Tales from a Train: Travelers tell stories of their journey
Where are you travelling on this train? And where are you travelling in life?
I travelled around the U.S. on Amtrak for two weeks — beginning in Orlando, Florida, on Jan. 17 and stopping in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, El Paso and New Orleans, and many points between. I talked to dozens of people along the way — fellow travellers, friends and family waiting for loved one at stations, train workers. I generally started the conversations with these two simple questions.
Tereseta, a 22-year-old from Texas, worries that a border wall will separate her from her Mexican grandparents. Pam is raising the children of her nephew, a drug addict. And Machelle, who just found out about her cancer, knows this month might be her only real chance to hold her 3-week old grandbaby.
The people I’ve met are folks who hate to fly or somehow can’t fly, people from the heartland and from cities. Each person is aggressively pursuing happiness and trying to live life to the fullest.