One of our favorite methods of travel was by ship accompanied by our vehicle which also became our home upon arrival. We did this at a time when the cost of such a trip was not prohibitive.

Crossing the Atlantic with one's vehicle on freighters was a very pleasant and inexpensive experience in the 1960's and up to the late 70's. We made this crossing five times with our 1968 VW camper. The cost of a comfortable cabin was $150 per person and the cost of transporting the VW was the same.

Sometimes it was a simple crossing of 8 to 10 days: Bremen to Montreal or Liverpool to Baltimore. At other times, like the voyage from Rijeka on the Dalmatian coast to Chicago took almost three months with stops at about a dozen European ports and more in Canada and the U.S. along the St. Lawrence Seaway and around the Great Lakes.

There were mainly two factors which ended this mode of travel. The first was containerization and the second the registration of most vessels under a flag of convenience. The vast expansion of the tourist industry which including cruise ships, accelerated the process.

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