T: Is it true that you will soon start a 30-day flight-free trip across America? When?

Yes. It is true! I will be leaving in early June and be gone for about 4 weeks.

T: What a great adventure!

Yes, this trip feels like a wonderful opportunity, a gift of relaxation I am giving myself. I will be going without my kids - the youngest just turned 18 - or my teacher husband who still has school for a few more weeks.

T: I assume you are traveling flight-free because flying has a much higher carbon footprint than driving?

Yes, that’s also true. I think the most comprehensive view of this issue is what I saw at the Flying Less Petition website, from reading the story of Eric Holthaus, a meteorologist who stopped flying because of the environment. Also, in researching the paper vs plastic bag question for ourselves 15+ years ago, my husband and I understood from the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Guide for Consumers that, in order to prevent climate change, one should fly less, drive less, and eat less meat. So we mostly cut them all out. It seemed simple enough for us to do…

T: I’ve heard many Americans say they would like to drive across America one day. Do you plan to drive yourself from destination to destination ? That would be a lot of driving for one person.

No, I plan to use public transportation as much as possible. I had considered taking a folding bike with me, but decided that would probably not make sense and it could be more of a burden than a help. I think traveling with a folding bike would be fun.

I have taken some other long distance train trips with my husband and kids in the past.

The views and experience are amazing. I have loved meeting people from communities I have never had contact with before, such as Mennonites and other Anabaptists, who often ride the trains west of Chicago. There are wonderful “observation cars” on the trains west of Chicago, too, with gorgeous views of the countryside.

T: What is your itinerary?

From Cambridge, MA → Truckee, CA (train, 3 days)→ Lake Tahoe, CA (bus) → Reno, NV (bus+train) → Big Pines, CA (bus, 5 hours)→ Mammoth Lakes, CA (carpool) → Yosemite, CA (carpool) → Marin, CA (carpool)→

Los Angeles, CA → Albuquerque, NM (not sure yet how I am doing this leg! Bus or train) → Washington, DC (train, 1.5 days)→ Cambridge (train, 7 hours).

My longest leg will be from Boston to Truckee, CA, about 3 days. It is about a 21 hour trip to Chicago on the Lake Shore Limited, for which I have reserved a regular coach seat. I will arrive in the morning, possibly not so well-rested for a 4 hour layover during which I plan to see a friend from graduate school. Then I will board the California Zephyr, in which I have rented a sleeper for the next two nights. The sleeper cars all include all meals in the dining car, bedding, and access to showers.

T: That’s an impressive list of national parks, mountains, and lakes you are visiting.

Thanks. Mostly, I am going to visit people. The catalyst for my trip is to visit my daughter who is at Deep Springs College in the eastern Sierra Mountains, near Bishop, CA. And, since the journey there is such a long and major one, I decided to make a vacation of it. Enroute to visit her, I will visit some very cool-sounding urban homesteader friends of hers in Reno, and check out Lake Tahoe. Then, after seeing her, I will travel with my SF Bay Area cousin in the Sierras and Yosemite. We’ll then return to the SF area, where I will see some other cousins of mine. I may look up some friends in LA en route to visit a very close college friend in Albuquerque, NM, and do some crafts and hiking with her for a few days, before I travel back to the East Coast. Rather than coming straight home, I will visit my other daughter who will be doing an internship near Washington DC, where I will also see some family and friends.

T: How did you find current information about train and bus routes for your journey?

I mostly looked online.

• Amtrak.com
• WanderU.com
• maps.google.com
• Local community websites.

T: Have you ever taken a trip like this before?

Yes. I’ve done lots of car-free and train trips before, so I have a lot of experience with this! Among the family train trips I have taken with my kids:

• When our kids were probably around 5, 7, and 9, we went by Amtrak from Boston → Glacier National Park →Seattle →Vancouver, BC, Canada and back! The return was Vancouver →Seattle → Wolf Point, WY →Boston. Another time, we went from Boston→Detroit →Niagra Falls (via Canada’s ViaRail) →NY → Boston
• Another great trip Boston →Burlington VT (joined by our oldest who hopped on in Brattleboro, VT) →(Ferry across Lake Champlain) Montreal →(buses to) Trois Riviers (St. Charles de Mandeville), Quebec →Montreal →Kingston, NY →(by taxi) to nearby CT→(bus to) Pittsfield →Boston.
• Yet another trip was from Boston →LaPlata, MO →(bus to) Columbia, MO →(bike to) Jefferson City, MO →St. Louis, MO → Chicago →Boston. Friends and family members came and returned in different combos!
• There are actually many more, though most were shorter!)

T: Any tips on keeping this kind of travel affordable?

I have an Amtrak credit card, which earns me Amtrak points (“free” trips) for using my credit card.

Here are also some tips on fun, very inexpensive lodging options:

1. Though I am not doing it this time, in the past I’ve done house exchanges through https://www.homeexchange.com/ and others, so lodging is FREE! The exchanges can be non-simultaneous; both have their advantages.
2. I love staying in hostels, which are also very cheap. I will be staying in one on this trip, and it will cost just $35/night. It’s a wonderful way to meet interesting people. Many can be found at https://www.hihostels.com/ although the one where I will be staying is not part of that network.
3. If you are traveling with a bike and planning to do bike touring as well as your train travel, consider joining https://www.warmshowers.org/! You will be able to be hosted by other members when you travel and vice versa! (It is very possible to bring bikes on many lines!! Sometimes bikes must be boxed, but other times, as on the Capital Limited, you can bring bikes fully loaded and put them in an on-board bike rack.),