#lifehacks: train travel

Train travel is my preferred method of transport. It used to be air travel, but that is long gone. These are things that I do to make my trips less stressful and more enjoyable.

• If I absolutely need to arrive at a specific time, e.g., for a business appointment or have a connecting train to catch, I tend to take an earlier train.
  
  The DB (Deutsche Bahn) used to have a better record for being punctual. Now, it is not so, yet the DB app and passengers still schedule trips with 5-10 minutes to transfer from one train to another. When they miss a connection, they get really upset. I prefer to go one train earlier, so the likelihood of catching the second train or arriving for the business appointment is better.

• Always reserve a window seat. You do not know what beauty you will experience watching the landscape pass by.

• Book a seat in a department near the first-class department. I have no empirical data, but the bathroom tends to be cleaner in the first-class department.

• Bring a selection of snacks to eat along the way. Nothing too healthy, nothing too large or cumbersome to hold, nothing that is smelly. A bento box of delights and a few crispy or crunchy bits.

• (I'd like to say bring plenty of water. But I don't tend to drink while I am travelling because I do not really want to go to the bathroom. I know this is not healthy.) 

• It is better to pack two small suitcases rather than one large one. 

• This is especially true for older short people. Lifting a large suitcase up and down stairs can be particularly bad for your back. 

• Since I have short legs as well, one of the bags is so packed that I can sit on it while waiting for a train and then store it on the floor of my seat so I can rest my feet on it. This also means I can take off my shoes if I am resting them on the suitcase.

• The other small piece of luggage can be stored overhead. Generally, people will help more easily if you have a small piece of luggage to put overhead than they will if it is large.

• Make sure to have a notebook and pen on hand in case ideas pop up in your head.

• Download several podcasts and audiobooks because you might take a while to find the right thing to listen to. Your mood can change during a train journey. The same thing goes for selecting which books you bring.

• Sometimes, I bring something to work on. I find that working at the beginning of a journey for an hour or so is productive as well it helps me to get into the flow, the slowness of time whiling away.

• I like to bring some knitting with me. It keeps my hands occupied while I look out on the passing landscape, listening to a podcast or audiobook.

I feel as if a long train journey is partly an outward journey of being the observer. Looking out the window or people-watching. It is also partly an inward journey of sinking into a good book or even into a state of daydreaming.

I once met someone who took a seat beside me, put his attache case on his lap, stared ahead, and did not move a bit. After an hour or so, we got into a conversation. He said he travelled back and forth from Hamburg to Munich every week. He worked in Hamburg. His family was in Munich. He had tried everything to make the trip go quickly. In the end, he decided to make a list of things he wanted to think about, and that is what he did; he just let himself think. Amazing.