Posted November 13, 2022: Whether in India, Russa, Myanmar, I definitely recommend trains for serious seeing and/or thinking, reading and/or writing time. I’ve taken quite a few trains: In Russia the Trans-Siberian, in Myanmar from Yangon to Bagan, in India from Delhi to Jaisalmar (quite a communal affair as you can see from the photo), and in Southeast Asia from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, all at least overnight if not longer. I’ve also taken trains on short and longer journeys, all over Europe and the U.S. So I know trains a little.

In the U.S., as a kid my mom and I traveled by train a few times to visit Aunt Mabel in the big city—Sioux Falls, South Dakota. As a depressed teenager, longing for rural Minnesota after mom moved us briefly to Portland, Oregon, I was sent back home for the rest of the school year by train. The only thing I remember is that I was embarrassed by the big homemade food supply mom packed for my journey; probably fried chicken and apple pie while all the regular people had packaged sandwiches and Twinkies.

First trip I took my California grandchildren on was the Pacific Surfliner, San Diego to LA and back. Teresa was four and it was obvious from the beginning she had a travel gene. Perfectly content to watch the world roll by from her window seat. Steven was two at the time and it appeared he would grow up to be a purposeful traveler rather than a wanderer. He threw a ferocious tantrum in Union Station when we had to wait for the train to take us home; fortunately he was an exceptionally handsome child and frequently charming so we brought him back home with us anyway.

Granddaughter Sara and I have taken train journeys twice, once between Boston and New York and DC, once San Diego to Albuquerque. Both times involved substantial delays which made Sara, a pre-teen used to her dad’s speedy driving, rather impatient and she wasn’t – and still isn’t – all that big on scenic vistas.

Granddaughter Patricia and I took a day train to and from Quebec City and Montreal; she became an instant train aficionado. And excellent train-napper. Which led to our booking a compartment on Amtrak from Albuquerque to Portland, Maine—for travel in 2020—the travel year that wasn’t.

IN 2022, I TOOK THE TRAIN, ALBUQUERQUE TO NEW YORK, TO WORK ON MY BOOK! What led through a variety of twists and turns to me taking the Southwest Chief from Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 25, 2022 to Union Station in Chicago, then the Lakeshore Limited on into Moynihan Train Hall in New York, You might ask. It began like this:

• A substantial chunk of money was banked with Amtrak, and would be lost if not used by the end of November;
• Patricia couldn’t get the time off to travel;
• I read an essay last year about how someone ended writers-block by taking Amtrak across country, pretty much trapped in a small but comfortable compartment with pen, journal, and/or laptop for three days, rediscovering she was a writer who—yes—could write;
• I needed to make some decisions about what my book’s potentially brilliant narrative needed to say to future readers, and I was stuck;
• What to do but take the train somewhere? And be a writer on a train.

Since I would have Amtrak’s version of a bouncy castle (cave) to myself for the entire trip, the seat across from me became a desk. Of course I had tape and markers along as tools of my writer’s trade.

And on we went, across field and plain and by a big midwestern city, me tucked in for the night. My train reading a recently-discovered South African writer, Michiel Heyns. He is absolutely one of the finest fiction writers I’ve come across in a long while. Now, I’m saying this based on having read only one of his books, but it’s made me confident enough to offer this rave review! South Africa is full of fine writers, but unless they’re detective fiction authors or a Booker Prize winner like Damon Galgut it is hard to get their books in the U.S. Ordering from a South African bookstore or publisher is fine if one doesn’t mind spending $75 or so on postage. I recommend ordering through Thrift or Abe books, although sometimes there’s a wait before they have a copy available. Best way to get to know anyplace. Get to know their literature…then go there of course. Anyway, on with the trip…

As I say every time the words New York come up, I do love that city and would have wished to live there some portion of my life had time permitted. It is special … but you either know that or you’re missing some sort of cultural gene. First a minute in Chicago.

It was only in New York for a long weekend, but it was a perfect one. I stayed with my friend Cathy and we went to the three-story Barnes and Noble (in Albuquerque we only have a two-story) and to three performances ranging from incredible to just okay. BAM, the Public and LaMama. We ate Moroccan and talked a lot.

The other highlight was dinner at Bernard and Vernon’s, where we discussed art and family, ate tasty quiche, and looked over their balcony at the fine Manhattan skyline.

Between Cathy and Bernard, they’re pretty much responsible for my most amazing and satisfactory life presenting African (and other) brilliant dance artists. Thank you kind persons.

And then it was time to leave. Through the brand-new LaGuardia terminal, all unexpectedly bright and shiny.