Some of the more interesting conversations I’ve had have been—this will not surprise most of you—over meals in Amtrak dining cars. And that’s especially true when I’ve been sitting with someone from another country. Most of them—especially the Europeans—are awed by the size of our country and many of them struggle with all the…
Most Americans focus on time when they travel … how long it takes to reach their destination. Here’s a conversation I’ve probably had a hundred times over the years when someone learns that I’ve just traveled halfway across the country by train: Them: Really? By train? From L.A. to Chicago? Me: That’s right. Them: Wow!…
This is one of my favorite rides. The Cardinal runs between New York and Chicago, but it takes a meandering southern route that makes it, without doubt, one of the two or three more scenic Amtrak rides in the eastern part of the country. After the westbound train leaves New York’s Penn Station, it heads…
Reverting to the scenery-by-Amtrak theme again, there’s something else you’ll begin to notice as you travel around the country on the train: self-storage facilities. They’re a relatively recent phenomenon and they’re everywhere … incontrovertible evidence that Americans have too much stuff. For quite a few years, my advertising agency in Honolulu occupied some office space in a…