Posts Tagged ‘Amtrak’

Hey guys, it’s Maddie again. When I last wrote about the APW book tour by Amtrak, I was riding a pretty serious First Class high. After having flown from San Jose to NYC by myself and then hauling myself to and from Brooklyn, I was ready to bask in the glow of free champagne and begin the part of the tour that would undoubtedly be The Glamorous Part.

And then we arrived in D.C. We had just enough time to change into something that didn’t look obviously traveled in, grab a quick bite to eat, and hop a cab to the D.C. book talk. Now, I don’t know how to describe this exactly, because it seems like such a mellow event, but when it was over I was beat. I kept turning to Meg and saying, “I feel exactly the way I feel after I photograph a wedding!” Except that when a wedding is over, I usually get to go home, upload my photos and crawl on the couch while my husband and I eat Mac ‘n Cheese and watch reruns of Firefly, and on book tour you go home and work (uploading event photos, prepping the week’s blog posts, and finalizing agendas for the next day).

And guys, I wasn’t even the one talking (I mean, I schmoozed, but that’s like breathing for me). Meg talks, answers questions for an hour and then signs books for another hour (the hand cramp alone…). And then, schedules permitting, she goes and PARTIES with you guys. She does it in heels, she does it with a smile, and the thing is, she does it over and over again city by city. She’s done it three times so far this week.

And the thing that’s boggling my mind right now is that we are doing this again tomorrow. Now, don’t get me wrong. We had a lovely day off in D.C. where Liz (who had met up with us in Philly) and I explored the Smithsonian Museums while Meg worked in the cafe until it was time to see the Ruby Slippers. We even got to take a tour of the NPR studios and eat an actual sit down meal at Chipotle.

But the rest of the time, it’s been work. We salvage every minute of internet connection we can get, sleep whenever possible, and spend a fair amount of time pumping each other up before the next event.

Having done two back-to-back events, I now understand why Meg likes Amtrak so much. It’s not the champagne, or the interesting dinner conversation, or even the novelty of saying you’re traveling by train. It’s that the train is the one place where Meg gets to rest. On the train, down-time is mandatory, and you have a personal porter who comes by every once in a while to make sure that you’re taken care of and to remind you that you really should eat dinner. On the road, it’s so easy to convince yourself that there is enough time to write one more post, or respond to one more e-mail, even when you’re dead on your feet. But the train reminds you that taking care of yourself is a priority too.

So far, the book tour is an incredible adventure. I am super grateful to Meg that I’ve been invited to join her for these events, and I’m even more grateful to all the amazing people who are making our stay comfortable. (Meg’s stories about Amtrak are all true. Our porter on the train from D.C. to Atlanta was this incredible woman who didn’t bat an eyelash when telling us about the baby she’d delivered on the train earlier that week and who pretty much ensured we would have the best time when we get New Orleans. And I’m not exaggerating; her favorite restaurant printed special menus for her so that she can hand them out on trains.) Even more so, I’m grateful to the people who are coming out to these events, waiting patiently in line, and supporting us as we write about the trip. Because even though I’m practically falling asleep as I write this, joining the huge crowds that have traveled God-kn0ws-how-far to see Meg and support this effort makes it totally worth it. It’s not exactly The Glamorous Part I was expecting, but still, it’s good. Really, really good.

Pictures from Instagram, where Meg is documenting the trip. Follow her on Twitter for more.

**This post was made possible by Amtrak, who is sponsoring the book tour. Thank you Amtrak!**

Good morning y’all. And by morning, I mean afternoon, because I slept in. I’m in New Orleans right now, facing a weekend of mostly-not-working. I’ve got Amtrak to thank for making that happen in the least stressful way possible. Yesterday, Maddie and I (along with Claire… yes, an APW reader decided to book an Amtrak trip already) hopped the train in Atlanta. Maddie and Claire had breakfast together (On the New Orleans line they serve sweet potato pancakes and grits. I know.) while I napped on the enormous couch in our bedroom. Then Maddie wandered back to the room… and I napped some more. We pondered working, but instead the day ended up being a giant slumber party where we both caught up on much needed rest.

And then, rather suddenly, we were in my (second) favorite city in the United States, just in time for Krewe du Vieux. And all I’m saying is that you should pay very close attention on Tuesday morning because we might be hosting an exciting Amtrak and New Orleans related…. something. I can’t say more than that because I have to go test out the city for you and just make sure it’s not broken. It’s a hard job, but someone has to do it. So far, I’ve stuffed my face, and danced till midnight in the middle of the street to an amazing brass band. But really, I’m just getting started. After weeks of working insanely hard on the road, I’ve decided that New Orleans is my reward. In fact, New Orleans might just be a giant comic reward for all of us. I’d type more, but NOLA calls. Let’s meet back here Tuesday and discuss. Hint, hint, get excited.

Pictures from Instagram, where I’m documenting the trip. Follow me on Twitter for more.

**This post was made possible by Amtrak, who is sponsoring the book tour. Thank you Amtrak!**

This morning, when I got on the train in New Orleans, it suddenly felt like I was on my way home. Maybe it was because West Coast trains (west of New Orleans and Chicago) are different, and I was suddenly back on my old friend the double decker train. Maybe it’s because in exactly a week I’ll be heading into San Francisco. Maybe it’s because Maddie left this afternoon for the airport. Maybe it was the wheels whispering ”home, home, home” to me. But suddenly it felt like the last leg of the tour was upon me.

