Departure Outer Journey

Champaign-Urbana Amtrack Station

Traveling to the train station was filled with anticipation of what has been building over the past semester. Finally, after constructing blogs and filling out our e-travel guides we are embarking on our journey to New Orleans. The trip seemed to be long but short at the same time. The car was filled with laughter and creating new memories with my hotel mate and her parents who graciously said they would take us to the station. Once in the train station the staff was very friendly in helping us navigate around to find out where we needed to be. While waiting for the train to arrive we played various card games which allowed me to opportunity to know others going on the trip. It also gave me the chance to learn new card games that I can take back home with me to teach my fiancé such as golf and garbage. Boarding the train seemed like a hustled but halting experience. The train station was not full by any means but the staff wanted you to be prompt in getting out the platform only to wait next to the train in the cold weather waiting for other passengers to detrain. Once on the train, the process of getting comfortable to fall asleep became a chore. The train was noisy and constantly coming to a stop which disrupted progress causing me to become restless which started the process all over again. Some tools that I utilized to try sleeping were movies/ TV shows on Netflix and classical music.