a love letter to trains
why I would much rather travel by train
“I like being passenger princess”
Jordan’s thoughts on “Why Train Travel is Better”
I love traveling by train.
There’s something magical about traveling by train, an experience that’s hard to replicate by any other means of transport. Stepping into a bustling train station, alive with energy, you’re immediately surrounded by the buzz of other travelers, some bound for a holiday, others going about their daily routine. The air is filled with the anticipation of journeys beginning: hurried footsteps, snippets of conversation and smells of coffee and pastries. As you wait for your own journey to begin, you have the unique opportunity to watch life unfold all around you - watching the lives of people cross unexpectedly, possibly to never meet again, all totally engrossed with their own destination. Whether you sit an observe for a few minuted or a few hours, it is a world of it’s own.
When your train - the modern day chariot - pulls into the station, the thrill is not yet over. You find your seat, settle in, and immediately let everything else go. Here you’re free. No need to worry about the route, or any traffic ahead, no need to worry about keeping your eyes glued to the road or your hands fixed to a wheel. Instead, you can lose yourself in a book, drift in and out of your own thought, or simply gaze out the window at the passing scenery. Knowing eventually, the conductors voice will lift you out of your daydream, announcing that we are nearing your station.
I do enjoy driving too, it can be quite meditative to stare at a road for hours on end, nowhere to go but the horizon ahead with the quiet company of other cars moving beside you. But there is a certain restrictive aspect that comes with this meditation. Your eyes, your focus, your hands, they all belong to the road.
Train travel, on the other hand, offers a kind of freedom. Not in the sense of choosing your own route at any given moment, as you might do in a car, but a different kind of freedom—the freedom to do whatever you want. While the train follows its steady course, you are free to roam the aisles, stretch your legs, or even take a break and gaze at the changing landscapes from the windows. It’s the very thing I often find myself wishing for on long car rides, the ability to get up, move, and not feel confined to a seat.
Jordan and I have been known to get quite a bit of work done while traveling by train. We always try to snag the seats with tables so that we can spread out our laptops, books, and notebooks to turn travel time into a productive work time. One of the truly wonderful perks of train travel today is the onboard WiFi. So, even as we speed through the countryside, we can hop online to be productive, or simply stream something to unwind.
Traveling by train is easy
Traveling by train is refreshingly simple. While hopping in your own car might seem like the easiest transport option, train travel is often just as simple and doesn’t require much planning. All you need to do is get to the station, find your platform, settle into your seat and then let the train do the rest of the work. Compare that to air travel, where you need to arrive to the airport hours ahead of your flight, navigate the security lines, and then endure hours of crowded conditions on the plane.
Another perk of train travel is the ease of buying tickets. You can purchase your train fare well in advance or even moments before boarding, an unheard of idea when it comes to flights.
And let’s not forget the luggage. There is so much less anxiety when it comes to luggage, for one there are no checks at security for your bags, so you dont need to worry about liquid restrictions and weight limits. And forget about lost bags, on trains, your luggage is always within reach—stowed in the overhead compartment or a rack nearby—where it remains securely in your sight for the entire journey.
The trains are super comfortable
I hate being on planes. Plane travel feels like a lesson in endurance, crammed into tiny seats with no legroom, unable to move for hours. Trains, however, seem designed with actual human proportions in mind. The seats are wider, and the legroom is ample enough to stretch out and relax. You can even get up and walk around whenever you like, something I long for during long flights.
Whenever Jordan and I are on a train, we try to find a cluster of four seats with a table in between — by far the best spot for long journeys. There’s room to stretch out, and the table becomes our workspace as we take advantage of the free Wi-Fi. I wish planes had this! You’d think we’re paying them enough money for a ticket that they could throw in a few gigs of free wifi for you to get some work done if you’re stuck on the plane.
Trains are the best form of transportation to get work done in my opinion, mainly because they have the most space, comfort, and the option for you to sit at a table. Although some bus coaches do have wifi, in my experience it is not the most ideal place to whip out a laptop and get work done, due to a lack of extra space.
You can experience the scenery
And then there’s the scenery. Im not going to pretend that the views from a plane are mundane, because they can be absolutely breathtaking (glimpses of mountains, oceans, or cities from 30,000 feet above). But not every person has the luxury of a window seat, unless you’re very lucky or willing to pay extra.
On a train though, every single seat offers a stunning view of the outside world rolling by. The massive windows taking up all the space on the walls show rolling hills, fields dotted with tiny sheep and quiet villages, almost every scene looks out of a postcard.
Some of the most beautiful scenery Jordan and I have encountered during our travels has been through a train window. It is a very reflective experience, watching the landscape toll by. A stark contrast from driving down a highway, with the monotony of nothing but car and road lying ahead. Not to mention the freedom to gaze off into the cows and sheep in distant fields daydreaming, without fear of veering off the road.
It is super convenient
One of the greatest conveniences of train travel, is how well it fits into an active lifestyle. Unlike airports, which are often located miles outside of the city, train stations are typically nestled right in the heart of town, making it easy to step off the platform and dive straight into the action. Immediately, you are immersed in the city life and everything is just a. short walk away. There’s no need to wait for a bus or hail a taxi to take you where you need to go, because you’re already in the middle of it. For Jordan and me, this has been a huge blessing. We loved the feeling of walking out of the train station and being able to walk to our destination, seeing the streets of a new city for the first time, and mentally noting what we want to come back and see when we don’t have luggage weighing us down.
As Jordan and I travel, we’re doing everything we can to stretch our budget and keep our adventure going, and luckily, that often means taking the train. With our UK railcards offering a 30% discount, we’ve saved a good deal along the way, making the most of the extensive rail network here. But, train travel isn’t always the cheapest option, and sometimes we’ve had to opt for coach buses. There was one particularly rough overnight Flixbus ride, where I barely slept and felt like a zombie stumbling through the entirety of the next day. Although this was definitely not the most pleasant part of our journey, it solidified my love and appreciation for train travel.
If I could travel by train back home in the states, I would do it in a heartbeat. Driving two and a half hours to visit my parents is always worth it, but the journey itself can feel tedious. After a couple of albums and a podcast, the road starts to blur, and the monotony sets in. If I were on a train, I could still listen to the music and podcasts if I wanted to, but I would have the freedom to do so much more! Whether it be catching up on working, reading, blogging, painting, really anything I wanted to do for the whole journey. There’s just so much more that you can do when you’re not bound to staring at the endless road beyond the steering wheel of a car.
Unfortunately, in the States, train travel neither accessible nor convenient. The nearest station can be hours away, and even then, the rail network doesn’t span the country the way it does in Europe. It’s a shame because trains offer a perfect blend of time efficiency, comfort, and environmental benefit. I truly hope that someday the U.S. catches on to the beauty of train travel and expands its rail network. There’s something magical about the freedom to move, to work, to relax on a train, and I hope that more people can experience it soon.
i want trains
i too am obsessed with trains