Freighter ship cruise

In the book Moby Duck, the author hopped onboard a large freighter ship in Asia, traveled across the north Pacific, and ended up in Washington state.  Apparently, only one travel agency in the U.S. arranges these types of trips.

Here is a sample journey.  You can get on and get off wherever you like:

• Los Angeles/Long Beach (Day 1)
• San Francisco/Oakland (2)
• Tokyo (16)
• Osaka (17)
• Kaohsiung, Taiwan (21)
• Port Kelang, Malaysia (26)
• Singapore (27)
• Ho Chi Ming/Tan Cang (30)
• Yantian, China (33)
• Kaohsiung (34)
• Osaka (37)
• Los Angeles/Long Beach (49)

At 105 euros a day, it seems quite reasonable.  You probably need to bring a lot of books and DVDs for entertainment purposes.

In the book, the officers were mostly European and the crew mostly Filipino.  Though the Filipinos don't get paid that much, they are paid many times what they would typically earn in their homeland.  They are often gone for months, sometimes over a year, at a time.

This video gives you an idea of what it is like onboard.