On the Road, er, Tracks, er, Road Again

I had a brainstorm this summer! I would take Amtrak when I went to visit my friend in NJ in August.

I have been driving down there since college because driving is convenient! I hop in the car at any hour, zoom down 287 and across the Tappan Zee Bridge, then the NJ Turnpike and/or the Garden State Parkway. It quickly lost its novelty, and the traffic (why has 287 been under construction since 1995?) became a unique form of torture. And the tolls kept going up!

It finally dawned on me that I have the whole summer off, and I can afford to take the trip a little slower. I scoped out Amtrak and found out that, although the ticket price varied throughout the day and week, for about $115 I could leave from Boston and get to Trenton, and that for a few dollars more I could take Light Rail to just a few miles from my friend's house! Between gas, tolls, aggravation and the cost of my time, the train was a huge bargain! I had visions of finishing book after book and strolling casually up and down the train car.

But I wasn't ready to lock in a train schedule, because I have an obsession with control and flexibility, so I didn't buy my ticket in June. (cue ominous music) I went to buy it a week before the trip and found out that the price had doubled! I whined to Kevin who said, "Oh yeah, they've been doing that for a few years, just like the airlines." AAAAARRRRGH!!

I couldn't believe it, but I also couldn't talk myself into driving down. So, Greyhound it is. It's little less convenient since I have to take the bus to Newark or New York Penn Station, then take a local train and then light rail. Plus it's a bus. It could be crowded, I get a little bus-sick, I have encountered more annoying or creepy bus passengers than train passengers, for whatever reason. BUT. I still don't have to drive.

Which is terrific, since this is my one big trip of the summer and I have to come back and start a class on the Monday after, so I have plenty of reading to do!

So I learned a lesson. Train travel is romantic, convenient, (at least traveling up and down the East Coast) and affordable. But only if you plan in advance. I may never have enough time to take the train again, because usually I am on a tight deadline when I travel, but maybe you will. Is it worth the trade-off in flexibility and convenience to let someone else do the driving?