allset2travel

Seat 2A, thanks for another well-researched and well-written TR. It took me hours to read, but well worth it.

I took notes of your response to mad_atta re “Traveling America’s Backroads”. Thinking of pulling together a photography road trip to some of those places you mentioned. Despite the fact that some of places I had previously visited, the logistics by day can be served as a good template. Thanks for that.

Train travel is fascinating. I’ve done quite a few in China and some in Europe. In North America, I’ve done cross Canada, and Adirondack (Montreal to NYC Penn) which by the way was inspired by none other.

ACCDraw

Two days and two bottles of Rochioli Sauv Blanc later -

Wandered over here after someone on Delta forums mentioned "Seat 2A" is proficient at the art of sleeping in airports. Of course I had to find out who would actually choose to do such a thing, and was rewarded with your delightful TR.

You did good. I wanted to do the Potato, Potahto; tomato, tomato; Willamette, Walahmette to "Justine" from Ahhhhstralia and was happy you (we) kept our distance after a while.

The memory flashbacks and historical asides were great conversation. Your music selections add texture & evoke emotion in a way that words or images cannot.

I am inspired to visit Skagway and thank-you for bringing us with you.

Best Regards,

- ACCDraw

Oh yes, I enjoyed your treatise on sleep, especially falling asleep by the side
of the road while hitching. That may be a unique storyline for a book if you
ever feel up to compiling your stories. Thanks again!

Seat 2A

Thanks, Joan! Given my musical tastes vs. the presumed tastes of most FTers as a whole, it was a bit of a gamble putting those musical links in there so it's good to hear that at least one person enjoyed them. One of my favorite music supermarkets is livedownloads.com. I've probably spent $700 there over the past five years!

Thank you so much, Aewanabe! Given the commitment in time to get through one of my reports, its good to hear that people still have positive comments upon finally finishing!

Indeed I have, Forrest. You'll find a complete listing with links right HERE.

Thanks for your comments, a2t. That 11 day outline I posted has a lot of good options for longer stays and side trips. One of my favorites is driving from Durango to Glenwood Springs via 550 up to Delta, then east on CO92 to 133 over McClure Pass down along the Crystal River into Carbondale and on up to Glenwood. And - as mad_atta pointed out, there are some excellent opportunities for camping along the entire itinerary.

I'll have to write more TRs just to get more nice comments like this. Thank you so much, ACCDraw. To retain comprehension ability after a bottle per night of the Rochioli is admirable! I slept in the Seattle airport last night and the money saved went toward a fair amount of music downloads on Amazon. The highlight: Some vintage Rickie Lee Jones.

I hope you get to Skagway someday soon. It's a pretty setting and all the more enjoyable if you can take the ferry up from Juneau and then fly back.

iaflyer

Those are some tall shoes to fill! The "Best and Most varied" - your trip reports are fabulous, I can't imagine that "the Best" will be like. I'm looking forward to reading it - along with some smoked almonds and a beer in honor of your writing!

FLYGVA

Unfortunately the pictures are not embedded (only the links) if you use the print function of Flyertalk ("Show printable version" under "Thread tools"). You could of course use the print function of your browser and print the thread, but then it is even more sides.

Seat 2A

Thanks, iaflyer! As to "the best" of my trip reports - I'll have to leave that up to you all to decide but this one was surely one of the most geographically diverse and entertaining trips I've ever taken. Although it took me awhile to finally get around to completing it, once I got into it I really enjoyed writing about it all - almost like reliving the trip as I wrote.

I have always just copied the printable version onto MS Word and then printed it out. I suppose I could imbed photos if I wanted but that would be a lot of extra work.

As to those of you who've mentioned me putting all of my reports in book form, I've actually looked into turning some of my reports into a magazine style format - or even a book - complete with color pictures. It would require a huge investment in time and money, but who knows... someday maybe. Given the costs involved I don't think I'd make more than two or three. There's nowhere near the demand to justify making any more, especially given the costs of doing so.

It was once mentioned at a get-together that Flyertalk might even consider creating and marketing it's own collection of reports - sort of a "Best Of" collection. The main benefit to me would be the ability to read a complete and unfettered report free of all the "can't wait for more" type comments sprinkled so heavily throughout the various installments. It sounds nice but I wouldn't hold my breath. In any event, my reports would never be suitable for inclusion in such a collection if only due to their sheer size.

Regardless, so long as Flyertalk is around you've got a huge and ever growing collection of reports available to you for free right here in the trip reports forum.

