Travel as a Sailor — A Merchant Mariner Weighs In
What it’s like learning to live out of a suitcase on a ship
merchant marine: North American. A country’s shipping that is involved in commerce and trade, as opposed to military activity. — Oxford Languages
I am a Sailor
More specifically, I am a Merchant Marine. Being from a landlocked state, this profession often gets me many gasps of amazement, then looks of confusion, then the inevitable, “So you’ve seen the world, right?”
Colorado has become the next California. It’s lovely because now, with the hodge-podge population, more people know what it means to be a mariner. That’s what excites me anymore. I only add this little tidbit for all my people who have grown tired of explaining over and over what they do. Let’s all appreciate the people who understand.
The reality about the industry anymore is that we’re never in port long enough to ‘see the world.’ I began to joke that it’s all working vacations. I specifically work on the west coast, so we go to the Far East and back. The way it works: we pull into a grand location, like Japan. Within twenty-four hours, we are pulling back out. Best of all, we still have to work! I remember very vividly, in my exhausted brain, staying up for twenty-four hours just to take the train to Tokyo for a few hours. Akihabara and the Ramen Museum were amazing.
Yes, we got lucky once and got a total of two weeks in Souda, Greece. That was amazing. There were two months in Saipan, an island in the Marianas Island Chain. That was a hidden gem I was sad to leave. I took a day off to go diving in both places. Little sprinkles in Japan, and a couple of months in Gwangyang, Korea. The Far East is my muse. Their food is my comfort food anymore. I’m still on the hunt for the little puffed citrus rind crackers covered with wasabi and soy sauce. They were a random grab in a Japanese 7–11, right on the corner across from the train station where the taxi dropped us off. If anyone knows what they’re called, you’d be a hero.
Fun Fact about Sailing Re: Passports
Here’s a fun fact about sailing: since we’re constantly in and out of foreign ports, our passports would be filled in no time, so we get a paper visa. For all the countries I’ve visited, I only have two stamps in my passport. One from Antigua and one from Canada.
Truth is, I’m an excellent whirlwind traveler. I can decide to hop on a plane tomorrow, change my flight to tonight, and be somewhere else entirely by the end of the day. Once I left Denver in the morning, landed in Los Angeles, and then was back in Denver that same night for a Christmas party. I was off to some other place a few days later. Or, I’ve flown over a wind farm, only to drive through it a couple of days later. That’s a fond memory. If you give me three days in a place, I can pack those three days full of food, people, and beautiful drives. All of these instances were thanks to the pre-travel just to get a job.
Ask me to sit somewhere, though? In silence? With my thoughts? What is relaxing anywhere in the world?
A Learned Skill
See, the thing about traveling is this: It’s a learned skill. Nobody wakes up one day and is good at traveling. I’m, believe it or not, actually terrible at it. As much fun as it was, I don’t recommend booking a foreign trip to Canada the night before going. Explaining to customs you had/have no plan, you just felt like it, is very difficult.
Making a plan is not my forte. I fly by the seat of my pants. That’s what makes it possible to pack up my truck on a Friday and be on a long-distance trip until my other obligations end it. It is hard to turn away from a trip when you’re halfway to where you want to be. If only I were better at traveling, I would have had a plan, and could have made it to Canada. If only I were a better traveler, I would have learned my lesson the first time about crossing borders on a whim and not be sad about it.
My Life Fits Into Two Bags
With work, my entire life fits into two bags. I technically could do just one, but I don’t want my nice clothes to smell like diesel, and I have girly potions to last me four to six months onboard. Pardon me, but I refuse to use the Head and Shoulders they sell on board even if I look and smell like a man at work.
Skincare is also essential. Lots of professions live out of suitcases, and I’d be willing to bet they’d all tell you there is a blessing in learning to live that way. See the above paragraph again if you need to.
There is a charm in being able to travel whimsically.
Not only that but a lot of things in life benefit from it. Hiccups stop being hiccups. There is a solution to everything!
Learning to Travel Differently
I am actively teaching myself how to travel differently, though. It’s not sustainable. Besides, after driving nearly 40k miles all over the Western United States, I’m tired of whizzing past the same places in some hurry to be somewhere. I want to actually stop to smell the roses on occasion. Or the mountain air. See what Goblin Valley, Utah is all about. You know, the Western United States. Shoot, let’s see North America as a whole already!
Sailing has given me a life I love.
Sure, I’m stuck violently single because my schedule is really awful. I’ve missed many holidays and birthdays. There was actually one year Halloween never happened because we crossed the international dateline. Yet we got two Valentine’s Days for the same reason. Remember that violently single bit? I’ll remain forever good-naturedly salty about that irony. However, without sailing, I wouldn’t be me.
Before I dropped my entire life and drove out to California to become a pirate, I craved travel. I had a mechanical itch. Had a wide-eyed wonder when it came to big, powerful machines. Now I get to climb around pipes as if they were an adult-sized jungle gym. Go underneath bridges (my stationary engineering feat love affairs) and watch as many sunsets as I want. Let’s also mention all the free time. We’re stuck in the middle of the ocean. It’s either take on hobbies or go nuts. Hello to all my hobbies and the self-discipline I developed out there.
Now I get to climb around pipes as if they were an adult-sized jungle gym.
The Two Types of Sailors
There are two types of sailors. The ones who only do it as a season and never look back. Then there are the ones who stay forever.
I’m a hybrid of sorts. It was always meant as a stepping stone to bigger and better things. A period of time to get to other, more significant life accomplishments. A method to financial freedom.
Every sailor says, “I don’t want to do this forever.” I don’t, but I also don’t want to stop. I would be a dirty liar if I told you I didn’t love it. I do. I love the good people, the work, and learning something new every day.
Career Growth as a Sailor
The next phase in my sailing career? Well, I’ve finally accumulated enough working hours to upgrade to a license. With that comes a new union, new contracts, and new places to see in the world.
I’m learning a new way to travel, a new way to manage my work/life balance, a new way to fulfill all of my desired career paths. I want to do this forever. Because how often do you get to go to Antarctica? The sailing bucket list is far from being all checked off.
Fair winds and following seas, land lubbers. I’ll see you on my next whirlwind adventure.
