Tuesday Tea: What's the best experience you ever had in a car, plane, train, bus, or boat on your way to your destination?
Getting there can be half the fun
Sometimes it feels like the good-time vacation vibes don’t start until you’re checked into your hotel room, shoes removed and tucked into a corner, toothbrush in a glass by the sink. It can be a slog to get from home to your destination.
But sometimes getting there really is fun.
Our overnight ferry ride from Aberdeen to Shetland was one of the highlights of our trip. (Hear us talk about it on The Library of Lost Time.) And once, on an Iceland Air flight, we were surprised with an upgrade to first class that unlocked a comfy lounge with snacks and drinks (charcuterie! champagne! pastries!), enormous seats on the plane, and attentive service1.
If you fancy a virtual trip right now, our website has all kinds of fun stuff about epic rides aboard trains and boats.
And get a load of this — a train coach library from 1931:
We also heartily encourage you to take a look at this Flickr album of wacky vintage transport. So many silly/inventive ideas!
Spill the tea: What's the best experience you ever had in a car, plane, train, bus, or boat on your way to your destination?
I took an epic nap and watched an Icelandic detective series. —Mel
On a flight to somewhere, I was seated next to a young mom with a fussy baby of good size and strong lungs. I could sense the mom’s angst as she saw the eye rolls nearby. I was a fairly new grandmother, so I started winking at the little one. Her wails seemed to melt into hiccoughs, and soon she was smiling at me, then reaching out to me. I didn’t want to make things worse for the mom, who was clearly exhausted with getting into this flight with all the trappings a little one demands. I introduced myself as a grandmother, and to Mom’s surprise - “she never goes to strangers!” - Babe settled into my lap for a good hour of finger play, claps, little songs and then nodded off for another hour of sweet sighs. Mom fell asleep and the eye rollers- a couple anyway - sent me thumbs up. Shortest flight ever.
On the way to Vienna for the Taylor Swift concert that didn't happen I took the TransAlpin train from Zurich to Innsbruck. There's one departure in each direction each day that has a panorama car - and, my word, going through the Arlberg pass in broad early-August sunshine, seeing the full sweep of the mountains from those huge windows... absolutely stunning. Would highly recommend.