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Asia, Responsible Tourism

How Alex’s Fear of Flying Lead Him To An Incredible Cargo Ship Journey

Alex Duffner loves to travel but is afraid of flying. While most people would end their travel planning there, Alex has pushed on and found exciting new alternatives to plane travel.

By day Alex helps others design delightful websites and apps. While at night, Alex spends time sharing his travel stories, photos, and experiences through his blog (or hanging out at Travel Massive Bangkok events).

It’s not every day that you hear about someone traveling the world while avoiding airplane travel, so this certainly wasn’t a story to be missed. We asked Alex a few questions about how exactly he made this happen in order to inspire the travelers in you!

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What inspired you to travel by cargo ship instead of by airplane?

It is all due to my fear of flying. It started when I was 14 and after going through rough turbulences one too many times, I decided not to step on an airplane ever again. It was all ok until I had to go to university in the UK of course. At that time I was in Thailand, 17 years old and never traveled on my own. I did some research and settled for a cargo ship after finding a blog article about it. I continued to travel in Europe on trains, buses, and ferries, and when it was time to come back to Thailand, the Transsiberian was the logical next step.

How have you financed your travels?

My unconventional mode of travel made it really hard to stick to a 9-5 job, so I slowly built my freelance career as a digital designer and photographer. I’m really lucky to have found great clients who are ok with me working half a world away. Now I want to focus more on my photography and travel experiences and share that on my blog.

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Is cargo travel cheaper or more expensive?

Cargo ship travel is definitely not cheap and can’t compete with air travel on cost. For my trip from Singapore to Hamburg, I spent at least 2500 EUR for a 19 day trip including insurance and port taxes. Cargo ships usually charge a daily rate of 90-120 EUR so if you want to cross the Atlantic from Europe to the US that would easily cost something around 800-1000 EUR for a 7 day trip compared to 100-300 EUR for a flight. However, you have to consider that the cost includes accommodation and food and off course a unique experience that you can’t compare to flying.

How does one go about traveling by cargo? Do you have a few tips to get started?

When I first started researching I thought that I could just walk up to a ship and offer to work in return for passage. This might have worked 40 years ago but nowadays with strict regulations, laws and insurance clauses, it is necessary to go through a travel agent specialized in cargo ship travel or undergo years of training to become a crew member. I heard that it is still possible to work your way across the oceans on smaller vessels especially on the Pacific Islands, which I would love to try out myself.

So my advice is to get in touch with a travel agent and they will help you organize it.

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Do you think traveling by land and sea is a more sustainable option?

Even though my main motivation to travel on a cargo ship was my fear of flying, I met a lot of people who do this sort of travel with concerns for the environment. I don’t think that cargo ship or other forms of slow travel can replace airplanes, but having more options and especially cheaper options would help take the pressure off of the skies.

What has been your biggest success or accomplishment when it comes to travel?

I always fondly look back to my trip on the Trans-Siberian especially traveling through Russia, Mongolia, and China. However, it is the small victories like pushing yourself to talk to strangers, climbing up a hill to get that special view and the thought of you being somewhere totally different today than you were a week before and be conscious of that fact is an amazing achievement already.

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What has been your biggest challenge traveling by land and sea?

The biggest challenge has been the lack of time and building a life around slow travel. In order to travel these distances overland or by sea takes a lot of time which not everyone has, including me. When I was living in Europe I didn’t get to return to Thailand for 8 years because I was studying and working. I only get to see family and friends when they come to visit and because of this I haven’t seen my mother for nearly 6 years.

Do you have any exciting plans for 2017?

2017 is going to be big because I have decided to leave Thailand again and finish my around-the-world trip that I started 2 years ago. This time I want to cross the Pacific from Japan to North America and make my way south all the way to Chile.

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Why do you attend Travel Massive events? What benefits have you seen from being a part of Travel Massive events and community?

I happened to drop by a travel meetup event organized by Ric from GlobalGaz. I realized how people could benefit from my experiences and asked Ric if it was ok to present at the next meeting. So I did. I loved being around other travelers and have learned a great deal about the travel industry and travel blogging from everyone there. One thing led to another and this is why I ended up at a Travel Massive event here in Bangkok and look forward to dropping by other chapters as I slowly make my way across the globe.

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Purposeful Traveler is a series that profiles inspiring people or projects making a purposeful change to the way we travel. You can connect with Alex on Travel Massive, On Trails, Facebook, and Twitter


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