On the way to Rome...

So my last post was about a trip we took to Amsterdam with friends. It was lovely, but the three following weekends were nearly lovelier - I got to stay home, run by the lake, spend time with friends and just relax in the morning. Now that period of relative calm is over. And I'm not complaining one bit, because as I write this I am on a train to Rome, to discover it with Paul for the first time (I've been three times, and this is my fourth, that's how much I love it!)

This morning was an early start with a 6:15 train. We were both exhausted but struggled to sleep with very loud, very chatty passengers sitting in the seats beside us. I contemplated getting out my earplugs, but eventually just put on music and tried fitfully to sleep. This made me slightly worried about our big, upcoming trip. We will not be magically appearing in each city, there is a certain amount of transportation required: ferries, boats, buses, trains, cars, trucks, bicycles, shuttles and planes. I'm sure we will have our share of annoying people surrounding us, and I also know it is all part of the experience. But will we embrace it, or try to shut it out? 

We are just under 30 minutes from Rome and I am ready to stand up and move around and get off this claustrophobic train, and this is only on a 7 hour trip! On nice trains!

Maybe weekend travel comes with a different attitude than long-term travel, where annoyances will seem more like an adventure than an inconvenience. You world travelers, what are your thoughts on this? I know traveling takes patience and time, lots of time. This is why my dad (and Paul to some extent) like arriving at the destination, but not the travel to get there. Maybe I could win the lottery so I could just travel first class?