This was a cost-saving way to travel the world. Then Covid changed everything
By Maureen O’Hare, CNN
(CNN) — In our roundup of travel stories this week: the reality of living on a permanent cruise, the travelers visiting some of the world’s most notorious destinations, plus how the pandemic nearly killed off cargo ship tourism.
Cargo ship cruisers
For centuries, cargo ships have welcomed paying passengers, making freighter tourism a niche but enduring industry.
The golden age of voyages on board tramp steamers and banana boats was the first half of the 20th century. However, right up until the Covid pandemic, there were still half a dozen major players booking passengers on cargo ships going to remote ports of call.
For aficionados, it’s a way to visit off-the-grid destinations untouched by mass tourism and to experience the romance and adventure of life onboard a working vessel.
Most of the pre-pandemic operators are no longer in business. Covid-era health and safety issues put an end to many, combined with enhanced onboard security at a time when warfare and piracy are making the seas increasingly dangerous.
Options may have dwindled, but there are still alluring cargo ship voyages on offer, to destinations such as Namibia, Iceland and French Polynesia. Companies such as Aranui and Neoliner Origin are even expanding their cargo-passenger services.
Read more here to see where the seas might take you.
New visa rules for Australia and Japan
Australia has long been popular with backpackers and young people looking to see the world and pick up casual work. However, the government has announced a dramatic cut in the number of working holiday visas, from 31,000 to 5,000. To have a chance chance, visitors will have to pay hundreds of dollars to enter a lottery-style ballot.
The government says it is about adjusting the intake to favor skilled migrants, who are seen to bring more value to the country’s economy. But not everyone is happy about it.
Elsewhere in the Pacific, Japan has been experiencing a tourism boom, with record numbers arriving in recent years. The number of people settling down for longer-term stays, including work and study, also hit an all-time high last year.
However, a series of tightened immigration policies imposed by the Japanese government has made some foreign residents wonder: Is it time to say “sayonara”?
Life on a permanent cruise
Here’s a selection of content for CNN subscribers. The residential cruise ship Villa Vie Odyssey launched in late 2024, after a bumpy start and no shortage of drama. By the time retired schoolteacher Sharon Lane joined the “forever” cruise in June 2025, however, most of the initial operational challenges had been ironed out and she was excited about a life permanently afloat.
CNN caught up with her after her first year had passed to find out if reality matched expectations and how she and her fellow passengers were faring.
There are even more unusual ways to explore the world than living on a cruise ship or traveling alongside cargo. Earlier this year, CNN talked to travelers choosing to vacation in war zones, radiation sites and volatile borderlands.
The trend is known as “dark tourism” and it has two distinct strands: people visiting countries classed by other nations as dangerous, such as North Korea, Afghanistan and Haiti, and those going to places where notorious events happened, such as Jonestown in Guyana or Cambodia’s Killing Fields.
Our streaming subscription service CNN All Access this week expanded internationally to Canada and the UK. In his CNN series “Parts Unknown,” Anthony Bourdain visited lesser-explored destinations around the world. Take a look at this episode from 2013, when he journeyed to Libya to see how the country was faring two years after the overthrow of Moammar Gadhafi.
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