Chugga Chugga

Today is the longest day of the year. Perfect for doing a 36 hour compressed weekend with my best friend. And the bonus? A train ride.

I love being on the train. It allows one a certain level of privacy and freedom. This is true especially if you are lucky enough to get a pair of seats to yourself. I always spread out and hope people will avoid me when they get on the train and look for a seat mate. Too bad I can't sport a bunch of scary tattoos so nobody will sit with me. I have too friendly a face unless I'm putting on my bad ass face. Or my totally distracted, engrossed face.

I used to get trapped into talking to seatmates, but I'm smarter now. I have headphones on at all times, even if I'm not listening to anything. (Who would know?) I also avoid eye contact with everyone but the conductor, who is usually charming and efficient.

And I've started taking business class. Sometimes it's cheaper than a regular seat! Go figure. Apparently we get free beverages in the cafe car, but I've made it my mission to always pack enough to sustain me the entire five and half hours to get where I'm going without resorting to dubious train food (I'm a bit of a snob about that). It's kind of a point of pride to me to never see the inside of that cafe car. I never know where it is anyway, so why bother?

I do, however, always use the bathroom, sometimes excessively (thimble bladder). Once I walked in on some doofus who hadn't locked the door. Who doesn't lock the door in a public bathroom?!

Other hazards of train travel, are hoisting your back up on the top rack without looking like a complete idiot. And that's silly to worry about, because you don't know any of the people on the train and you'l probably never see them again anyway.

Being on a train is like being in limbo,  purgatory. You're here and not here. It's cool.

And the wifi is awesome.