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If you want to maximize enjoyment and minimize fatigue, have a little extra money to spend and aren't in a hurry, then the train is simply the best form of travel. It is quiet, smooth, leisurely, and scenic. Though somewhat pricey, train travel is far less stressful (mentally and physiologically) than road trips or commercial air travel, and it is undoubtedly one of the best ways to see everything between Point A and Point B.

I attended college in Fargo, North Dakota, roughly 1,800 miles away from where my parents lived in Southern California. Getting to school was a laborious undertaking. At first I flew. The cost of airline tickets, to say nothing of the garage fees I paid while my car was in long-term storage at the airport, eventually made that mode of transportation undesirable. I didn't yet own a car, so driving was out of the question until further notice. So, after the spring semester finished up in 2006, I took the train home. My folks reserved a seat for me on Amtrak's scheduled run between Chicago and Seattle, the line known as the Empire Builder. I would catch the train in Fargo at 4:00 a.m. for the two-day ride to Portland, Oregon. There I would switch trains for the Portland-Los Angeles hop.

It was an incredible trip. I was traveling in coach, which meant I didn't have a compartment to myself, nor even a bed to stretch out on. Like airline travel, coach means you get a seat, a couple of armrests and a dinner tray. The similarity ends there, however: traveling by train means you get an exponentially larger allowance of leg room. Anytime I wanted to kick my long legs out, I did, and never came close to hitting the seat in front of me. On a passenger car on an Amtrak train there are two seats on each side of the aisle; the aisle itself is much wider than a jet liner's. There is hardly any such thing as a "window seat." Even if you are seated next to the aisle, you'll still be able to see out of the enormous, curtained windows that line the sides of the car. The view from these is much nicer than the one you get from the tiny portholes on a commercial airplane. Even if you decide that you can't see enough, you simply unlatch your seat belt, stand up, and make your way forward about three cars until you get to the observation car, which has nothing but windows covering the walls and ceiling. From there it's possible to see anything alongside or above the train. The general freedom of movement on trains, both in your seat and out of it, is vastly

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