Cheap travel
I had forgotten just how often I used to travel. Back in the days before children. Thanks to the Internet I can now watch videos created by others where they take the time to document their trips. I avoided air travel for years. Other than that first trip I made to get to university after the rail system went on the general strike. Both before and after that particular trip I tended to be a fervent user of the National Rail system. It worked at a price point that I could afford. I no longer have the dates of travel but it seems that I made the trip from eastern Canada to Toronto more than 30 times. Given the train cars used then have been in service for years and some still are. I can look at the travels done by others now and say that my experience was probably similar. After all when you have seen 1000 trees all the others look the same. Travel by rail was relatively comfortable. As long as you dressed warmly. These rail curves were heated by steam and the system often just didn’t work. Believe me crossing Quebec in the middle of a snowstorm meant that you tried to keep from moving. Keeping the little bit of heat you had in your coat, in yur coat. But it never went to extremes. After all some frost on the window was just part of the experience. Because I was a budget traveler I did not frequent the diner car. Maybe to buy a sandwich but usually I brought my own food and beverages with me. I learned, early on, that a standard stubby beer bottle would go down the toilet and out under the tracks property. Imagine how embarrassing it would be to lug those empties with me as I left the train. But that was my travel. I have not done the trips in a long time but I still remember them as a rite of passage. Getting from here to there on a minimal budget.
