So I’m hopping the train to Málaga this morning…
I always get a bit nervous before a trip, even a short one like this. I guess because I don’t do it very often. But this time I am taking the bare minimum since it will probably be just overnight (slight chance of staying until Saturday). It’s kind of nice travelling so light. Well, except for Shadow, who is rather heavy. But I couldn’t leave home without him.
And I was thinking how travelling by train is my favourite way to go. Planes terrify me, buses make me sick, cars are okay in that you can stop whenever you want … but for straight A-to-B travel I really think trains are the best. And notice I didn’t even mention boats.
What’s your favourite way to travel?
casa azahar 
I like roadtrips by car.
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I love travelling by train because you can see the various panoramas!
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I love to travel by train. I find the motion soothing and I like the way you sit higher up than in a car.
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I like to travel. Period. I love airplanes, have been in more kinds than I ever thought possible thanks to Arctic Chamber orchestra. Ships are really fun, but then motion sickness is not an issue. . . Cars are great because you have control of the schedule and where you go. . . Trains are wonderful because you can sit back and enjoy the rocking and it seems like train tracks go through the part of town where you get to see everybody’s back yard. . . I’ve travelled by bus and it was convenient and cheap and not that bad; I like having a driver that makes you go on and on while you can read and sleep and whatever.
Enjoy your vineyard visit, sounds wonderful.
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I vote for imaginary travel. (Lots of people enjoy finding it here on this blog, I think.)
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Hmmm – boats have to be my least favourite – by a huge distance. After that, it depends on the nature (and distance!) of the journey.
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On the train now. I lucked out and got two seats to myself, so l am spread out here with the laptop on one table; iPod, iPhone & notebook on the other. Very nice. Will be in Malaga in an hour.
Walked to station this morning to get a little exercise – Nog came with me to carry laptop and see me off and there was even time to sit outside the station and have a coffee.
Feeling good. This was definitely the right decision.
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I’ll vote for boats! They’re my second favourite form of travel, after trains. But then, I’m usually travelling on the Irish sea, and our the ferries there are top class.
TRiG.
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Doesn’t matter how good the boat is. . . I’m either going to be ill, or I’m not, and there is no way to predict it. The boat and the weather make no difference. I’ve been OK on a little flat bottomed thing being thrown all over the place, and violently ill on a huge ferry on a sea like a mill pond.
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Enjoy!
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I love travelling by train in Europe. Canada… Meh…. unless it is one of those cross-country trips. Here the train often takes three times as long as it would take me to drive, the washrooms aren’t so clean, the food is expensive and terrible, and it is too bloody expensive for a ticket. The last few times I took the train we were unaccountably held up outside Kingston for several hours and I could have taken the bus and gotten there much faster.
I did take the train to New York City twice because that was more convenient and less expensive (at that time) than flying. Since the train takes you right into the heart of Manhattan, you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for a cab the way you do if you fly.
My parents put us on the train back when I was 10 for a three day journey to Nova Scotia and that was WONDERFUL. We had berths in the sleeping car and were taken very good care of by a porter. You do get to see a lot of wilderness that you might not see from the Trans Canada when you do long trips like that.
In Europe, especially, the train is great because if you are intimidated by the various driving rules, you don’t have to deal with that.
I still remember taking the steam trains in the UK when I was little. They were the type of train you see in Harry Potter with the wood-lined compartments and in some cases, you had to get out off the train if you wanted to change compartments. I can still remember the smell. When I worked at the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology, one of ,y favourite jobs was when we dusted the trains…. They are in a huge, cavernous room with gravel on the ground and the whole place smells exactly like an old train station did.
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Have fun.
I like trains, but usually I end up taking the bus. The reason being that the bus stop is closer to my house than the train station, and the bus us cheaper.
I’ll be traveling by train this summer in China…can’t wait.
I’m not so sure about in Japan. I’ve been playing around with prices…train vs bus and rail pass or no rail pass. It looks like the option and no rail pass is winning. That’s based on sheer economy. However, I have traveled by bus in Japan before and they are great.
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I’m with healingmagichands; I like to travel, in just about any mode of transportation. I grew up flying, and really like air travel. (My parents met working for an airline, and my mother was a travel agent.) I love trains, too. Boats can be fun, as well. I just really like going somewhere! (I’m not super keen on buses, though–I can’t read without getting carsick. Car trips are okay if I have someone to talk to along the way, but again I can’t read. Especially if I’m the one driving.)
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