Andrea wants to head back to Florida for a summer holiday but with gas prices so high now, flying is increasingly not an option. Even with advance booking, three tickets will cost in excessive of $800.

Driving to Florida is not an inexpensive choice anymore either. Considering that 70 gallons of fuel for fuel will cost about $280 right now not to mention the wear and tear on the vehicle and the driver’s body, I wonder how many people will be going on cross country tours or camping out in their RV’s.

Sometimes I wish there was more trains available for cross-country travel. We are looking at a train from Raleigh to Jacksonville. It will be an overnight trip that if just on the ordinary seats, would be about $500 return which is not too bad; taking a private cabin will cost about $250 more. Still would have to drive to Raleigh about 90 minutes away.

Railroading is definitely a more civilised way of traveling. Traveling across Europe by train especially on my trip to Paris from Frankfurt are some of my fondest memories. It may have been a slower way of traveling but you definitely see more of the countryside. I remember going to the dining car on my Paris bound train and ordering from the menu which was in German and French. I thought I was ordering a beef dish then a short while later, I received a sausage plate with breads and cheeses. My thought was that I missed something in the translation when in fact, this was the appetizer for the meal which came soon after. A most excellent meal of roast beef with generous helping of vegetables served on a table covered with white linens and real china and silverware. Much better than flying the coach on the plane.

People are finding that taking a train does have its advantages:

1. No wait, no security. Amtrak asks passengers to be at the train 30 minutes before departure. If you show up a little late, you simply walk straight on the train and find a seat that looks good to you.
2. If you want to pee, go pee.. There’s never a time on a train when you can’t stand up and do whatever you want. And that includes having a nice lunch in the dining car, which is what I’m going to go do now.
3. The seats ACTUALLY RECLINE! Instead of the 1.5 inches if lean that the little silver button will give you on a plane, Amtrak’s big black button gives a recline of about eight inches. I could actually sleep in this chair! If I wasn’t so excited about how much it reclines.
4. PLUGS! Some planes are starting to finally provide power jacks so we can keep charged through long flights. But all Amtrak trains have three-pronged jacks to keep you electrified throughout your journey.
5. No NAGGING: It’s a frikkin pleasure not having someone bug me about my seatback and tray tables and whether my electronic device is approved for that particular segment of the trip. And no seatbelts at all! Whether or not that’s technically safe, it’s certainly more comfortable.
6. Legroom: As a six foot plus guy, I notice a couple extra inches here. And it’s nice.
7. No beverage cart slamming into your knees and elbows. The beverage cart on a plane absolutely ensures that you never ever ever put any piece of your body into the aisle. Well, the train aisle is considerably wider, for one, and the cart is nonexistent.
8. Treats: If you happen to want a cheese danish on an airplane, you’re out of luck. Not here my friends…and the cost of said treats is much more modest than the $5 you’ll pay for a snack pack on American Airlines filled with crap you probably don’t even want.
9. You handle your baggage. If you lose your bags on a train, it’s your fault. There’s no waiting at the baggage claim and no worrying about how the baggage handlers (or TSA) will treat your bags.

Source: Nine Unexpected Benefits of Trains - Ecogeek.com

One of these days I might just take the train from somewhere here in the southeast and go on a cross-country journey to a place just beyond the Rockies and see the country from the ground. A much better way to see the vastness of this continent.