On The Tracks

On a Sunday at dusk, I ride the train back to UCSD’s campus. Cars are good, especially if you are a driver. Great for around town, or even a road trip with friends. But they are inconvenient, dangerous, and let’s admit, traffic makes us all want to die. 

On another note. I hate planes. They terrify me. Perhaps a plane phobia if you will (I have a very extreme ritual each time I fly, if interested please reach out). And don’t even try to mention the safety stats to me. I know. I know how safe they are.  How small the likelihood of a crash is, but I think it’s the fear of IF a crash happened, death is inevitable, and the whole time you are going down you know you are headed toward the end of something.  At least car crashes can be done in an instant. 

Sorry.

That was morbid.

I've even been hypnotized for my fear of planes (worked for a brief period has now rubbed off, sorry Schiller, need another appointment).

But- Trains! Trains! 

Trains have always been something I can get behind. Maybe it’s the fact that their structure and mode of travel has remained roughly the same for hundreds of years, maybe it’s the stability of being attached to the ground, the nostalgia of feeling like I'm in a 1940’s movie headed to a job, the freedom of being able to walk around with ultimate space, and so on. Trains are great, and fast. 

I remember going on one of my first long train rides from San Diego to LA when I was four and my uncle took me to the bar cart and the steps that led to a better view in business class, I don’t know what it was about these very underwhelming normal train necessities, but I loved it-I felt a belonging to the train-an excitement. 

14 years later when I take the train to and from SD, I feel the same sense of serenity absorbed into me. I always get inspired to get lots of work done on trains. I’ve read a full book and journaled from New York to Boston (ok technically this was a bus-but a long bus ride has the same feeling as a train, city buses are a different story…you get the picture), each morning on the Gold Line I enjoyed listening to podcasts or getting some morning reading before the school day, and now, on the Pacific Surfrider, I fully enjoy cracking down on college studies or blog posts. 

And what makes the train ride (especially LA/SD pipeline) extremely enjoyable are the moving vignettes captured from the window. Particularly once we get to the coast, and we are cruising along the beautiful SD beaches. 

As I watched the stories appear behind the glass today-I couldn’t help but smile at the simplicity and joy of a beach day. Surfers catching waves to find a peace of mind, young adults attempting to get tan for summer, kids running away from waves or burying themselves in sand (never was a sand kid myself, respect to all the sand babies though, don’t know how you guys did that), and of course the boomers standing with their hands on their hips as they dip their toes in the water, watch the waves crash, and think of how cheap everything used to be. It doesn’t matter what corner of the world we come from, or what language someone speaks, the beach somehow acts the same in every location, even on the other side of the planet-you can find people doing the exact same thing…beaching!

Trains seem to be like walking. They are a mode of travel that bring me peace. Almost like a meditation. A plane is great and all until turbulence hits and you realize you still have 6 hours of your flight left and the lingering anxiety of a plane crash and thus your death starts to play over and over again in your head. Cars can be fun until the songs your family starts playing over stimulate you and your dad keeps reaching back wanting your snacks and you're on the verge of peeing your pants but no gas stations are near. Biking is fun, but not every city is that bike-able, and sometimes-I like my feet to touch the floor. 

I don’t know how else most of you travel-

Boat? What about those who don’t live near an ocean!

Scooters? These can only get you so far, also there is no pain worse then when they hit the side of your ankle. 

Walking is awesome. But not the most time efficient, which brings me to trains. Underground, on a trolly line, or cruising on the California coast- I love them all. I love the stillness in the midst of seeing constant movement, the old conductor's hats and outfits, the coffee and snack carts, the spontaneous crazy crack head that joins your subway cart, the fact that wifi is sometimes lost so you find yourself reading, writing, people watching, napping or talking… It’s grounding really.  

Trains are efficient. They get you from Point A to Point B sometimes faster than a car would. But unlike planes, cars, ships (yada yada). They make you stop and pause, even if it is not your destination. 

“Look.” The train says, “This isn’t your moment to start your new adventure or end your past one, but it’s a chance for you to see whose adventures are starting and whose are ending at this pit stop. Who’s getting off and coming on at Anaheim? Who just missed the stop at 59th Columbus & Circle that you see through the window? Who’s been on before you got on-and is staying on after? You don’t have to know the answer, in fact you will probably forget about all these people by the time your chapter starts. But for a split second-pause, and watch this vignette pass you by, no person enters your life by accident, so consider: what do they have to offer?”

This could very well be the reason I love trains. 

However, I might also just love them because Before Sunrise and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind both have very important train scenes. 

Can you tell I’m a hopeless romantic?!?!