Air v. rail
Although I don’t need to make travel arrangements to Boston for NZ’s triumphant return since I’ll already be in the vicinity, I do need to find a way back to Baltimore. In the past, flights to and from Boston have been outrageously priced, so I began by checking out the Amtrak site. $105 for a regional. Not bad, I thought. So just for kicks, I went to Expedia to see what a one-way plane ticket would cost. $92. Unbelievable. And there was more than one carrier offering that price! It’s a 7-hour train ride v. a 1-hour and 40-min flight. Even with the slightly lower cost and immensely lower travel time, I think I’m leaning towards the rails rather than the sky. A train ride just seems more convenient—don’t need a ride to the airport (a T to South Station is much easier and quicker than a T to the airport), no fussing with long security lines, checking baggage, picking bags up at BWI (which always seems to take forever), and no need to find a ride from BWI to my flat in Bolton Hill—and more romantic. I did a lot of train-riding last year and excpet for that one time, relished the time to myself and relaxation I felt while gliding smoothly across the rails. Even though I travel often, I still have an insatiable wanderlust and for whatever reason, a train ride seems to quench that thirst more than any other mode of transportation. Ok, train it is.