Mostly I’ve worked like a crazy person all day today, preparing the exciting surprise coming at you Wednesday, thanks to Amtrak. But I did take a few hours to stare out the window. I saw small towns, fishing boats, levees, and houses on stilts. And in Louisiana, people in small towns look you in the eye, grin at you, and wave as the train goes by. It’s sort of magical. Then I read a chapter in my book (the first chapter I’ve read in a month). And I decided to take all my meals in my room… just because I can and because it’s cozy in here. For lunch I had red beans and rice, and bourbon and pecan pie. For dinner I’m having fried chicken. And yes, they are as good as they sound.

I’m excited for my final book events in Austin and LA. But I’m really thrilled to take some proper downtime on my last and longest trip of the tour later this week. And to see my family and my husband in LA, and to go home. Because coming home, changed forever, is the best part of adventures. Thanks, Amtrak, for getting me there with grace. And see you tomorrow, Austin.

Pictures from Instagram, where I’m documenting the trip. Follow me on Twitter for more. I’ll do a proper photo round up at some point, never fear.

I’m on the train right now, chugging through the desert on my way home. Well, actually, I’m not technically on my way home to San Francisco. I’m on my way to LA and to my parents house, but that’s close enough for me to feel like this month-long tour is really truly winding to a close. Also, by the time you read this, I’ll be safely in LA, since West Texas has a lot of dirt and artists, but very little cell phone signal. Which is all as it should be. I’m due up for staring out the window.

I got on the train last night in Houston, and as we were sitting in the car waiting for the train to pull up, I was describing sleeper cars to my friend Kristen. At the end of my description, she just sighed, and said she wanted to get on the train with me. And it’s funny, after a month on the road, as I’m finishing up doing the whole loop of the United States by train, I was so happy when I got to my little train bedroom. Happy and tired, and I fell right asleep. I fell so solidly asleep, in fact, that when the train stopped moving for two hours in San Antonio and they connected some new cars, I didn’t even surface.

I feel like I fell into some sort of magical universe when I agreed to do the this trip by train. I’m traveling in this fantastic way that so few people my age seem to know about. At each stop, everyone has a million questions for me about Amtrak, and then they sigh dreamily, and go home to plan a trip. And as for me, if I’m still happy to see my sleeper car bed after a month, you know Amtrak is doing a million things right.

So today you’ll find me staring out the window, not working for once. I’m pondering the desert and thinking how much it looks like where I grew up. I’m thinking about this trip and how it’s changed me. I’m thinking about seeing my husband and my family in LA. I’m thinking about how I deserve at least a week of sleep when I get home, if not more. And I’m thinking about wearing a super cute dress I got in Austin at the LA book tour event, to bring it home with style. And I’m thinking of how I’m going to go to bed early on the train tonight, and how when I wake up, I’ll be in LA. Like magic. Thanks Amtrak.

Picture of my early morning LA arrival from Instagram, where I’m documenting the trip. Follow me on Twitter for more.

**This post was made possible by Amtrak, who is sponsoring my book tour. Thank you Amtrak!**

* If you haven’t entered the APW Amtrak Honeymoon Giveaway, you should! If you win, your tickets are good through 2013, so you can take the trip next year too! So go enter already. The odds are pretty amazing, given the enormity of the prize.*

David took this picture of me exhausted but super excited about getting back on the train, on my last day on Amtrak. This is how I really felt. The book tour was, well… scary, first of all. A month ago, when I got on the train for the first time, I was sad to leave my home and my husband for so long, and I was overwhelmed by not knowing what was coming. And it turns out what was coming was huge. It was packed bookstore event after packed bookstore event. It was NPR and talk radio and newspaper interviews. It was encountering more kindness and more friends than I had any reason to hope for. And through all of that, there was Amtrak. The train became a sort of steadying force through the month. It was a place that was always more or less the same. It was a place where I knew there would always be a kind-hearted staff ready to take care of me. And I mean that in a personal way: they reminded me to go to bed, encouraged me to get enough sleep, brought me meals to my room when I was tired, gave me tips on places to go in the next city, and made a lot of jokes. And they did that not because I was special, but because that’s how they treated everyone. And when you add to that the fact that Amtrak actually sponsored my book tour? Well, they have a very special place in my heart.

Plus, let’s face it. The Coast Starlight is some of the prettiest track in America. You go over the sand, through miles of untouched beaches. First class passengers have access to the Pacific Parlor Car, which is a fifty-year-old car that looks like, well, a Parlor. I’ve taken The Coast Starlight a lot this year in coach, and I have been dying to get into the Parlor Car. And this time I got to. They serve food upstairs, and they have a viewing deck with overstuffed chairs, and downstairs they have a tiny and adorable movie theatre. And in the afternoons, they have a wine and cheese tasting. Which, it turns out, is basically the staff pouring you as much tasty local wine as you can drink. We stopped after five pours, though our porter reminded us that we had “nowhere to be.” Which is exactly the point of train travel, really. Nowhere to be, except the place where the train is taking you (a little tipsy, in this case).

So it was a near-perfect trip, and for the first time I had my husband on board. He’d flown down to LA for the final book event, and I begged him to take the train back up with me so I could show him around “my train.” And once he’d gotten the full tour, seen the sights, and read some magazines on our couch, he agreed that it was a really nice way to travel.

At book tour stops, I kept being asked if traveling by train was as nice as I made it sound online. And I always said the same thing: it was better.

So, so long Amtrak. I’ll miss you, but I’ll see you again soon. And thank you. I owe you a whole lot.

Pictures from the train (I know!!) from Instagram, where I documented the trip. Follow me on Twitter for more.

**This post was made possible by Amtrak, who sponsored my book tour. Thank you Amtrak!**