Planes, Trains, or Automobiles…?

[BobbiSueEllen]

I chose car as well and...nothing like a road trip.

After the near-midair, driving took a whole new perspective, especially for the moves to and from Kentucky. I did fly twice more...only to get the second vehicle both times. Two road-trips per move.

These times, I got to encounter, interact more with my surroundings. Yes, there's a bit of mental "compression" when you're on the move, but at least when you drive, you get breaks...a change to mingle with the surroundings. To decompress, expand. Buy a t-shirt or shot-glass, eat, sleep, check out the highest point of the interstate you're on, the smallest official town along it (on I-80, both are 12 miles apart). There's a bit of dysphoria involved with air travel: so sterile, so much distance in so little time, your perspective of the distance from where you were after you land is skewed; with driving, you experience each and every mile more intimately...and upon arrival, your perspective of distance from where you were is a better one...a more realistic, less-disturbing one.

Just my .00000027 Bitcoin. Dang, it sure went up these past few months!

 

[denimchicken]

I don't get to travel by train very much. I really dislike flying so I guess that leaves me with driving.

I dislike flying because the airlines are a hastle, and the whole exercise feels like a massive violation of privacy. As much as I dislike how invasive the TSA is, they have become one of the easier parts of flying. That previous statement should tell you all you need to know about the state of air travel.

 

[allesindie]

I like to be independant on my travels, go where i want, stop when i want on nice spots ... so i did choose "car" even if for some destinations the plane is the option to choose. I miss "motorcycle" and "camper" "boat" on your list - we often go to islands by car-ferry and for me holidays start on the ferry.
Best had been our trips through europe in our old camper with kitchen, shower, toilet (to change the diapers) and individual beds for the kids ;-)

 

[LittleJames97]

I hate flying. Me an my family went to Hawaii few years ago it was a 13 hour flight from Boston. I got a headaches and was dehydrated. We had a layover in Texas and got something to eat and drink there. Hawaii was beautiful and had a great time but, just don't like flying in general. We had drove to South Carolina awhile back and took us a day but, didn't mind the long car ride. We made stops to got lunch and something to drink.

 

[diaperbobby]

Trains! I fly on a plane if I have to get some place quickly, but prefer the train as I can relax and do nothing but enjoy the passing scenery. I drive my car if I have to, but have never found that relaxing.

 

[chamberpot]

You failed to list motorcycle, I have a little over 250'000 miles on a bike. by far my favorite way to get from point A to point B, and Our boat as we have access to over 60'000 miles of navigable waterways in the eastern half of the US without ever taking our boat out of the water. and of course car travel is good also.. flying used to be fun but since 9/11 I haven't been on a commercial plane. I do have a pilots licence although I can no longer fly due to medical reasons.

 

[Bunnybnuy]

I love trains!!! I barely ever ride them, so I take every excuse I can find to do just that!

 

[Lethdale]

Hate airlines. That shitbussines is very similar to transport of cows and bulls. Probably I get hates, but last time I lost trasboard at Frankfurt am Main and recuperate my luggage was very terrible. It was Smartwings and Lufthansa flights. Experience better to no repeat. I know crossing half Europe with a car or train is more expensive (like 4 times,) but with less problems (if not carwreck) and railway is a few customer friendly (except SNCF.)

Ryanair....

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

9/11 changed so much. I remembered reading actor Cliff Robertson's testimony of 9/11: he was flying his Beechcraft Baron small twin plane, having taken off from LaGuardia and had looped around in-climb, now flying 8,000 feet over NYC as the first plane hit. He didn't witness the event but it was all over the COM traffic radio. He made it out and just past New Jersey (his Baron was turbo, they cruise at up to 300 mph) when the order went out: all aircraft in US airspace were ordered to land as immediately as possible, which he did.

Cliff was an extremely avid aviator...and a remarkable storyteller. All on top of being a superb actor. To read his writings was not only informative, but enlightening. I enjoyed reading whatever he put up.

But it all changed after that. Flying somehow lost a significant layer of luster. I still flew, it held a mix of both wonder...and uncertainty. You could sense it in passengers, too. Even more wore off for me, 2-1/2 years back. 4 more flights after that...it seemed all over. It's heartbreaking watching something, which is both a passion and a thrill, die.

