Planes, Trains, and Plantains

In case you didn't get the reference.

I’ve passed a lot of personal milestones in the last two-ish months. I’ve seen more carved testicles in that time than I had in the previous 20 years. I’ve spent more time away from my parents than ever before. I’ve eaten more Cornish pasties than I thought I ever would (truth be told, I had no idea what a Cornish pasty was 3 months ago). And I’ve more than doubled my total number of countries visited since September.

I’d traveled a fair bit before that, mostly on family visits, and thought I was pretty well experienced at it (little did I know you can go for 7 days with one backpacks worth of clothing). I was certainly under the impression that if you were going to be traveling, you were going to be cramped in a car and take a long while to get a long way, or you were going to be cramped in a plane, subjected to the indignity of airport security, and pay a lot to get a long way in a short time. Transportation meant discomfort, basically.

As much as I hate to come across as the snobbish North American who has been to Europe, I’ve got to say that I’ve become convinced this semester that trains are the most civilized way to travel. I use that word civilized pretty deliberately. On a train, you can stand up and move. You aren’t confined to your little space. It’s easy to have a conversation. There’s usually a place to buy food, and you can always bring in your own food. All in all, you feel like you’re actually treated like a human being when you take a train, especially in comparison with flying, where you’re treated like a potential terrorist, then the object of some kind of scam, then a piece of cargo.