Planes a Pain? Try a Train.

"Don't touch my junk" has quickly become a viral sensation. TSA screenings to say the least are becoming a tad intrusive. Cops copping feels. OK, we live in a dangerous world and the bad guys are finding ingenious ways to try and attack us. They're not going to give up. So air travel at least, is simply going to be more of a hassle than ever before. Add inexperienced travelers to the mix during the Thanksgiving and Christmas crush and well, patience will be more than a virture but a necessity.

So let me suggest an alternative. Travel by train. It's something my wife and I have discovered in recent years. I'll write about it more, but first this video of a trip from Los Angeles to Seattle aboard Amtrak's Coast Starlight.



This video has had almost 13,000 views on YouTube so there's more than a passing interest in train travel. The trip took 36 hours, and yes, we had to fly from here to Los Angeles and then back home from Seattle. But the experience itself was terrific. We had to be at the station about a half hour before departure and the only security check was for I.D. The scenery was spectacular, meals grand and the afternoon wine tastings were delightful. While we were on a "Train-cation" others on the train traveled by train on a regular basis. It was simply more affordable. Factor in time spent going to and from airports, waiting for security etc, it's also faster depending on how far you're traveling. It's certainly the case for travelers of all sorts in the northeast part of the country.

If I had to go to San Francisco from Denver for example, either for business or pleasure, I'd definately think about taking the train instead of the plane. But for our regular trips to Atlanta, the plane is our only and best choice. Getting there by train would take about 3 days with the trip routing through Chicago, Washington DC then south. OK, one last video and if you're thinking about a trip to Alaska worth a look. We did a "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" vacation to the 49th state this past summer and the Alaska Railroad was a key part of our journey.



Alaska's scenery is spectacular and there's no better way to see it than by train and I highly recommend the Alaska RR, but not the cruise line cars. Travel on the actual railroad-owned cars. More of a real Alaska experience.

There was one, and very nice surprise when we flew back to Anchorage from Fairbanks on ERA. Other than an I.D. check, there was no TSA security screen. We simply walked to the gate then on to the aircraft. An added bonus by the way is the view of Denali from the air. Wow.

So there are real alternatives to air travel. Travel by train is worth looking into depending on where you're going and how fast you need to get from here to there. Either way, safe travels everyone.

Brian Olson
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