do you take the train because your afraid to fly?

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I for one, just stepped off a plane yesterday. I dislike flying very much. A brother was killed in a plane crash in '79 so its a tad more personal to me than to others. Also, I have been pimped so much the last 5 years "attempting" to fly that I finally tried Amtrak last year. I took a trip to the Florida Keys from Nebraska and a train was just way too much of a journey for me. It would have been LNK/CHI/NYP to Florida somewhere and then bus or rental car. My flight on Midwest Airlines out of KC was uneventful. But my sisters who met me there all had huge delays, stupid stuff and the usual....lost luggage. I was travelling alone and my family members were two groups. My travel itenirary was flawless but the whole time I was flying I was wishing I was on the train. I really like taking Amtrak because of alot less anxiety, I also relax alot more and get to visit with people and lastly, see the great USA at "see level". If I could have taken a train from LNK to the south without going north then east to NY I would have. Amtrak just didn't have the route.
 
Well, for the other side of the story, I really like flying. But that does not mean I do not like train travel as well. Both are pure pleasure for me, whether it is having a glass of wine and a nice dinner in the dining car on the Zephyr, or having that same glass of wine looking down on a living map of the country from 37,000 feet in a crisp, clear night. The time I spend on trains and planes is my quiet time. I love both. My wife is certain that, if I could, I would spend all day everyday in airports and train stations. She is correct.
 
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I don't like to fly. We just discovered the train experience two years ago and have been on the Cardinal and the Empire Builder and have another one booked for this May.
 
I began riding Amtrak primarily because I like to travel and my wife does not like flying...if I wanted to go anywhere I had to come up with another option. So we began taking the train...with our two young sons, 5 and 1. It proved to be a wonderful thing!

We play cards, watch movies, enjoy the dining car and lounge together. The kids do homework. We read and meet folks! Four on a plane is costly. With the kids riding for half fare until they turn 16, you can't beat the train. And it helps us unwind en route to our destination. And the scenery... We see the good, bad and ugly outside the train cars...it's a real reflection of our nation and its people.

It seems to be so true...one is either a "joy in the journey" type or a "the journey is just a necessary evil to get me to my destination" type. We have become a fully developed "joy in the journey" family!

Joseph

Erie, PA
 
Definately! After so many bad experiences on planes, I will never fly again. I don't mean just the inconvenience of being cramped or worry about terrorism, etc...I'm talking about the cockpit panel catching fire=emergency landing, lines on the plane frozen=emergency landing, near mid air collision w/ another plane while landing, and my favorite, the time we hit unbelieveable turbulance and the attendant started screaming and getting hysterical.
 
Since I work overseas, being unwilling to fly is not an option. It may be months between flights, and then have a 24 hour trans-Pacific marathon. However, there are certain airlines I definitely avoid. That does not mean being paranoid, it is only the few that have proven that they really are out to get you that I stay away from.

I still take trains wehn I can.
 
i take amtrak since ido hate to fly hate being in the cargo hold with the rest of the cattle , when i have to i will take one but i am white knuckled the whole way. my wife likes to joke with my friends that if they ever go on a trip with us they get to sit next to me :p . as i child i would always get airsick and now i just dont like not being in control of my fate at 30,000 ft
 
I have a trip coming up this weekend from Albuquerque to Wichita. Wish I could have taken the train, but my flight is paid for, and that's what matters. The difference is 13 hours by train vs 6 hours by flying - or 13 hours on the train versus about 3 hours on the plane. Add a couple more hours to the flight for security, etc. Blech. But I AM a pilot, and flying doesn't scare me. If I had my own plane, that'd be the way to go. Only 4 hours in a Cessna 150!
 
VentureForth said:
I have a trip coming up this weekend from Albuquerque to Wichita. Wish I could have taken the train, but my flight is paid for, and that's what matters. The difference is 13 hours by train vs 6 hours by flying - or 13 hours on the train versus about 3 hours on the plane. Add a couple more hours to the flight for security, etc. Blech. But I AM a pilot, and flying doesn't scare me. If I had my own plane, that'd be the way to go. Only 4 hours in a Cessna 150!
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I am a pilot too, however I can only take so much time in a general aviation aircraft. I prefer to take the train.

Rick
 
For me it is not so much that I am afraid of flying,its just that people at airports and on the plane are non conversational. At a train station,and on the train people are much more conversational. I guess because they know a train can only go so fast and makes so many stops. The most fun I've had talking to people was at the station when the train is late.
 
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