143 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
143 lines
6.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Business Travel on Amtrak
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date: 2023-09-25
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tags:
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- climate
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- trains
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---
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My new year's resolution for 2023 was to avoid airplanes whenever possible. Let's see how I'm doing!
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| Dates | Transport | Trip Description | Comment |
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| --- | --- | --- | --- |
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| Sep 29 - Oct 8 | Rail | Business trip to Washington | |
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| Oct 30 - Nov 18 | Car | Business trip to Colorado | |
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| Oct 20 - 30 | Rail | Business trip to Washington | 1st rail trip with a bicycle |
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| Jul 30 - Aug 18 | Air| Three back-to-back trips | Only possible with air travel |
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| Jul 22 - 23 | Car | Vacation to Colorado | |
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| Jun 5 - 16 | Car | Vacation with my father to Montana | |
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| Jun 1 - 4 | Car | Dance trip to Arizona | |
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| May 21 - 23 | Car | Freshman college orientation | |
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| May 5 - 14 | Rail | Business trip to Minneapolis | |
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| Apr 21 - 23 | Air | Dance performance in Chicago | Everyone else on this trip was flying |
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| Mar 26 - 28 | Air | Job interview in Washington | I had almost no input into how this was booked |
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| Feb 9 - 13 | Car | Dance trip to San Diego | I don't remember if I went on this trip or not! |
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| Dec 19 - Jan 3 | Air | Vacation to Iceland | This trip convinced me to try rail |
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Not bad for year 1. It took a few months for me to get into it, and there are still things I cannot do
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any other way, but overall I'm happy with how this is going.
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People seem to be a combination of amused and curious about taking Amtrak to get somewhere.
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Most folks think of Amtrak as a quirky but impractical curiosity, or maybe like an amusement park ride.
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A lot of people are under the impression that rail is more expensive than air (rail is almost always cheaper),
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or that one must get "a sleeper car" (coach on rail is like first class on air).
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I will say that this is not practical. There is one train per day on the routes I take, and they are frequently
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delayed, which can cause a full day layover if I miss a connection. Amtrak's web site won't let you reserve a
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multi-leg trip that involves an overnight stay. There's no WiFi, and cell coverage is spotty. If you are the sort
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of person who's in a hurry, rail travel will drive you up the wall. Rude passengers are rude for *two days*,
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not just a couple hours until you land. Getting your company to let you go by rail might range from frustrating to
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impossible.
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However, I am now in a life situation where I can do this: I don't have children at home, I have a fully
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remote job that lets me work wherever, and I have an employer who can wrap their head around rail travel.
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Maybe if I do this enough, I can convince a couple other people to do this.
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And eventually we'll have more ridership, and maybe Amtrak will get better.
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I wish I were capable of Great Feats in order to help deal with climate change.
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It allows me to continue to be employed, while pretty drastically reducing the carbon emissions I am
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personally responsible for.
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Maybe undergoing this pain in the rear,
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and documenting it, will pave the way for others.
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So it's going to have to be my small role to play here.
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Booking / Expensing business trips
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-------------
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LANL let me take whatever means of travel I wanted, I just had to demonstrate it was equal to, or below, the cost
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of going by air. It always is.
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PNNL makes it even easier: I just tell them I want to get to city X by date D by rail, and a travel agent figures
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it all out for me, including overnight stays. I'm still figuring out the itinerary beforehand, because I'm that way,
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but so far their bookings have been fine.
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LANL would reimburse me for the trip, but I had to add "personal days" onto the trip for the extra time spent
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en route. I only took two rail trips at LANL, and both ate weekends. There is a process for obtaining approval
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for working someplace other than my house that I never had to attempt. LANL would not reimburse an overnight
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hotel stay on a personal day, even when I demonstrated that the train fare + hotel was still cheaper than air.
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I was preparing for a years-long fight to try to move the needle on this one, but then I switched jobs.
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PNNL has yet to reimburse me for a rail trip, but I think it's going to be similar to LANL. They may allow me to
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consider the airfare against the rail+hotel--I'll try--but it seems more likely that they will also make me pay
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the hotel myself. However, because I have a remote work position, I don't need to request permission to work
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on a train: I can just tell my manager I'm doing it.
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What to take
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------------
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{{< figure src="backpack.jpg" alt="Contents of my backpack: only a few articles of clothing, some wires, food, and the things I list below" >}}
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Here are some essentials for a train trip that air travelers might not have considered:
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### Extension cord
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A long extension cord provides power to the aisle seat without needing to drape USB cables over the window
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seat's lap.
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### Washcloth and Towel
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A travel washcloth and towel can help you clean up in the restroom on long trips.
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### Blanket
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I like being under a blanket when I sleep.
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I bring a fleece blanket that rolls up to about the size of my towel.
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I wonder if I could find a towel that doubles as a blanket? Hmm.
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### Eye mask
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I made an eye mask out of some left-over Batman print fabric. It's cool.
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It also blocks light well enough that I can stay asleep.
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### Earplugs
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If you hadn't guessed yet, I'm a light sleeper.
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The train is pretty quiet, which means little noises stand out.
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Earplugs are essential for me.
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I've slept with wired earbuds, which is okay, especially when they're making a little (quiet) noise.
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I just got some fancypants bluetooth sleep buds that can
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play music/audiobooks and generate white noise to mask outside noise.
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These bluetooth things are even smaller than the wired earbuds,
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which so far has been nice for sleeping on my side.
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### Food
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Unless you're made of money,
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you're going to get tired of the dining car.
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I bring some fruit and other perishables that can stay edible for a few days,
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thinks like hummus or guacamole.
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Crackers and nuts are great for a meal or for snackin'.
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I don't mind eating Tasty Bites cold, so those are nice meals.
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### Entertainment
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You are going to get bored. Bring something to do!
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I bring my work laptop, and crank on code or reports.
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Remember to download everything before you leave:
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there's no WiFi,
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and tethering to my phone has been spotty at best.
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You absolutely, positively, must download all your TV shows and movies before you go to the train station.
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Cell service is spotty at best, so you can forget about downloading
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new episodes en route.
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I use my phone for watching movies and whatnot. I printed a
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[flat phone stand](https://www.printables.com/model/175598-phone-stand) to hold it up on the tray.
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The seat in front of you is about 5 feet away, so attaching your phone to the seat back doesn't really work.
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I'll probably bring my Nintendo Switch again, but I don't think I used it much on the last trip.
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I'm not much of a gamer.
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I do tend to read a lot of books, though.
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For me, it's important to be already in a book I'm interested in.
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I have trouble starting a new book on the train.
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