Travel often contains a bit of chaos (or a great deal, let's be honest). You don't exactly know what you're in for until you're in the thick of it. Maybe it's delays in transportation, turbulence in the air, miscommunication, or just general unfamiliarity with surroundings. I'm a person who likes to have my bearings. I like plans. But travel is a wild horse. You must succumb to the uncertainty to take in the magnetism, breathe it in fully. It brings about a raw exhaustion that guts a person in order to pull the beauty of exploration into them. We're depleted to be inspired and wrecked to be reshaped.
The train is a different kind of romance. It's charm is leisure and scenic backdrops, dining car conversations and hours of introspection. What I love about taking the train is even if the days ahead will be active or disorienting, the time spent in transportation feels like a calming retreat. A few months ago I took the Amtrak from Kansas City, Missouri to Los Angeles, California on Amtrak's Southwest Chief. It actually starts in Chicago, but my leg of the journey was an 1,800 hour trek that took 35 hours. I think about that train ride often and wanted to share a few aspects of it that I really loved.
- Sharing meals with fellow travelers. When you walk into the dining car on an Amtrak superliner train, you're escorted to any open seat. There's no such thing as having a table to yourself since space is limited. Admittedly, sitting down for a meal with strangers can be a bit uncomfortable at first, but it was incredibly energizing. It's a somewhat rare moment to fend with, how often do we sit across from complete strangers for a meal? At dinner parties or social events, there are usually shared acquaintances who can guide conversation. I took advantage of the opportunity, asking questions when I could and enjoying the stories that people were willing to share. Some keep to themselves, and that's beautiful in its own right, but I found that a lot of travelers were eager to share bits about where they came from and where they were going.
- The comfort of coach. I love the idea of splurging on a ticket for a sleeper car on an upcoming trip, but it's hard to get around the value of a coach ticket. It's wonderfully affordable and I was more than comfortable. The seats recline and include foot rests that pop up so that you can more or less lay down. With a pillow and a blanket, it's as cozy as sleeping on a friend's couch (this depends on which friend and which couch you're imagining, of course). I wish I had taken more blankets though, it gets cold on the train.
- Listening to an audiobook from start to finish. I'm a diehard audiboook person. Our library system uses Hoopla and Overdrive, so I can download audiobooks onto my phone for free with my library card. Both services have impressive collections of new and classic titles, and everything in between. Hoopla provides unlimited checkouts, meaning there's no waiting list on titles. You can dive right into to The Life Changing Magic of Tidying up by Marie Kondo or Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. Most library systems offer digital options like Overdrive and Hoopla, not to mention a rich collection of audiobook CDs or playaways. Chances are you can get a book on your phone or device in a matter of minutes through your home library. Anyway, one of my favorite parts about the train ride was listening to a book from start to finish. I read Junot Diaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao on that trip because that was the selected book for an upcoming Wild Bob's Musical Book Club. (Side note - you can hear songs inspired by that book from the June 2015 show of Wild Bob's).
- Making my own snacks. I ate dinner and breakfast on the train, but for lunch I stuck with snacking on homemade provisions that I packed for the occasion: rosemary granola bars, a batch of toasted chickpeas, and small bag of clementines.
- Unplugging from the internet. Initially I took for granted that the superliner train would have Wifi, but a bit of research beforehand revealed otherwise. A gift in disguise. I checked my email occasionally using my phone's data plan, but not having access to free internet turned my eyes out the window in wonderment and my mind toward a book. I captured thoughts in a journal, brainstormed, doodled, and even took a few naps. I didn't use my phone much for texting or calling because service was spotty and I didn't want to have an extended phone conversation amid a car full of fellow travels who might be bothered by my yacking.
- Napping without regret. When you're unplugged and off the grid for a day and a half, why not take an afternoon nap? It feels like lounging poolside or nestled into a hammock. The shifting scenery is soothing like wind in your hair or birds in the trees. Perhaps I'm over-romanticising the ordeal, but rolling through the southwest had a tranquilizing effect.
- Lounging in the sightseer car. There's a car on the train dedicated to taking in the spectacular views as you travel across the states. It's windows span into the ceiling, with cozy chairs facing out toward the passing landscape, and tables for playing card games or enjoying a bite to eat. I spotted two women who got on around Albuquerque with a picnic basket in tow and personal boxed wines and thought how lovely that would be to take part of the journey as a day trip with friends.
- The slow ride. If any one of my fellow travelers was in a rush, I didn't overhear their urgency. You know when you book a cross country train ticket that you're in for a long, slow ride. I feel like modern travelers don't sign up for train tickets if they're in a hurry to get somewhere. Rather, they crave the charm of the train, the miles that melt away, and the healing effect of its tranquil scenes.
This wasn't my first train ride, but it was the longest one across the states. I can't wait to do it again. -Mallory