Not really into travelogues like this (and this was no exception), but I will say I love me an Amtrak trip.
In 2015, I rode from Portland, OR to Boston, MA. Took 5 days, through Sacramento, Chicago, and DC. I was traveling alone so every evening in the dining car I was seated across from a different Giant Train Nerd and got to learn about the engine on the current train, the type of track we were riding on, who owns or owned the land, really interesting stuff.
Both before and after that I’ve taken trains between Boston and NYC several times, and taken the Auto Train (which carries your car!) between DC and Florida.
Every trip makes me wish I had the leisure time and the country had the infrastructure such that I could avoid even more plane travel and take a train instead.
So I definitely get the urge to write a meandering travelogue about just such a trip. But as you can see, the same information fits just fine into a reasonably-sized internet comment.
Every trip makes me wish I had the leisure time and the country had the infrastructure such that I could avoid even more plane travel and take a train instead.
Shout it from the rooftops - I dread every time I get on a plane these days, it’s the worst fucking experience all around. Every flight is completely full, every seat is too small, every passenger takes too damn long to shove their oversize carryon into not enough bin space, nothing is ever on time unless it’s a connection I’m going to miss because the first leg is delayed, and inevitably I get seated behind a recliner, in front of a seat-kicker, in the proximity of a screaming baby or four, and/or between the two heaviest people on the plane. And that’s saying nothing of getting to and through the damn airport itself, and you will inevitably have to go through at least three because none of the major airlines even know what a direct flight is, unless your direct flight is to one of the half-dozen major hubs like O’hare, Dallas or Atlanta, and they’re all just godawful in their own way. And even if it were a moderately pleasant experience, it’s still fucking awful for the environment. The best flight is still miles away from the average Amtrak trip I would take between Vancouver and Tacoma to visit family. The seats on the Empire Builder were comfortable and you could go to a sightseeing car above a little cafe, and you’re never bumping elbows with the people sitting next to you no matter where you are. I miss the luxury of that comfortable, leisurely travel.
