfromchina.html
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david-given
This isn't as hard as it looks --- lots of freighters are set up to carry
passengers. (Apparently about 1%, but that's still many thousands of ships.)
You're basically staying in officer's quarters. The reviews I've seen all
comment on the cabins and food all being plain but really good. There appears
to be no internet (but you can make satellite calls at €5 a minute).

Pricing is reasonable by hotel standards, about €100 a day, but of course you
have to pay for the entire voyage. A transatlantic voyage from Felixstowe to
New York takes about 12 days. If you have 130 days to spare, you can do a
round-the-world trip.

There seems to be quite a community doing it, mostly older people. They're not
cruise liners, so there's no entertainment --- it's definitely for the self-
reliant only. And, of course, the ship's going to _cargo_ ports, so everywhere
the ship calls will be in the middle of nowhere.

See here for more information (yes, I've thought of doing a trip):

[https://www.freightercruises.com/q_a_freighter_cruise_guide....](https://www.freightercruises.com/q_a_freighter_cruise_guide.php)

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jon-wood
Since that ship's journey ended at Southampton docks, a fourty five minute
walk from my house, I feel obliged to point out not all cargo docks are in the
middle of nowhere. I have no idea if we're just the exception though, and
every other city keeps its docks far away!

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zappo2938
I'm quite sure that most cargo ports are in the middle of everywhere. For
example, every major city on both coasts of the United States, also include
New Orleans, Chicago, St.Louis, Detroit, Toronto, and Montreal for the same
reason, are major cities because of being a cargo port.

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alexandrerond
In the last years there have been quite a few stories about these sort of
trips.

While they were interesting to read at first, I have the feeling these trips
come down to pretty much nothing, that is, hours and hours stuck in a room
without much to do/see. Even if you're lucky with a crew/fellow passengers
that provides you with some conversations/activities, they're usually nothing
out of the ordinary or worth even telling. This doesn't mean they can be
meaninful to oneself, but well... A good travel journal is like cooking a dish
where you have the main ingredient (what happened/what u did) and the spices
(the context, research and extra infos). Here you only have the second part as
you spend a month doing little, seeing less, and sorry but everyone has that
in their kitchen.

That said, large ships and cargo managememt are very interesting from the
physics and technical sides, but these are hardly ever covered...

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Nicholas_C
Indeed. No Internet as well could make for a boring passage. If I take a
freighter I will make sure to load up on books in case I have trouble
occupying myself.

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tcdent
If you pack a vehicle in a container you'll have it available when you arrive.

People commonly containerize custom motorhomes as they travel between
continents. Arranging travel for people and cargo on the same ship is less
common, however.

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lifeisstillgood
That is a surprisingly cool idea - drive an RV literally around the world

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Nicholas_C
I'm contemplating a circumnavigation by land and sea only (no planes) and plan
to use cargo ships to cross the Atlantic and Pacific. So far it looks like the
biggest hurdles are planning the trip around cargo ships. From what I've read,
the passenger accommodations are booked far in advance and ships don't
necessarily leave on a set schedule.There is usually a window of +/\- several
days, with possible delays that could last much longer.

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grovr
My brother did this including 2 trips on cargo ships, one across the Pacific
and one across the Atlantic. He's got a blog with information on the trips
here: [http://noflytripping.com/](http://noflytripping.com/)

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rfjedwards
This has been on my bucket list for ages. Perfect environment to disconnect
from the world and rediscover ones self.

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lifeformed
Are there any budget ones, where you just sleep in a shipping container?

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Tsagadai
Depending on your citizenship and physical build there are plenty of easy to
get jobs on cargo ships. Pay is not always good (ranges from blue collar
western European levels to slavelike) but if you were just doing it for kicks
you could try it for a month or two.

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user3141592653
great read but lots of inaccuracies.

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dang
This comment would be better if you'd say what the inaccuracies are. Then we'd
learn something by reading the thread, which makes for the best kind of
thread.

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amgin3
This is a journey strictly for trust-fund kiddies and other rich people, costs
about $160USD/day for a bed on this boat, so she paid around $4,500 for her
27-day trip just counting accommodation.

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rfjedwards
$160 USD / day is very inexpensive compared to a lot of popular destinations.

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reedlaw
It's cheap for people with money but little time. But a 27-day cruise seems
more aimed at people with time but little money.

