All Aboard!

Over the past few weeks I've done a fair share of traveling locally. We've made a few weekend jaunts to Philadelphia by car, a drive up to the Finger Lakes in upstate NY, and even up to the Boston area for the wedding of a dear friend of ours. More recently, I've made a trip to our nation's capital, Washington DC to attend the Citi Open tennis tournament. For this, I decided to ride the rails to Philly and hop in a car with my good friend who was joining me for the activity. On the way home, I thought to myself...

Our train system is actually quite nice, though nothing compared to the best rail systems out there in Japan, China, or France (Europe, in general). However, it's certainly more comfortable and cleaner than those of India. In recent times, there have been plenty of issues plaguing the train systems, particularly in NY/NJ/CT. But like all systems, I'm convinced that this one just needs better maintenance, stricter guidelines, and timely communication to ensure order.

I took for granted our train networks here in the United States, but I've come to appreciate them more after having ridden many others around the world. If you need some help getting started, take a peek at the man in Seat61. He's my go-to when I'm looking for a crash course in train travel in a particular locale.

For those of you who haven't had the experience, Amtrak and the localized train networks are waiting for you to embark on your next journey. ALL ABOARD!