It also killed a friendship: the guy whose Metros & other vehicles I worked on...he has a Cessna and wanted me to accompany him up to McCall to check out his other property there. I panicked, told him. His response then, as well as afterwards for weeks, was indignance, scorn. I stopped going back, cold. We haven't talked since.

And so...there's the automobile. 4 cross-country trips, one round-trip to Cincinnati, one to Seattle, one to Winnemucca. Guess this is how to decompress, to sort it all out. And time, always time. Time will tell...

 

[GoodNitesBoy98]

I've always loved trains! I had the chance to take multiple long distance train trips here in the US and loved it. It's such a great relaxing way to see the country.

I was lucky to grow up on the Northeast Corridor and took multiple day trips by train as a kid.

 

[Sissyleslie]

I enjoy train travel - I love watching the countryside pass by through the train
window. But then again, as a railway enthusiast (rail fan), I am a bit biased. I am more of a modern traction (diesel and electric locos) fan, but I do enjoy steam locos as well.
Most of my train journeys have been in the UK, but I have had the pleasure of travelling by train in other parts of the world -

(1) Flam railway, Norway. Spectacular- one of the stations is a wooden platform halt located next to a waterfall!
(2) Zillertalbahn, Austria. Narrow gauge railway in the beautiful Tyrol.
(3) RER suburban service to Issy-les-Molineaux, Paris. Vintage (?) Stainless Steel-bodied EMU (Electric Multiple Unit).The doors with two handles took some working out!
(4) GO Transit service from Union Station, Toronto to Clarkson, Mississauga and also Mimico. Comfortable seats and a great view! (If only the UK loading gauge would permit double-deck rolling stock!).
Finally photo of a Class 86/2. These vintage 1960s (or was it the 50s?), used to power Norwich to London Liverpool Street services until the early 2000s -

Ironically, quite a few are now being used in countries such as Bulgaria.
Hope I haven't bored all you non-railway fans!

 

[Kirisin]

I have flown more since 911 then I did before but if you want to get out and see places you would never see otherwise Amtrak is the only way to go. Besides your phone will work

 

[BobbiSueEllen]

I have flown more since 911 then I did before but if you want to get out and see places you would never see otherwise Amtrak is the only way to go. Besides your phone will work

Phone...hmmm, the only place my phone never had reception was on I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Once I entered the mountain pass canyon past Laramie going eastbound, I lost all signal; upon passing Happy Jack Road (elev. 8,640 feet) and approaching Buford (home of the highest gas station on I-80 and smallest official town in Wyoming--Population 1), signal came back. About a 15-mile gap. That was in 2009; they've since fixed it.

Last year, zero gaps all the way between Louisville and Boise.

 

[TeeMousy]

Phone...hmmm, the only place my phone never had reception was on I-80 between Laramie and Cheyenne, Wyoming. Once I entered the mountain pass canyon past Laramie going eastbound, I lost all signal; upon passing Happy Jack Road (elev. 8,640 feet) and approaching Buford (home of the highest gas station on I-80 and smallest official town in Wyoming--Population 1), signal came back. About a 15-mile gap. That was in 2009; they've since fixed it.

Last year, zero gaps all the way between Louisville and Boise.

A couple years ago I traveled by Amtrak to Idaho. There had been a train derailment so my train was diverted to another route bypassing my station. So I had to take an Uber (paid for by Amtrak) to my destination. I had no phone service when I arrived so I couldn’t call my friend to let him know. Plus it was dark and nobody was at the station and my friend had a rental car so I didn’t know what his car looked like. It was kind of scary but luckily my friend found me standing there at the station.

 

[nectar0001]

Big railfan and traveler here. I'll be taking the Zephyr in a few weeks to head back to the west coast after the total eclipse! Bringing GoSupremes, of course. Gotta stay dry (I mean wet) on those overnights in the roomette!

 

[binkyyybunnyyy]

PLANES!!!! I’m trying to convince my Daddy that we need to go on a plane together lol I even hint at it by coloring pictures of them and hanging them on the fridge lol

 

[mistykitty]

Car for me. I can fly if absolutely necessary but I've always been scared of it and I'm not good with crowds either. I wouldn't call them a favorite but I don't mind trains.