Welcome to the start of my travel blog – and I haven’t even left the country yet!
When I travelled in my twenties, I didn’t think twice. Doing a trip like this alone now, there’s a lot more to think about. I rang Amtrak to make a small change to my ticket: 45 minutes before anyone answered, two and a half hours in total. And then the bombshell – staff shortages meant a whole sleeping car had been removed from the Chicago to Seattle train, the longest leg of my trip. I’d been moved to a seat. For three days and two nights. As I told the lovely lady on the phone, I am not a student and I am not in my twenties!
It’s been sorted, though not ideally: an extra night in Chicago (with every downtown hotel apparently booked) and one less in Seattle. I’m turning it into a positive – two nights to get over the jet lag.
I do tend to go to the worst place, but now I’m braced for anything every time I step onto a train. They might not be prepared for what may happen – but they’re definitely not prepared for me!