Today I'm going to share some thoughts about living on Amtrak for three days -- almost a full 72 hours, including three nights -- riding Amtrak from Portland, Ore., to Newark, N.J.

But first, let me correct something I'd said in a previous blog post: I had said that I chose a three-day train ride to get me back to the East Coast instead of a flight that would take a fraction of the time because I'd gotten an impression that train rides have a smaller carbon footprint than flights, but I also conceded that I had not done much research on the issue and I could be wrong for trips as long as this. After reading a little more about it online, I can say that there seems to be a strong conclusion that riding the train contributes far less climate change than flying, for trips both short and long. So I'm glad I made the decision to take the train. 

Note: If you now want to jump straight to the part about life on the train, scroll down to the "Notes to self" heading below. But if you have the patience, here are some of my thoughts about flying and climate change. Be advised, they're not pleasant. The next blog entry will be lighter, I promise. Here we go:

As I noted in a previous blog entry several weeks ago, I had been avoiding flying or eating red meat for a few years now, but I had decided during this bike tour that I would ease up on these rules for myself. I am reading "Our House is On Fire," a book by Greta Thunberg and her parents and sister, told from the perspective of Greta's mother. It is making me rethink my position on flying (again). (And as for food, I have decided to continue to shy away from buying any red meat myself, but I'm not going to make a point of avoiding any food if I am a guest at someone else's home.)

Flying can easily be one of the biggest chunks of an individual's carbon footprint. In my life, flying had almost always been part of a vacation or similar trip. But now I think I'd have a much harder time enjoying myself  in a location that I'd reached by flying, knowing that the flight contributes substantially more to my role in climate change. 

I have heard and largely agree with the argument that stopping climate change -- er, it's too late to stop it, so let's say mitigating climate change -- is going to require big policy changes that hold governments and corporations responsible for their part in it. But virtually everything I've read on the subject makes it pretty clear that we need policy changes that also trigger changes for all of us individuals, too. So, if we know what kinds of things we need to change at the individual level, why should we wait for policy changes to force us to do them? If I know that we need to fly less and eat less meat and drive less, why would I not do them? Sure, my contribution may be just a drop in the bucket, but if there are fewer drops in the bucket, wouldn't that mean potentially one or two fewer families  lose their homes or fewer people die in the next climate-related catastrophe?

A frustrating amount of previous international negotiations seemed to get childishly stuck on the idea that if X country doesn't cut back its emissions, why should our country? That's such a selfish perspective, in my opinion. But for some reason, it feels easy to shake our heads at governments that fail to step up until someone else does, and then we don't see the hypocrisy in doing the same thing at the individual level: If the government isn't pushing me to make this change, and if I don't see everyone else making this change, why should I? Here's why: Because all emissions, whether triggered by a government or a corporation or an individual person, contribute to the problem, which means every emissions-causing action we choose to take is partially responsible for the death and destruction that these catastrophes cause. After I realized that, I have had a hard time finding it enjoyable to eat beef or to fly anywhere. Is this flight worth the life of someone living in Pakistan right now?

I know, that's an awful way to look at things. To be clear, I'm not saying we need to stop taking vacations. I'm just saying it's hard for me to justify almost any flight that I would consider taking.

For the record, I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad about their decisions. This is just how I feel. Of course, I do think that many, many more of us need to start feeling similarly if we are going to have any substantial positive effect on climate change. I'm not especially optimistic. But in the meantime, I will struggle with this issue as a moral dilemma. Also, I don't mean to be virtue signaling. I'll readily admit that I could be doing more to shrink my carbon footprint. I'm just sharing my thought process behind some of my own decisions, especially ones like the decision to spend three days on a train.

Speaking of which, here's what this trip taught me about train travel:

Notes to self

I have taken Amtrak all over the East Coast on previous bike trips, but this was the first to include more than one night aboard a train and the first to include a proper dining car, which is not to be confused with the cafe car. Here's what I learned on this trip:

Bringing a bike on Amtrak seems to be getting easier over the past several years. There was no roll-aboard service on the train lines I was taking, but boxing up our bikes was easy with Amtrak. Several big train stations will sell bike boxes to you for $15 each, and it's just $10 to check it in as checked luggage. The boxes they sell are big, so you don't have to take off either wheel for a regular-sized bike. The only disassembly required is removing the pedals and the handlebars (or turn the handlebars sideways). MUCH simpler (and cheaper) than flying with a bike.

