Traveling Job

I had a summer job as a waiter on a passenger ship (the SS Independence) when I was a student in 1968. It was a Mediterranean cruise and the port was Monte Carlo. A ship mate and I went to the Casino during a break in our short stopover and won an armload off francs on our first try at a slot machine. We decided to "jump ship" and watched the ship leave port as we sat on the dock and waved good-bye. We then traveled around southern France for a couple of days and met the ship again in Cannes.

We got in lots of trouble but it was worth it. After college I continued to work as a merchant seaman for a part of each year, usually a winter voyage on a freighter to a warm part of the world. (Spring through fall I was a Land Surveyor in the hills of Vermont.)

Since the time in Monte Carlo I made it a point to "jump ship" and have an adventure on every voyage I took for the next 8 years. The pattern was always the same. I'd pick a destination I could reach from the port of our longest layover and take off for as long as possible, getting back to the ship before it set sail. I was always the youngest member of the international crew and upon my timely return would be greeted by cries of "the kid is alive!" and then "boy, are you in trouble." It was always worth it.

Some of my favorite adventures were: from Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro; from Mombassa to the coastal village of Malindi; from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela to Merida and the village of Timotes in the Andes; from Walvis Bay, Namibia across the desert to Swakopmond; from Haifa to Jerusalem; from Le Harve to Paris; from Bremerhaven to Hamburg. It was a great way to see the world and make some money in the winter.

-Eric

 

 

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