Trifter

Though there have been whispers of President Obama’s future plans for a high-speed rail system in the USA, it doesn’t seem like that dream will come to fruition for quite some time.  But that doesn’t mean you can’t use that unique, beautiful, cheap and easy form of travel today.  In fact, with an administration that is already portioning out some of the federal budget to the already established Amtrak system, now is a particularly good time to plan a trip by rail.  I recently took a trip from Boston’s Back Bay Station to Los Angeles’ Union Station on Amtrak’s train system.  It was an extraordinarily rewarding experience, and so different than traveling across the US by the more conventional means: airplane or car.  If you are a traveler looking to see the country, meet interesting fellow wanderers, and save money, then here are some tips on how I did just that:

Book in Advance

     For most stations, it is possible to buy your ticket from an Amtrak counter.  However, though you could probably just go from city to city and try your luck with counter hours and ticket vendors, I found it was easier to book before you leave.  The Amtrak website is navigable, and often if you do some proper googling you can find coupons to enter online and save money.  If you don’t like using the net to book tickets, than give Amtrak a call. Their phone system is voice operated, and actually works well.  If you want to talk to a real human being, it is easy to just say “operator” a few times until you get someone on the line.

     If you don’t choose to book in advance, you may find some unpleasant obstacles.  For instance, I had planned on stopping in Lamy, New Mexico on my way to see some friends Santa Fe.  I was going to try and buy my ticket there, but out of curiosity used the website to figure out how much the ticket was going to cost.  Luckily I found out then that there are no ticket attendants at the station in Lamy, and it would have cost me $15 to have the ticket express mailed to an earlier destination, not to mention that would have been a major hassle. 

Pack Light

     I cannot say how happy I am that I only had one bag on me while traveling.  Rolling up my clothes and then vacuum sealing them in Ziploc bags by sitting on them, I was able to fit more than enough clothing for my week long trip.  Sure, it got to the point on some of the longer treks where I was turning my underwear inside out, but if you aren’t willing to get a little dirty while traveling, then long train trips (and budget adventures for that matter) may not be for you.

     Having one bag makes it easy to keep track of your things and move quickly when transitioning between stations.  I always felt a surge of pride when I would get off a train and zip right by those people that had to wait at baggage claim to collect their things.  Of course, this isn’t just a tip for people traveling by train, but for some reason minimalism seems particularly appropriate for such a curious and old fashioned form of travel. 

Make Friends

    This is probably the most important, and my favorite tip.  Make friends on the train!  It is so easy to do.  During my trip, it seemed that most train travelers are also eager to have conversations.  It is not like airplanes where you are so crammed in you can barely move your arms to cut your dry salmon.  It is not like cars where you can have long conversations with your handful of travel companions.  Trains are organized to facilitate conversation.  You can move about, switch seats, turn in your chair.  People come and go at every stop, and though it can be sad if you only have a few stops with someone who piques your interest, the shuffling effect of the train makes for minimal small talk.  And everyone has a story.  I met a female corrections officer, 2 Amish woodworkers, a gold miner and a self-proclaimed hillbilly trying to travel the world with no money, and I met them all in one train car.

     Aside from just fighting off boredom, it is always useful to have someone watch out for your stuff.  On some of the more crowded trains, it can be a burden to have to carry all of your things with you to the bathroom or dining car.  Though I didn’t experience any theft on rail, it was nice to have a seat mate or person across the isle who I could ask to keep an eye on my stuff while I moved about the car. 

Bring Your Own Food

     A $6 dollar cheeseburger that is microwaved in plastic?  I think not.  The food on Amtrak is not only disgusting but overpriced.  I was traveling on a very small budget, so I didn’t even give the dining car a shot.  But I did visit the snack vendor several times, where they serve bagels, juice, chicken wings, pizza, alcohol and more.  It is train robbery.  The food is unhealthy and, since there is no oven, sickeningly low in quality.  The alcohol, which is a substance complimentary to train travel, costs six dollars for a nip. 

     It’s not worth it, especially when you realize how easy it is to get all kinds of food and drink, alcohol included, onto Amtrak trains.  There is no carry-on checking, and even if there was no one seemed distressed by the fact that I had my own food.  Sure, hot meals are pretty much out of the question unless you get some fast food from the train station, but you can bring on lots of snacks, pre-made wraps or sandwiches and desserts.

Go For the Observation Car

     Though not all of the trains I took had them, both of the trains I took to get across the west had observation cars.  These are cars that have large windows that stretch almost from the floor to the ceiling.  There is no assigned seating in the obvservation cars, instead they have booths and seats arranged in groups of three or four.  The seats face the windows, but are angled so that conversation with your fellow observing travelers is easy. 

    Out train windows you get a strange and fascinating glimpse at American life.  Think of where the train tracks go in your hometown.  Most tracks seem to pass on outskirts, where the noise and rush of the train will go unnoticed by the townspeople.  The result is an interesting perspective on the outer limits of America, from tiny little towns to big cities like Chicago and Boston.  

     Even better than the towns is the natural beauty that can be seen from the observation car.  The Southwest Chief, which runs the route from Chicago to Los Angeles, with many stops on the way, passes through the plains of the Midwest into the Rocky Mountains.  If you have seen those mountains before, I promise you you’ll see them in a different way when passing through their circuitous valleys by rail.

     I also suggest catching some shut eye in the observation car if you are on an overnight trip.  Though most times I was able to find two unoccupied seats to curl up on in a passenger car, occasionally there was only one seat available to sleep on, my own.  This often meant a head against a cold window, or worse, a head against the shoulder of my seat neighbor.  Luckily, early in my journey, I discovered that the observation car is open all night.  Seats were abundant, and once you adjust to the light, you can fall asleep rather peacefully in there.  Because of the giant windows, I was awoken twice by the sun rising, first over the bleak and snowy plains of Iowa, then over the rocky mountains.  Not a bad way to wake up.