You've heard of vacations and staycations. What about Traincations? It's what it sounds like, taking a break from work and at-home hassles via the rails. According to some experts, it's becoming the next big travel trend.
As most folks who have flown on commercial airlines can attest, flying is no fun anymore. Long waits and delays, cramped seats, bland snacks.
Driving can be fun, but you're supposed to pay attention to the road, not the countryside.
Trains can be more inviting than planes and automobiles, with more room, food cars, and places to plug in your laptop. Being a low-carbon form of travel doesn't hurt either.
Photo of the Swiss Rhone Valley, by snappa2006/Creative Commons
The Green Thing blog calls Traincations "So Hot Right Now." Why? More upsides of train travel include less invasive security measures, carrying on your own luggage, and even bringing bikes aboard. To put it another way: "On a train I can use my pen-knife to make a cheese sandwich without getting wrestled to the floor by people in uniforms."
The blog, highlighting train travel in Europe, says this summer was an especially popular one for Traincations.
The cats at Global Cool offer more info on rail riding, including tips on Traincation gear, deals and even a Twitter feed where questions and comments are exchanged.
Global Cool gave away a Traincation this year via its Facebook page to the Gurten Festival in Switzerland, with a musical lineup that included the Arctic Monkeys and Jamiroquai.
The contest winner gave the train trip high marks.
It seems for now that Traincations are largely a European thing, since the United States is still working on a newer, faster passenger rail system. Still, there also are opportunities in the U.S., and throughout North America. Chicago and Toronto come to mind. It can be slower, but cheaper.
Feel free to share you Traincation stories below. Or just gripe about planes and cars. Happy riding.
More on Train Travel
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