Hey /trv/,
First time here, sorta trying to plan a trip I could do as soon as possible, but am not sure of how to do it. First off, I'm a poor student looking to travel as cheaply as possible. That means hitchiking, camping, and whatever else free/cheap means of travelling there can be. I'm in Canada, in the East, and my plan would be to cross the country, most likely hitchiking the whole way to the west coast, and from there, hop on a ship to Asia.
Now here's my question. I, of course, have this maybe very romantic idea of showing to the docks and ask captains for passage in exchange for work, but is that viable? Is that still a thing these days? I imagine that with all the laws around labor and stuff it's not as simple to just hire any random kid showing up on the street, but I don't know. Did anyone already do it and could tell me how easy/hard it is? I was thinking about going to Vancouver seeing as its the biggest canadian coastal city over there, but I could potentially also go south across the border if that would help.
It's a bit of a shot in the dark, and I don't know if that's any bit realistic, but I welcome any anwser, positive or not.
you sound like you're 12
go home kid
>>1120502
Bump
>>1120529
nothing personnel kiddo ;^)
>>1120502
Oh look, this thread again.
>>1120502
>>It's a bit of a shot in the dark, and I don't know if that's any bit realistic, but I welcome any anwser, positive or not.
It's not.
Get a job and buy your damn ticket.
>>1120636
There should be a brief, one-word sticky for this already. No.
Ill give you a bit more detailed answer op, but a single google search would have found the info your after.
>I'm a poor student looking to travel as cheaply as possible
In terms of common travel methods,
Hitch hiking, Bike, Bus, Train, Plane, Car, Ferry/Ship.
That's from cheapest to most expensive on price vs distance traveled ratio. There are exceptions, in some country's trains can be cheaper than buses, though they can also be more expensive than planes. Ships can be cheaper, it really just depends, ships tend to be the cheapest option if your trying to reach somewhere that isn't a big city or has a lot of air traffic.
>very romantic idea of showing to the docks and ask captains for passage in exchange for work, but is that viable?
No, reason is insurance (this is the main reason) and also because crew jobs on a big ship are actually quite specialized, almost every person on a big ship has multiple qualifications and many have university training to do their job. Cooks are about as unskilled as you get in terms of the crew members but they wouldn't be just picked up from the docks.
>Is that still a thing these days?
No, see above.
>Did anyone already do it and could tell me how easy/hard it is?
There was a guy on this board that said quite some time ago he snuck onto a ship as a stowaway, though apparently nowadays its near impossible because security is much tighter and the penalties are incredibly harsh (like mandatory jail time).
Also there are stories of stowaways being thrown overboard by Chinese crews when they get found. Not sure how legit these stories are, but desu, wouldn't be that surprised.
You can sail on a freighter, but it costs a lot of money, far more than a plane ride.
