Travel on the Write Track

When I packed my bags and moved to Chicago, I arrived by train. And ever since that May day in 2009, I find myself taking the train quite often. While the CHI—STL length isn’t nearly as glamorous as travel up on the East or West Coasts, there’s still something comforting in the travel. Train travel seems timeless to me, classic. I love finding myself in Union Station and knowing the rush of traveling and the look of the building were what people many, many years ago experienced.

So imagine my excitement when I came across Amtrak Residency. There’s a ton of press going on about the program, though here’s the gist: Reporters tweeted at Amtrak how cool this would be. Amtrak agreed, and made said writers take a train ride. And now, the Residency is open to writers of all levels for various lengths of time.

What I really love about this whole initiative (despite the fact it’s right up my alley) is it came about from one writer just tweeting about a love for writing on trains. Amtrak listened and decided there was something powerful there. As more brands continue to use their consumer base for more than just customers, I’m excited for more things such as this to come to fruition.

As this weekend is another family wedding, I’ll be taking that well-traveled CHI–STL train ride. And I’m excited to sit there, put in the headphones and just start writing.

To see the power and beauty of train travel on the Coast, visit my gal pal Leela’s blog. Last month she spent 36 hours on a train from California to Seattle (now she’s moving all throughout Europe).

“At the end of hours of train-dreaming, we may feel we have been returned to ourselves — that is, brought back into contact with emotions and ideas of importance to us. It is not necessarily at home that we best encounter our true selves.” — Alain de Botton, “The Art of Travel.”

 

Won’t You Be My Neighbor

Last weekend, I made another adventure down to Tennessee. This time, we opted for Beale Street, BBQ and music instead of guns, crawfish and beer, well I guess beer was still part of the equation…

This was the first time I’ve done a full festival circuit. In the past, I’ve opted for one day instead of the full three days. And I must say, Beale Street Music Fest did not disappoint. The weather held up and Mr. Sunshine came out guns a-blazin’ on Sunday (thanks for the sunburn). Day 1 and 2 were more crazy in terms of the line-up. I don’t think I’ve danced that hard ever (thanks Girl Talk and Pitbull). Day 3 was way more relaxed and chill with acts like The Civil Wars, The Head and the Heart and Alison Krauss & Union Station.

But we got a pleasant surprise on Day 2 from this little band out of Nashville called Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors.  We couldn’t stop talking about them after their set and just wished for more. Here’s the song that really made me get up and cheer, Hung the Moon. Needless to say, this festival is becoming a tradition. And we’re so ready for Drew and the Neighbs to make a trip to the Windy.