Did you know you can still travel across the ocean as a passenger on a boat?

[Davidson Deac II]

Having crossed the ocean on a boat, I can pretty much guarantee that part of it ain't no adventure. Its just boredom, following by tedium, followed by more boredom.

And if you are on a boat full of filipinos, hope you like fish and rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner. :)

[charlotte49er]

Information

I have booked passage in a spare berth on a German freighter leaving from a port in Long Beach headed to Sydney, Australia. It'll be twenty-one days at sea with nothing to do but write the book I've been saying I'm going to write for the last three years. As a kid I read way too many Jack London and Herman Melville books so this is the sort of thing that appeals to my sense of adventure and turns on my creative flow.

The ship embarks on 16 February 2012. Needless to say I am pretty amped.

Yes, I knew that. I'm a writer as well and Alex Haley (ROOTS) says he writes all his books that way.

Make sure you take a voltage changer kit with you. (Ebay or Sharper Image.) (Ships voltage may not be 120v-60hz.) and a solar charger as back up, JIC. If you are planning to use a computer.

If you are using a manual typewriter (remember those?) never mind.

And it's not like a cruise ship where they serve meals 18 hours a day. You eat what the crew eats :eek:, when the crew eats. Take snacks & power bars.

Some expect you to do menial work, dishes, cleaning, painting, laundry, etc. Some don't. Some don't allow alcohol either.

Do you have stops or are you straight thru? And once you land, are you going to fly home, or wait and get another freighter home? If you are going to wait and catch another freighter home, it may take a while.

Passport and shots, visa for entry into the port. Have your doctor write you at least an extra month of any meds you need, JIC. (Some pharmacies will only fill 1 month at a time.) Some countries have strict laws as to what meds they allow to be brought into the country.

Take backup. Glasses (if you wear them). Anything you really need. Surge protector if you are using a computer, even a spare laptop and CD's to back up all your work.

Have a great time!