Falk Travel Tracks: December 2012

A few weeks ago, we went to Dusseldorf, Germany for the night because we could. The actual train ride took about as long as it would take us to drive from Avon to Denver. I think I was as excited to travel by train as the boys were. Train travel in the United States is difficult - at least where we live. It's very expensive, and therefore inaccessible to us. As I sat down on the cushy seats of the train, my imagination took off and I imagined, like I so often do, myself in the past. That day's imaginations took me back to my fascinations with Laura Ingalls Wilder and Little House on the Prairie and I spent the lovely train ride thinking myself on the train with the Ingalls family. It was a delightful day of speeding through the Dutch and German countryside.

As first time travelers with children on the rail system, we learned a few things.

Lesson # 1 from train travel - Time management: you don't need to arrive as early to the train station as you do to airports. Train stations, especially in winter, are frigid - even if there is a covered inside to the station, the cold air creeps in through all the open platforms. There is little to no security - meaning, we don't have to undress and go through metal detectors, and when the train arrives, you have only about 5 minutes to hop on before it leaves the station. So there is no need to get there early. Unfortunately, we learned that the hard way.

We just got back from a 6 day trip to London in which we took the train to get there and back. This time, we went through the Chunnel, and I tried not to imagine myself 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Again, the travel was relaxing and this time, we sped through the Dutch, Belgium, French and English countryside.

London was fantastic. I have a romantic love affair with London - perhaps it's Jane Austen's London that I truly am attached to. Coincidentally enough, I am rereading my "comfort food" of books - Pride and Prejudice and often on our trip my imaginations took me to the Bingley's, Darcy's and the Gardiner's London. This past Monday, we took the boys to the Warrner Brother's Studio outside London where Harry Potter was filmed. We took a double decker bus, and to my astonishment and delight, we drove down Grosvenor (where Mr. and Mrs. Hurst lived) and passed through Hertfordshire. I had a delightful drive as I imagined myself walking through the meadows of Hertfordshire as Lizzy did.

While in London, it occurred to Brett and I how much our lives have slowed down since we moved here. We spend much more time with the boys, and though I terribly miss getting up every Saturday and Sunday to ski, on Saturday with Brett and friends as the boys are in DEVO, and Sunday as a family, I am enjoying our slower pace of life here. Which leads me to -

Lesson # 2 from train travel - Suspended Time: We could have been in London with a 45 minute plane ride as opposed to the 4 + hours it took us to get to London by train. However, when you travel by train, life seems to slow down. You look out the window and see different countryside, you play card games with your kids because you have 4 seats that face each other, and then you still have time to read. It may take longer to get there, but you have more "togetherness"in that process. Time with our children is 'borrowed time' - they grow up and out quickly. Brett and I see our time here as suspended time with our boys before they grow up so we'll continue to enjoy our 'train travel' while here.

Cheers,

Noel

Waiting for our train - time well spent!