Good Lifestyle

When I say I hate traveling, what I really mean is that I hate flying. I have no beef with travel in a broader sense; In fact, there are a lot of things that I like to spend time away from my home, and I found that the journey itself can be its own source of joy. This is especially true if you are engaging in one of the most elaborate forms of travel, where the trip itself is part of the holidays: a cruise , A road trip , or, yes, a long train trip. In my case, it meant a cross -country train from New York to Los Angeles - and again.

For my recent trip, I traveled on Amtrak Lake Shore Limited From New York to Chicago, then took the California Zephyr From Chicago to Emeryville, California, in the San Francisco Bay region. I spent the night and took the The light of the stars of the coast Until Los Angeles the next day. On the way back, I went with a more direct route: the Head of southwest From Los Angeles to Chicago, and the Lake Shore limited again in New York.

My recent trip was my second cross-country train trip (and thirdly, if you count the trip separately), so I feel like I am an expert at this stage. And that's a good thing, because when you tell people you take a train training, you get a lot of questions. In this spirit, I have drawn up a list of the best and the worst things about taking a cross-country train, inspired by the things that people seem most curious to know. Read the continuation for my ventilation of advantages and disadvantages.

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You may know how surprisingly diversified, but there is a difference between knowledge and see it is surprisingly diverse. The transition from one state to another and from a region to the region gives you a unique overview of the variety that there is - cities in small towns, deserts to forests and rivers to lakes via through the oceans. Flying 30,000 feet in the air does not give you a perspective apart from the clouds. When you are on the ground and you always travel at a faster rate than in a car, you can start your day with arid mesas and be surrounded by trees in the afternoon.

As a bonus, many stops along the way are in smaller communities, and when you slow down, you can see a wide variety of neighborhoods near the station. These views may not be as majestic as Mississippi or give Pass, but they offer their own unique window on how people in different parts of the country live.

If you are someone who wants to see and also explore The regions of the United States, you may want to opt for a road trip instead. One of the questions that people always ask me about taking the cross-country train is the time you can walk in the places you stop. With limited exceptions, the answer is not really at all. Most stops are just so that people can go up and down from the train, with "fresh air stops" every few hours. Even those who usually allow you five or 10 minutes to go out and stretch your legs, so not exactly enough time to see what the city has to offer. AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

Yes, you can book a cross-country train trip which involves several stops with stays in the places of your choice. For me, it is too much to stop and start. Compared to theft, train trips take long enough as it is - more on this subject below - so I would not want to add several night hotels across the country. If it's no longer your speed, however, you can check Amtrak Vacations , which offer travel plans organized with included excursions. I met a mother and a daughter on the train that delighted on this subject.

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I took constant photos while I was on the train - I included many of my favorites here - and scrolling my phone after my return home, I offered magnificent reminders of all places where I had been. It can be difficult to get the right shot, but ultimately you get the photo taking on a rapidly evolving train. (Keep the level of your phone while the train moves is a unique frustration experience.)

Know that the train windows are not exactly sparkling, which can interfere with the perfect photo. Depending on the time of day, you may also have to face dazzling and your own reflection. For me, however, that is part of the attraction of the photos of the train: you are not only documenting the terrain you are going through, but also the experience of seeing it from the train, blurred trees and everything.

There will almost certainly be breathtaking views in your trip, but depending on the route you take, there will also be countless hours when there will simply be a ton of variety. If you bring reading equipment or something to look at your computer or iPad, this is not really a problem - and I find that I always end up looking out the window, even if I just look at the 87th field of field corn in a row. For those who are easily bored, however, long -distance train trips could be a challenge.

There are other more frustrating obstacles to see the views. You could end up sitting on the wrong side of the train, as I was when I took the light of the stars of the coast to Los Angeles. This meant that to enjoy the incredible views of the Pacific Ocean at sunset, I had to use the windows outside my room. (I have always had a good time and I took an amazing number of photos.) But no matter what side you are, you will not be able to see anything once it will be at night. And if you are traveling in the fall to see changing sheets, you will see that it happens much earlier than you want.

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If you are in a bed, you will have a attendant that will be with you for the whole trip. Their job is to make you comfortable and offer you everything you need. This means composing your bed at night and putting it out in the morning, as well as to answer all the questions you could have and give you advice on the moment to look out the window for the best landscape. If you are someone like me who prefers to eat in your room to make a reservation for the dining car, your attendant will take your order and bring you your meals. Most car attendants also always have hot coffee when you wish - a real blessing.

I had eight different attendants during my cross-country trips, and they were all great, although some are much more attentive than others. You pay for a luxury experience when you book a sleeper (see below), and the attendants are absolutely part of it. Just make sure to switch them, especially when they go beyond.

There are a few different crosspieces that you can book, but unfortunately, they will all cost you. A bedroom is the smallest and essentially two seats in front of the other. These seats are converted into a bed and there is also a bed that comes down from the ceiling, so that these rooms can adapt to two people, as long as you don't mind becoming comfortable. Some train rooms have toilets in the area, although you prefer to use the shared bathroom in the wagon.

A bedroom is twice as large as a bedroom - that's what I have booked for the longer legs of my trips. (I find that a room is good for the trip of a night between New York and Chicago, but I need more space for anything beyond.) You get larger windows, a Complete sofa (which also converts to bed) with additional seats and vanity. More importantly, the rooms have a bathroom with a shower, and as long as you expect nothing fantasy, you will be grateful for intimacy. Family rooms are even bigger, but do not have this bathroom, which does not seem fair.

