Becoming a seafarer: the start of my travel story
I didn't think I'd end up travelling this much. The only paid travel job I'd heard of – one that pays like a job, not like a working holiday – was cabin crew, because my cousin did it. I tried applying once. I didn't even get to the interview; I figured my personality just didn't fit.
So when a ship-based job ad turned up on JobStreet, a local online employment site, in 2015, it wasn't something I went looking for. I applied without really knowing what the job scope was. I went through the interviews and hiring process, and I had no idea that at the end of it, I'd end up in a job that would take me abroad for months on end, for years to come.
I am a seafarer.
I've never called myself this outright before. It's a term I only came across while writing this post – but it's the term for the job that explains how I got to travel to all the places I've been.
Turns out Southeast Asia and South Asia have some of the highest numbers of seafarers in the world. I had no idea, growing up here.
What is a seafarer? A seafarer is anyone employed to work aboard a marine vessel. I've been one for six years now, on cruise ships that have taken me to various destinations across different countries.
In other words, I am cruise ship crew.
And that's really the heart of it. I became a seafarer because I wanted to travel. I became a seafarer because the job paid well, and at the time, a career in travel seemed like the answer.
Every place on the list below is somewhere I saw because the ship was going there, on a set itinerary I had no say in – not because I'd planned a trip.
I'd work on board for an average of five months at a stretch.
Over those six years, cruise contracts took me to:
Hong Kong
Vietnam
China
Taiwan
Philippines
Japan
Netherlands
South Korea
Singapore
Malaysia
Thailand
Cambodia
Brunei
Indonesia
Myanmar (Island)
Fifteen countries – including Malaysia, since it was the ships' home port and I was there just as much as anywhere else on the list. I'll admit some of those visits were closer to a few hours trip than an actual visit though, not exactly the immersive travel experience. Does that still count?
And the list isn't done yet. Not to get my hopes up, but I'm about 80% sure there's a new travel plan in store for me in the next month – somewhere outside Asia, for once.
Nothing's confirmed yet. But I wonder if I'll wander.
Similar Posts
Popular Posts
