My recent cross-country train trip was a lot of fun. I got to see family and some old friends, and came back relaxed, which is hard to do when flying these days.
The experience on a long-distance train is very different than that of “corridor” trains like the Acelas in the northeast and the Cascades Talgo trains in the northwest. 
I enjoyed watching the countryside go by and chatting with my fellow passengers. So much so, in fact, that I didn’t do any of the writing I had planned, or even crack open a book.
The technical planning I wrote about in my earlier post went as I had expected. I was able to check my email and keep up with Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds on my iPod touch connected to a Sprint Overdrive hotspot. Amtrak does offer Wi-Fi on the Acela trains, and the service has been so popular that it will be expanded to other areas soon.
Connectivity was limited in some of the Great Plains, but I was a bit surprised at the poor connections in parts of New England. A colleague had a similar problem at a major resort in Florida using another carrier, so I can’t blame either Sprint or the specific equipment I was using.
Nevertheless, I was able to download what I needed while the train was stopped in places like Whitefish, Montana, after which I could read and respond to messages offline.
My colleagues have written a lot about how to take vacations, so I’ll just add a couple of suggestions of my own:
- Don’t plan to work any more than you absolutely have to.
- Decide how connected you really want or need to be while you’re away.
- Give yourself some planning time before the vacation, and decompression time afterward.
- Tell your clients in advance that you’ll be away. Most will be understanding.
Have a great summer, and bon voyage!
How will you take time off this year?
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