People ask why I choose the train (or like last year and in 2023, driving) to coastal ports. I can answer that in a sentence, and I usually do.
Flying today sucks.
But I want to expand on that a bit and give some background. I also want to work in a little personal history, indirectly. The history is relevant, because the core of what makes flying suck (at least until the past 5 years or so) is a result of one day: September 11, 2001. I truly lost nothing that day, yet it's a day that broke me in a way I'm not sure I've fully recovered from. My story
I could gratuitously fire off some zingers at TSA, but ... yeah, I'm gonna
- TSA: sort of protecting you from yesterday's threats tomorrow.
- No, really, the scanners can't see through your clothes!
- Hey, for the 25th anniversary of 9-11, let's roll back some of the senseless "protections!" Oops, not a joke.
The angel on my left shoulder is reminding me that I'm going to be crossing the US border soon... maybe I want not to antagonize the security apparatchik, since no one has civil rights within 100 miles of the border. So, I'll stop there... because I'm also a generally positive person, and this isn't an article about why air travel in the US is so horrid, it's one about why I'm taking the train to our 35th anniversary cruise.
Oh, yeah, that is why...
Amtrak: Getting There Without a Two-Day Drive
There is a lot to be said for my vacation starting at 2am on September 24th by boarding a train and entering vacation mode, compared to sitting down in the car at 6am and facing a 2-day schlep to Philadelphia to get on the ship on Saturday. In 2023, we did drive to New York to get on Escape for our fall foliage cruise... and I truly enjoyed it!
Roadside rest stop in West Virginia, on the way to NYC October 2023.
But that trip was a "need to do this before the FCC expires" trip, so it was more bare-bones in structure. This being our 35th anniversary trip and in the planning for two years, is a more elevated experience. The two additional vacation days afforded by the train getting from Newton to Philadelphia, and the three days coming home from Quebec City, felt righter this time. The not-returning-to-where-we-left-from part definitely played a role, too.
Even with getting on the train at 2am a week from Thursday. Even with the upside-down hotel night in Buffalo (you'll have to follow along to figure that one out). Even with not having room accommodations the first day of travel and having to ride in seats. Even with the Ubers and other pre-arrangements. Still at least 5x better than flying.
It's the trip I chose for me, and if you have the time and ask me, it's the trip I'd recommend for you. The roomette experience, traveling as a first-class train passenger, the freedom to bring aboard nearly anything (no pitching your water bottle or mug at the TSA check), it is really as close to "the way to travel" as I'm likely to get... the only step up would be private jet, I think. Here's a shot from North Dakota taken from our roomette on the way back from Alaska in 2019:
There is a Business Reason, Too
I just finished rebranding my travel practice, and I'm expanding my focus to doing domestic rail and car trips. Just because cruise isn't a fit for someone doesn't mean they won't value having the overwhelm taken off their hands. The number of these trips I've arranged this year proves that.
I will be sharing a lot of the train trip as well, and have some specific things planned around those legs of the trip that I think you'll find interesting... especially if you've never experienced train travel.
Train Travel Has Some Unique Challenges
I'll talk about those tomorrow.