The train left Flagstaff at maybe six in the morning. It’s about 2 pm now. I’ve only had a few hours of sleep, largely because my personal paranoia about faulty alarm clocks, convenient snooze buttons and general laziness didn’t allow me to sleep until I was safely on my way. As a result, I slept a bit in the morning but was woken shortly thereafter by sunlight bouncing off the stark New Mexico landscape outside my window. Fortunately for me and everyone in my immediate vicinity, there was coffee for sale in the lounge car.

This first blog post is going to be more perfunctory introduction than anything else. I’m crossing the nation over the course of three days via my favorite means of transportation, heading to a place I’ve never been before, Philadelphia. Of course, the journey in this case is significantly more important than the destination. I want to know about the sort of person who travels by train in the modern era, and why, and what the experience means to them. In doing so, maybe I can find out more about why the train is so important for myself, in particular; why it’s one of the only methods of travel that I really feel comfortable with.

I’m still not good with this blogging thing. Give me time.

Raton, NM.