First Time Train Travelers

I encourage everyone to experience train travel, especially in America! Try a day trip once and if you enjoy the experience, try a few more and maybe even treat yourself to some overnight travel. Here are some suggestions for first time train travelers:

1) Take a day trip first. Travel Coach Class. I suggest a train that runs on a daily basis, then check the schedules to make sure you have time to catch a return train the same day. Some possibilities include:

CALIFORNIA ZEPHYR - Denver to Granby (Rock Mountain National Park) and back

CITY OF NEW ORLEANS - Chicago to Champagne and back

CRESCENT - Washington DC to Philadelphia and back

TEXAS EAGLE - Austin to Temple and back

These day trips will give you a taste of train travel. You'll have the conductors check your tickets and possibly assign a seat. Sometimes you can choose your own seat. You can hear the conductors cry out "All Aboard"! You can experience more than one station stop before your destination. You can move around and explore the train while its traveling. You can feel how roomy the coach class seats are. You can visit the observation car. All good!

You can disembark and have a little time to visit the town of your destination, then catch the train home - with stories to share!

2) If your first days trips are enjoyable, treat yourself to an overnight train going First Class! These accommodations include a private room or roomette with a bed, a shower and all your meals in the restaurant car. I suggest a train that runs on a daily basis for your first overnight adventure. Some possibilities include:

CAPITOL LIMITED - Washington DC to Chicago overnight and back

SOUTHWEST CHIEF - Los Angeles to Las Vegas overnight and back

TEXAS EAGLE - Dallas to St. Louis overnight and back

These are great trips for a romantic getaway! You can enjoy a day at your destination and catch the train back OR give yourself a night or two at a hotel before catching the train back. Either way, you'll have a richer experience with train travel - and if you're like me, you'll want more!

Three Years

Suddenly three years go by and you ask yourself "what happened?" You intended to blog your adventures and insights, but instead you simply experience them and move on.

Three years ago, I was living full-time in Austin, working full-time and I was still a bachelor. Three years later, I am living part time in Austin and part time in California, working part-time in both locations and married to my lover in California.

In three years, I've traveled to places new and old in Nevada, Oregon, New Mexico, California and Texas, often with my wedded lover or trusted friends. Sometimes I've traveled alone.

I continue to imagine what is possible, hoping for the best.

BUSES and BIKES

If you live in a community like Austin, Texas, you'll be fortunate
to have a good bus system and plenty of bike lanes and places
to lock your bike when you arrive at your destination.

Buses are said to use less gas and may be less expensive than
cars if you consider maintenance, depreciation, insurance and
taxes as part of your car expense - not just the price of gas
and car payments.

A good bike may cost you two or three hundred dollars or more,
however it is nothing like regular car expenses to operate and
maintain. Plus, assuming you can avoid being in an accident,
bicycling can be very healthy.

All good reasons for traveling by bus or bike - even between
cities, if you have the stamina. So why don't more people
use them?

One reason is much like taking the train: they usually take longer
(unless you are riding a bike or frequent bus for a short distance).
You are also more vulnerable to weather and human interaction.
Americans like to be cool in the summer, warm in the winter and
above all, dry in wet weather.

If you ride the bus, you might have to sit next to someone that
you'd rather not sit next to (and vice versa), though this can also
be a great way to meet people you might not otherwise meet.

It is more likely that you'll have to listen to someone yelling at
their significant others on cell phones or have to listen to the
throbbing base rhythm of someone's ipod.

A few folks ride bikes out of necessity, most enjoy riding them.
Some people enjoy riding the bus, most do so out of necessity.

Ultimately how you choose to travel and how you react to your
travel conditions has something to do with how you understand
yourself. Buses and bikes allow you to experience the world
with many of it unforeseen, less controlled human variations
of nature!

PLANES or TRAINS?

For most folks this question is easy to answer.

They respond: "planes of course", then gaze at me

with well-intended pity for my misguided preference.

I used to feel the same way, however I've taken more trains

over the last few years and I am now an enthusiastic advocate.

Friends and trusted kinsmen often ask me to explain this

preference, so here is a list of strengths for each form of travel:

PLANES: Faster! Safer than cars.

TRAINS: Less expensive, larger seats, footrests, larger windows,

can move around any time, can stand by the bathrooms, multiple

plugs for laptops and cell phones. Safer than cars.

CARS: More independent! More destinations!

The number one reason for NOT taking trains is time. Many businesses

depend on fast transit for their employees. Planes make this possible

over great distances. Cars are almost essential for short distances.

Most people don't have much vacation time or travel only on weekends,

and we want to enjoy our destinations as much as possible. We are

often willing to endure difficult journeys to do so.

The cost of food is not a factor (though many people are wary of this cost

on trains). The truth is that food on trains doesn't cost any more than

food in airports or food at restaurants along the road.

The number one reason FOR taking a train is that the experience

of the journey can be relaxed and enjoyable. As airport security

has increased, the flying experience has become oppressive.

If I have the time now, I'll take the train. If I don't have the time

or the train doesn't go to my destination, the plane or a car (or the bus)

are still options. However if I have a chance to enjoy myself, I will.

First Step

"The first step of any journey is lifting your foot".

There are alot of great travel blogs and I recommend all of them! I will be writing about my own experiences and the many ways we may travel: near and far by foot, by train, by caravan, through the stories of others and our imaginations. I hope to encourage everyone to do so!