#16 Beautiful connections along the US train journey

Meet the Amtrak adventure

July 19 - August 9, 2022 - Miami / Washington / Chicago / San Francisco / Los Angeles / New York - People / Food

Pop tarts, A big Oreo Sandwich Ice Cream, Rocky Road (a Marshmallow covered in Chocolate), Arizona Ice Tea, Skippy Super Chunk Peanut Butter, Smucker’s Squeeze Strawberry Fruit Spread, Spaghetti O’s out of a can, cold Buffalo Chicken Chunks, Vienna sausages out of a can, Ben & Jerry Americone Dream Ice Cream, 5 Dollars Pineapple and 5 Dollars Berries, Almond Croissants, a litre of Gazpacho, Wisconsin Cheese, Baby bells, Swiss style Landjaeger, Falafel Wraps, Chocolate, Mike and Ike Jelly Beans, Coke and Stella Artois Beer, Goo Goo Cluster (the first candy bar combination in America in 1912) and and and…

This was just a small glimpse into meal times in the Amtrak coach class, which was accompanied by beautiful Yuanfen moments meeting people along my train journey across the USA.

To answer your question straight away: „Yes you can take trains in the US“.

They might not be on time and if the air condition breaks, it sucks, but truly, I would recommend it highly.

You not only get an insight into American culture, breathtaking views across 20 out of 50 states, you do get the unique chance of meeting incredibly kind and funny people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life.

You’ve met Cesar, Gisela, Marva, Kathrin, Cassandra, my Improv gang and Adam in earlier stories, this one is dedicated to them and all the inspiring and funny people I’ve met on my 3.5 weeks touring the United States of America mostly travelling on a train (or a bike).

The Train crew

The landscapes kept on changing. From Miami to Washington palm trees and lush greenery past the eye. Trailer homes and luxury villas were visible from the train. From Washington to Chicago forests, rivers and wet lands dominated the view, entering Chicago Lake Michigan was visible too.

The highlight in regards to people and scenery were definitely the California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco and the Coastal Starlight running along the coast to Los Angeles.

Besides Adam, the to be Urban planner from Washington DC, I spent my 52 hours on the train chatting, painting, sightseeing and eating with Francisco, Dylan, Dylan and Eric. He all have different wants, wishes, dreams and reasons for travelling and it struck me how diverse the group was.

With roots in the Philippines, San Salvador, Argentina, Manchester, Spain, the USA, with backgrounds in Engineering, Urban Planning, French and Politics, International Business and dreams to become a pilot or a professional traveler’s, a car or bike mechanics, an international English/ French teacher, an Urban Planner or an Anti-False Information pursuer, the little gang was incredible to spend time with. 3 days and 2 nights on a train, with breath-taking views of the Rocky Mountains or Sierra Nevada went by so fast.

On the Coastal Starline seat neighbour and spontaneous travel companion Anna from London was no less inspiring. She lived at the American East coast for a few years and as she explained: „Brought her husband from LA back to England as the best souvenir“. She is an knitting artist took some time off to reconsider her journey in her 40‘s. I felt so inspired and again, 12h on a train went by in a wink.

The Hosts

You‘ve met Cesar and Gisela from Miami, Kathrin and her son Noah from Washington, individuals I‘ve met in my work context back in Switzerland.

In Chicago Philipp and I stayed with his friend Kevin and his wife Christina. Kevin and Philipp met 10 years ago during an exchange semester at HKU in Hong Kong and met again this year during his project in Wisconsin.

We also visited Julia and her partner Randy in visited, a dear friend from my exchange semester at Ewha University in Seoul, I also haven‘t seen for 10 years.

In Los Angeles I stayed in a beautiful Sanborn Guesthouse in the Silverlake neighbourhood. I felt instantly at home in this institution that exists for more than 20 years.

In New York, it was Pascal and his fiancé Sammi that hosted me in their cozy Brooklyn apartment and the A and Faye Guesthouse where Philipp and I stayed for a night (he spent 24h stuck in O‘Hare Airport in Chicago…).

Throughout my 3.5 weeks I felt home in big cities I‘ve never been to before, thanks to our kind hosts, that all opened their homes and made me feel like a true local instantly.

Well, they probably wouldn‘t cycle along the National Mall in Washington, from Silverlake to Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles or up to Harlem in New York. The Swiss tourist without a car did became visible in these moments.

The Randoms Encounters

Besides trains and homes, the USA proved to be a place where the kindest and weirdest (in a truly good way) people cross you path. Philipp and I were having an incredible dinner at Sotto Mare and sat next to Kaz, the Japanese street artist living in New York. I spontaneously re-met for a Greenwich Village neighbourhood tour on my last day in New York.

In Los Angeles I had lunch with Veronica in Malibu Beach, drinks with inspiring Ben from SYP another halfy-Asian, coffee with Sheila, American born Chinese actively shaping the political landscape of the country (the only person I‘ve met on my journey that really tries to change the political landscape, rather than just bashing it) and dinner with Peter and Ava, a school friend of my father and his daughter running an amazing architecture office in LA.

Even on the plane (yes Andy, I did take one airplane from Los Angeles to New York), I had an inspiring conversation. Drishti moved to Los Angeles to pursue her PhD at USC University, having lived in Singapore for most of her adult life before.

The Conclusion

I had some really bad prejudices about the USA before going there.

Some of them were confirmed, most of them totally smashed. Yes, the gap between people who have and who have not enough is incredible, seeing so much wealth and so many people sleeping in tents and below bridges really made me wonder about the American dream, capitalism and individualism as dominant institutions.

On the other hand, all the Yuanfen encounters (remember, it was only 3.5 weeks!) revealed a country where so many can pursue their dreams and be the version of themselves, that they imagine and build. All backgrounds, all dreams and realities are existent along side each other.

Where as in other countries people on the long-term adjust, learn the language and become part of the mixed identity of the places (like a well-blended smoothie), the USA allows for individuals (in a good and in a bad way) to stay true to their heritage (like a fruit salad) while integrating, mixing and intermingling.

There is no such a thing as the American person, the American landscape or the American food.

As Kaz concluded: “The United States are like a giant Ben&Jerry Ice Cream pot with chunks of different flavours in it”.

Addictive, with too much sugar and fat and a true surprise at every corner, the USA makes you want more of it.

Amen.