Prepare for a sticker shock once you start to assess a trip to any car room. Depending on the duration of the trip and the quantity of space you need, you look at the prices of tickets for several hundred dollars to a few thousand. For me, it is useful to remember that the train itself is part of the holidays, so it is something that it does not bother me to save for the way I would. But if you want a bed to sleep and a place to take a shower, the train is not an economical way to travel in cross-country.

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Anyone who has made a background road trip knows that it is not a quick trip - you look at about a week of travel, unless you do it in teams and you never stop to rest during the night. (I really don't recommend that!) The trains do not have to stop for meals or to rest, however, and at their maximum speed, they go much faster than the cars.

My trip was longer, because I took a less direct route: I left New York on Saturday afternoon, I arrived in Chicago on Sunday, I arrived in Emeryville on Tuesday and I arrived on Wednesday evening . On the way back, it was a forehand: I left on Thursday evening, I reached Chicago on Saturday afternoon (and I had a seven o'clock stopover) and I returned to New York on Sunday evening.

Basically, you look at three or four days of travel. It goes without saying that the trip takes considerably longer than flying. But it is still much less time than you think! Even knowing exactly how long the trip would take, I have always amazed the amount of soil that we had covered in a few days. And because these trains often leave in the afternoon or evening, you can easily end the trip for a long weekend.

As with any form of travel, delays are unfortunately planned in trains. I had good luck on this front during these last cross -country trips - most of my trains arrived on time, if not a little early. Just like when you fly, there is always a little extra time cooked, so even if you seem to run an hour late, the train can usually make up for its schedule when you reach your destination.

Note that certain periods of the year are worse: I had initially planned a winter journey before making how much these trains can be delayed in the middle of heavy snow. But the main cause of delays is Interference of the freight train . As Amtrak notes, he shares the rails with freight trains - and sometimes they have a priority.

The main disappointment of my trip out West West was not a delay, but a detour. I had reserved all the trip around the Colorado section of the California Zephyr road, which is largely considered one of the most beautiful in this country. Then, a week before my departure, I received an email that the track work will force me to get out of the train and a Bus from Denver in Grand Junction, Colorado. Given what extent I was looking forward to this specific section of the trip, it was honestly a little devastating. And there was nothing I could do about it. The bus itself was quite well and I still had good photos that cross the rocks (including the one above!), But I feel like I was missing.

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Aside from the question of the duration of the total journey, the other most frequently recurring question I receive from people-priest is: "How is food?" And the answer: pretty well, in fact!

All your meals are included with the purchase of a sleeping ticket, which means you have breakfast, lunch and dinner on board. Dinner is a Entrance-Plat-Dsert meal , and you get an alcoholic drink with it. (Or as much icy tea and diet coke as you wish, if you are me.) And yes, most of what I ate was solid to a very good range, with some key exceptions (more on this subject below).

There are a lot of personal preferences that enter the train train. Most people seem to like to eat in the dining car, because it's more fanciful. (You have to make a reservation, although reassure yourself, all those who want one in the dormeur car get one.) For me, the real downside of the dining car is that the holidays of three or less are usually seated with foreigners. It is an advantage for many train passengers! For introverts, the dining room in the bedroom is an easier option, and you always get the same food (and none of the forced socializations).

These three -course meals, or "traditional restaurants", are available on most Roads, but I discovered that the east of Chicago, you are stuck with "flexible meals", which is a very generous way of saying "microwave meals". They are not great. This may depend on what you order, but my salmon (illustrated above) had been microwave beyond the recognition point. I had worse food on a trip - but not much. Even according to the food standards of planes, it was rough.

And in trains with traditional restaurants, you could get bored of the options. I am a pescatarian, so I already work on a more limited menu. This means repeating meals several times, in some cases. In the end, it was not a huge affair for me, a habit that can certainly eat the same lunch for several days in a row. But at the end of my two cross-country trips, I was very ready to leave the train food. Even good things had become a little boring, and I was desperate for more options.

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I wake up earlier on the train than at home, largely because I leave the curtains open a little more than I should. But it is intentional: I like to wake up with the sun and suddenly find myself in a new state, with a completely different landscape to see. Most of my days started with hot coffee, looking out the window, then, yes, a respectable nap before lunch.

Long distance train trips, not to mention a cross-country trip, are not for everyone. If you have read so far and the disadvantages prevail over the advantages for you, it is not something that I would try to speak to you. But I highlight the thrill, because if you are able to give in to experience, there is really nothing else like that. Although I am very happy to be back home, I cannot deny that I miss these quiet mornings and the feeling of discovery by opening Google Maps and I saw how far we had left overnight .

There is no doubt about me when I was asked questions about the worst thing about the train track: it's sleep. The beds are small and most are not terribly comfortable. And they shake . This is the part that I cannot emphasize enough. The movement of the train is intense. It is not the sweet rocking that you probably associate with the train trip. During the night, the train goes fast , and if you sleep at the upper level, potentially in a bed suspended from the ceiling, you will be jostled violently and irregularly, and you will have to get used to it.

I would say that I ended up sleeping better in this small bed hanging from the ceiling of my bedroom than in the converted bed of a sofa in my room. It may be because I knew there was a net that prevented me from falling to the ground (a really perilous drop), or because by the last stage of my trip to New York, I was enough Deprived of sleep and I would probably have been able to pass out anywhere.

The fact is that trains are not ideal for sleeping, and win and lose hours during the night while you travel between time zones add to disorientation. For me, it is the only major drawback of cross -country trips - and that will not prevent me from booking my next trip.

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