We think traveling Amtrak is best when your destination times are flexible, and you don’t need to get somewhere in a hurry. Surprisingly, we run into many people on the train who arrange their work schedule so they can use the train for travel on a business trip. This approach was my first exposure to riding Amtrak. A co-worker and I had to travel to Boston for a business trip, and she proposed we travel together on the train. We rode coach from Newport News, VA, to Washington, DC, where we transferred to a sleeper car and rode overnight to Boston. What a delightful way to travel. No airport security hassle, no virtual strip search, no cramped airline seating. The cost was comparable or a little cheaper than flying, and the time fit with what we were allotted by our employer to make the trip.

My husband and I encountered a woman who was traveling from Houston to Washington, DC, via Texas Eagle to Chicago, and then one of the other routes from Chicago to DC for business.

We use it for vacation, planning stops and getting off the train where we want to spend more time. We catch the next train traveling by at the time we want to get back on and ride to our next stop. Since we get roomettes or bedrooms, this is planned months in advance to make sure the reservations all match up. Amtrak accepts reservations ten months before travel.

The planning, preparation, and anticipation is half the fun, so make the most of it. We were fortunate enough to be able to get a bedroom at the last minute when our travel plans changed when our train to New Orleans was cancelled and we decided to catch a ride from Chicago to San Antonio on the Texas Eagle. When I was making arrangements, we couldn’t get a bedroom on the next day’s train, but the one the day after had a bedroom available. We thoroughly enjoyed our extra day in Chicago, and we traveled home in comfort.

As a result of conversations on the train, we have three trips to plan and put on the shelf. We don’t know when we’ll want to travel again, but we love the planning process.

The first trip will be a week long trip to St Louis and back to test whether we might prefer two roomettes to a single bedroom. This would allow us both to sleep on a lower berth. The disadvantage is the need to leave the room for nighttime bathroom trips. Not a big deal, but not desirable.

The second trip will be for my 40th high school class reunion, which should happen in July, 2018 and will route us through Pittsburgh. The third trip will be via Sacramento, Portland, and Seattle, probably on the Empire Builder originating in Chicago, but we’re not certain how else it will go.

Thank you for visiting for the April A-Z Blogging Challenge. Today’s entry is “Grand Tour”-themed, about our Amtrak trip we took last month. I’d love to hear your thoughts or questions in comments. If you don’t want to miss an entry, please enter your email address below, press sign-up, then check your inbox to click the validation link to get these blog posts in your inbox.