Hey guys it’s been a hot minute since I’ve had a chance to sit down and blog something out!
One of the reasons I’ve been so quiet lately is because I had to go back home to visit family somewhat unexpectedly. But in that process, I ended up taking a train on a regional rail for the first time! I had a mixed experience, but I think that’s mostly because of the crowding on the train in the initial trip. When I was first going, the train was literally at capacity with no seating available aside from what I had through the entire trip, and my train left in the late afternoon so it was all overnight. That would have been totally fine if I wasn’t a night person at a window seat. The trip really started to get painful after about the halfway point because the person next to me was fast asleep and I couldn’t get up to stretch or anything, I’m just glad I prepared and brought plenty of snacks and water in my personal bag.
The return trip however was a breeze! It sucked getting up so early in the morning to catch it, but since the train was only at about half capacity I was the only person in my row. Having the ability to stand and stretch or go get food was a game changer! That leg was so easy and aside from the 1 hour stop we had for some quick changes at a station and was way easier overall than the first leg.
The other wonderful thing about traveling by train was that the seats are far wider and more comfortable than a plane, and I didn’t have to shell out an obscene amount for wifi. This meant that I could get my work work and homework done on the train while in transit, so I could be far more efficient than if I drove! I generally don’t mind driving in general and enjoy solo travel, but with my car being a bit iffy at the moment I really did not want to risk it with a last minute trip and certainly didn’t have time to get it into a shop in that time.
At the end of the day I think that it was a great experience, my only wishes are that trains can be more accessible and lines run more often because scheduling was the only hard part of the whole ordeal. Further with expanded access and resources, higher speed rails may become a possibility, which would benefit all riders for any reason! It might be fun sometime to do a cross country ride with a proper sleeper cab ticket with a little extra space and privacy.
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