Gripevo

Wow. You really have outdone yourself this time. This report made for a wonderful read on a few longhaul flights to and from Europe. Just finished enjoying the last bit drinking an ice cold beer here in the AC Maple Leaf lounge at YYZ. Thanks and please keep it up!

GRALISTAIR

Only skim reads so far - but excellent report once again.

AlanT

Just finished reading this awesome report, it took me like an entire month as I am quite busy with my senior year in high school and with my application for college, but I assure you that it was worth, thank you for posting this.
I really liked it, to the point that I have registered and this is my first post.
This is the third trip report from you that I read entirely, so I don't know if I'm another kind of teenager, but after reading you, you have inspired me to enjoy all the moments in my life, even if it is as insignificant.
Have you traveled in El Chepe? The only passenger train in Mexico that rides between Chihuahua and Los Mochis. I have heard great things about it, but I haven't had the opportunity to try it.
I really hope that in the future I can be able to travel like you do, something that is really hard because here in Mexico there aren't a lot of cards with great bonuses.
Hopefully I can study abroad at college, but at the moment, the best trip that I'm going to do is a weekend trip to Mexico City to go to the Coldplay concert.
My apologies if I have grammar mistakes, but as I'm still learning english as a second language, I have some troubles while I'm writing.

MrBo

Thank you Seat2A for another amazing trip report. Transported me from a dreary Manchester to lots of beautiful parts of the world.

One question, I don't seem to recall many mentions of air turbulence in your reports. Is it because most of your flights are smooth, you are a seasoned traveler that doesn't mind a few lumps and bumps, something else or a combination? Just curious.

deuce1

Thank you so much for another wonderful report. You take me away to far-away places with such ease. I hope you continue in this same style, it works very well.

In your signature block, you link to your rail reports -- is there a similar links to your airline trip reports? I am hoping to have missed a few so I can go back and get to those as well!

Seat 2A

Good morning from Latitude 65°N!

Although most people here in Alaska's Interior would agree it's been a warm winter so far, this morning sees my porch thermometer showing a chilly -8°F. Truth be known that's not all that cold for this time of year but coming in the middle of this year's warmer winter it now feels cold. I am looking forward to flying out to Raleigh/Durham tomorrow where temperatures have been in the 70s of late. Since my Broncos have made it to the Super Bowl this year, I'll be spending Sunday in Colorado. Then it's off to the Mojave Desert for a couple of nights before finally returning to Alaska. All of my initial flights have been upgraded and what the heck - maybe this little jaunt might be worthy of its own trip report. Then again, we're talking domestic U.S. air travel... maybe not.

I'm glad I checked back here as I was unaware this trip report was still generating comment. Still, like any writer I am thankful and appreciative for your kind comments and kudos. This was a lot of report to tackle and I thank you for the considerable investment in time it took to get through it all.

Thanks, Gripevo! I hope those flights were flown in premium class. A big easy chair is such a nicer place to read from. Just curious - what kind of beer does Air Canada serve in its premier Maple Leaf Lounge?

Welcome back to my trip reports, G. I hope you found this one worthy of your time.

Welcome to Flyertalk, Alan! I can think of no higher compliment than to hear that something I've done has inspired someone else towards a better life. Thank you, Alan, and I hope you someday are fortunate to have traveled every bit as much as I have - if not more. Good luck with your future studies. Your English is coming along quite nicely and I look forward to someday reading of your travels here at the Trip Reports forum.

I have. Once in 1984 and again in 2006. In fact, I even covered the 2006 trip as part of a trip report I published back then. You'll find a link to my description of that ride right HERE.

Thank you, MrBo! As to mention of turbulence, unless it were truly significant, i.e. realllllly rough or extended, it's generally not something I feel is worth commenting on. To that end, I guess most of my flights over the years have been pretty smooth. I do however remember one 5.5 hour flight on a 747 between Los Angeles and Honolulu that was turbulent pretty much the entire flight!

Thank you, deuce1. You'll find a complete listing of my reports with links to each one (Simply click on the title) right HERE. Happy contrails!

roadwarrier

We will take you up on that kind offer Sir!!

Chalkie

Dear Seat2A

Thank you for the stupendous TR! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. What amazing travels.

Cheers
Chalkie

PS: Note to self - find time to write up TR on my trip to Antarctica (incredible), Buenos Aires (fantastically interesting city) and Iguazu Falls (amazing) I did in January...

iaflyer

Very nice report - I love the mix of modes of travel, from the bus to First Class on EK.