For a long time now, I’ve wanted to cross America in something other than an airplane. The only catch was, the idea of all that time stuck behind the wheel of my car did not sound all that appealing.
Well, I got inspired by this recent NY Times article and my plans are now made. I’ll be crossing the USA on a train in the not too distant future. Here’s what did it for me:
It’s still possible to travel 3,585 miles across the United States without being the target of billboards, golden arches or absurdly large twine balls. The rails offer a view onto Unbranded America — the land as it was.
How often do you get a chance to see that anymore? Sign me up.
I’ve got extra memory cards for the camera and a new lens is on order, slated to arrive before I depart, so I expect I’ll have plenty of raw materials to load into Lightroom and Photoshop. The only drawback is there’s no Internet access on the train, so I’ll have to make do with my Blackberry and hope that AT&T doesn’t completely crap out on me while winding through “flyover country”.
