Greetings, comrades! I have returned from a two weeks vacation hiatus, and it feels wonderful. The travel was wonderful as well, details of which I will write about in the upcoming days, perhaps weeks.
Indeed it’s the first bit of traveling I’ve done since the beginning of the pandemic. As cliche as it goes, you truly don’t know how good things are until it’s taken away from you. I love traveling, but never was one to be sentimental about it. The euphoria I got as I stepped onto the train in Emeryville, en route to Los Angeles, was a welcomed surprise. The challenge and excitement of heading off to a new adventure has returned, and it’s been far too long since I’ve last had it.
Let’s not go a year and half before I travel again. Go get vaccinated if you haven’t already. And I pray the rest of the world will be able to catch up soon enough. I yearn for the shores of the Asian continent. Hopefully by Thanksgiving week I can either go to South Korea, or Taiwan.
For this trip, we elected to take the train as much as possible. Flying is fast and all, and I’m sure it’s plenty safe vis a vis the coronavirus, but the lack of space and being stuck inside a metal tube in the sky with hundreds of other souls just isn’t all that enticing. The leisure pace and space of an Amtrak train is the way to go for those of us in zero hurry to get to our destination. 14 hours to get from San Francisco to Los Angeles is quite a time-consuming affair, though that’s nothing an iPad full of books can’t solve. Or an iPhone full of music.
The views along the way are quite nice as well. It’s a shame the train network here in America isn’t as intensive and fast compared to Europe and Asia. I for one would choose it over flying if both methods are able to get me to the same destination. Principally because I’ve a fear of heights, and planes have always caused me anxiety.
Trains are cheaper than flying, too.
The coastal sunlight.