When considering taking a train across the United States, book your ticket more than a couple of weeks in advance. Train tickets, especially sleeper-car tickets, are not as plentiful as airline tickets.

Try to avoid an itinerary that involves sleeping two or more nights in a row in coach. Get a roomette if at all possible. The coach seats do recline somewhat and have a (short) leg rest that you can extend, but it took me almost two full nights of attempting to sleep in coach before I found a comfortable position. But if you have someone in the seat next to you, forget it. I was lucky enough to have two seats to myself.

If sleeping in a coach seat, bring an eye mask or a dark covid mask that you can wear over your eyes.

Sleeping in coach means no access to a shower. That much may seem obvious, but getting onto the sleeper car (with a ticket for either a roomette or a full room) means you do have access to a shower. That's another reason to splurge for a roomette for part of the trip.

Unsurprisingly, the shower room is tiny. It is nice that Amtrak provides towels and bars of soap, but storing those supplies inside the already-tiny shower space makes it even tighter. The lesson here: If the towels are wrapped in plastic anyway, take them out of the shower room and put them in the hallway or some other nearby location while you shower and get dressed. I doubt that the Amtrak staff is going to care.

After the conductor has checked everyone's tickets and you're free to roam around the train, take a good look at everything in the train car. I went two full days thinking that I had to buy bottled water at the cafe car to refill my reusable bottles before I learned that there is a water dispenser on practically every car; sometimes the dispenser is next to the bathroom, but on double-decker cars it is sometimes built into the wall at the top of the stairwell. 

If on a train with a dining car, be prepared for the many, many announcements about it. The dining car is now available only for those staying in the sleeper car; meals are free with your sleeper ticket. Coach customers are not invited to the dining car. Instead, coach customers can use the cafe car. They will tell you this multiple times at every meal. Another reason to splurge for that roomette for at least part of the trip.

But ... just because a particular train has a sleeper car, that does NOT mean it also has a dining car. I spent two full days in coach hearing the announcements inviting the sleeper-car passengers to come eat in the dining car, and that whole time, I knew I was eventually going to transfer to another train in Chicago, where I had managed to book a roomette for the third night. I was finally going to get the dining-car experience! Or so I thought. As it turned out, that second train didn't have the full dining car, so the Amtrak staff took your order off the menu and then brought it to your roomette. Dinner even includes a complimentary alcoholic beverage. So I did get fed, and it was fine, and I'm grateful for it ... but it was nowhere near what I'd built up in my head after hearing about the dining car experience for two full days leading up to it. It was a lot like the boxed meal they'd bring you on an airplane. The main dish was still in its little microwaveable plastic container with the little plastic film on it. 

If you are boarding a train with a ticket for the sleeper car or for business class, a few train stations have a special lounge for you, so you don't have to wait with the crowd riding coach. Amtrak does not do a good job of telling you this. The lounge in Chicago had free chips, pretzels and sodas (including La Croix -- how fancy!).

If your train has an observation car or cafe car, you'll probably find it more comfortable to spend much of the day there than in your coach seat. Coach seats are pretty comfortable, but if you have slept in it (or are going to sleep in it), your body will get tired of that seat. 

If sitting at a table in the observation car or cafe car, you will probably end up sharing, and you may end up chatting with your table mate. This is usually very pleasant, but if you need time to yourself, stay away from the tables and opt for a solo seat (available in observation cars).

Take every opportunity to step off the train and walk or jog up and down the platform. It's boring, but you need the exercise if you're spending days on the train. When the train is moving, try not to sit the entire time. Sitting is terrible for you, and I learned this the hard way (twice) during the pandemic. Also, do some squats! It's probably best to do them outside, since there wasn't really the room to do them on board, and it can be a bit wobbly in there. (I'm now imagining Samuel L. Jackson shouting: "I have had it with these motherf---ing squats on this motherf---ing train!")