This is where I lived in Texas as a teenager.
So, I decided to join the Navy. The main reasons were: to be successful without a degree; I had no idea what else i wanted to do with my life; I wanted to do something adventurous; and of course I had always wanted to travel the world and I thought that the Navy would be best for that. I thought of the Air-force but then I thought well, Navy has ships And aircraft. Also the idea of sailing to different ports around the world sounded interesting.
Many people join the Navy to see the world and I definitely did get see the world... from the boat.
Well, there were a few places we went. I went on a 9 month deployment but most of that time was spent on the ocean. We left August 27th and our first port visit was December 20- something. It was in Oman and for a few days.
This post isn't about me complaining about the Navy and I'm not trying to bring discredit to the military. It's about why travel with the Navy did not give me a completely legitimate overseas experience. I imagine it might be just as illegitimate when travelling with a company. Also, that doesn't mean there are not some parts of it I enjoyed and am grateful for.
Here are the main reasons I don't like travel with the Navy:
1. You have a curfew and have to come back to the ship by a certain time.
We had to work every single day whenever the ship is out to sea and people go crazy whenever we finally pull in somewhere and have some time off. After exploring the city in Oman, I came back to the ship and found puke spots all over the ramp leading into the ship. Everyone gets drunk, some people got in fights, and one guy got married to a stripper. Whenever people acted bad, they would make the curfew earlier.
2. You are not allowed to explore alone.
It is required to have a liberty buddy. Which is fine if you have a friend on the ship you are compatible with. I had trouble sometimes finding someone as adventurous as me and was surprised how many people just wanted go to a bar and drink or something that can be done anywhere. Sometimes some of the friends that I used to hang out with got out of the Navy or stationed somewhere else and then I had to try to find another person to leave the ship with.
3. If your liberty buddy does something bad you will also get punished.
Another thing about the liberty buddy system is you have to stay with your liberty buddy and come back to the ship together. If someone from the ship sees you without your buddy, you can get in trouble. Your buddy is also your responsibility, so if they break rules or act stupid you can also get punished.
4. Duty every third day
The ship has something called Duty sections. You have to stay on the ship every third day in a foreign port. There has to be people on the boat all the time and also for security reasons. So let's say you do have a friend on the ship who is an adventurous travel buddy. That friend may not be in the same duty section which means that one of the days he or she is off is also your day to work and vice versa. You might have to ask someone you don't know too well in order to go out if your friends have duty on your off day since you are not allowed to leave the ship alone.
5. Not always much time
We were in Spain for 3 days, one of those days I was on duty, so I spent a grand total of 2 days in Spain. 2 days that I had to come back to ship each night by a certain time. It was a nice 2 days but I don't count Spain as a country I visited.
So those are the major things I have problems with. Another thing is that you are not allowed to wear a T-shirt in a foreign port. It has to have a collar. I guess that's not a big deal but travelling independently and being able to wear and do whatever I want is much better for me.
On my 9 month deployment most of that time was spent on the ocean and we pulled into 3 ports. Oman, Italy, and Spain. We only pulled into Italy because something broke on the ship, however, I had a great time during that port visit in Italy. It was one port visit I was able to have a legitimate overseas experiences because I had friends who I was compatible with. I climbed a volcano, got a little lost and had a search party sent out but we found our way back before they could find us. We were late coming back to the ship but fortunately my boss was too drunk to care. A couple weeks later that volcano erupted.
Also, sometimes people will sell tours on the ship and you don't need a liberty buddy to go because you will be on the tour with a group. Those tours can help to experience some of the country.
I made 3 months of another deployment before it was time for me to get out. Sometimes my friends got stationed somewhere else or got out of the Navy and I was stuck with many people who just wanted to bang hookers or get drunk. Partying with people from the ship can be fun, but I would rather explore while in a foreign place. It really bothers me to have physically gone to another part of the Earth far from home and not have really experienced it properly or to not have even had much time. In my opinion, It would have been better to have never went.
It's completely possible to have great travel experiences while in the Navy but it is limited and it depends on what ship you are on or where you are stationed and who you happen to meet. This was my experience. It is government and there will be rules and restrictions when travelling with a government organization. After getting out of the Navy, I started to travel on my own and found it was a lot more real.
I made a lot of good friends and had some good experiences and I don't regret joining. While spending many months on the ocean I had no bills. Food, a place to sleep, etc. everything is covered so, whenever I got a paycheck I got to keep all of it and didn't have anything to spend it on except maybe food from vending machines on the ship. It's kind of like a floating prison, except people don't get butt raped. Well, not usually anyway.
Many people who spent the same amount of time in the Navy didn't save nearly as much as me. I decided the last couple years in that I wanted to be a vagabond and to save as much as possible. Even whenever we weren't on deployment, I didn't buy a car like many people or spend as much on going out to eat or alcohol or going to movies or on material possessions.
Here some pics of my time in the Navy.
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| Drunk Sailor |
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| Drunk Sailor |
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| On the Ship at Night |
After I got out of the Navy I had managed to save $30,000! :) My plan was to make it last at least 2 years while travelling but first I went home for a few months to see my family.
I left my home in Texas to go and travel the world ,however, America is so huge of a country that going to a different part of it is considered as a different area of the planet.
If you traveled from Maine to Hawaii you would still technically have traveled in 1 country but that's a lot of distance!
My intention was to travel the world and although I would spend most of my trip outside of my own country; but I visited some friends in other states first. I had several friends I met in the Navy who were in other states.
I met up with my friend Cody when he was also visiting New York City.
Unfortunately, I didn't find out that a friend I knew in the Navy had moved to Buffalo until after I had already visited Niagara Falls. :( I could have contacted him if I had known.
After I visited New Orleans, I took a train to visit a friend in Jackson, Mississippi. After hanging out there, I took a bus to San Diego where I had 2 friends living at.
Although the Navy didn't satisfy my wanderlust, I was able to save money for traveling and also get some friends and a place to stay around the vast country of America.
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