Any tips for long distance train travel?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>My daughter is planning a trip from the Twin Cities to Seattle at the end of July. She is considering taking the Empire Builder one way. Any tips for long distance train travel?</p>

2

<p>Baby wipes. They help with basic cleanliness. Lots of books/magazines/etc. Comfortable clothes. An ability to roll with it helps too.</p>

3

<p>Should she bring her own food?</p>

4

<p>A laptop, movies…snacks/water…the cafe car can be quite expensive on the trains…comfy travel shoes and a travel size blanket.</p>

<p>Lysol wipes might be better than baby wipes. They will kill pesky germs.</p>

5

<p>Sit in the quiet car if she wants to avoid noisy lil one’s/families, it never ceases to amaze me how parents will allow small children to misbehave on trains!</p>

<p>Bring her IPOD with good head phones… just in case her train has no quiet car and she wants to drown out any din…</p>

6

<p>I’d go with ebooks and emagazines stored on a phone or iPod Touch. Maybe some movies if she has the space.</p>

<p>A traveling vest with many pockets may be handy. I just ordered a lightweight vest from scottevest. I plan to use it for everyday use this summer but will use it for trips too.</p>

<p>Food is a consideration. They will probably have a dining car and a snack car. Both are usually overpriced with relatively limited selection. I like to bring along Clif bars and nuts (from Trader Joes) when traveling so that I have access to decent nutrition if there aren’t a lot of other options. You can’t eat these things for days on end (well, you could but you probably wouldn’t want to) but they make for a good supplement.</p>

<p>I always carry a small flashlight and pocketknife on trips.</p>

<p>I generally bring along a light and cheap laptop if I plan to work during the trip. It’s also useful for downloading pictures from my camera or phone and uploading videos to a portable viewer. If AC isn’t available, then it isn’t that useful. I don’t bring my regular laptop because it’s bigger and heavier and I would be quite annoyed if it were stolen.</p>

<p>I like to bring along a good water bottle so that I don’t have to go to a water faucet for a drink every time I’m thirsty. You can probably buy bottled water on the train but the bottle might not be reusable. The drinking water on the train might be acceptable or not but having your own bottle gives you better options.</p>

7

<p>Is she getting a sleeper or riding coach?</p>

<p>Two completely different experiences.</p>

8

<p>Amtrak lists the trip at 46 hours. I’ve been on sleeper cars twice and I think that I prefer to ride coach. If you want privacy, then sleeper cars are the way to go but it seems like overkill for one person.</p>

9

<p>If you are still making the decision whether to get a sleeper or not, one thing to consider is that all the meals (in the dining car) are paid for along with the price of the sleeper. You also have free ice, coffee and juices for the duration of the trip with a sleeper.</p>

10

<p>Thank you for all of the replies. I will forward all info to her.</p>