10 Thoughts while Travelling by Train

by - 3:00 PM


I like trains. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I like trains. It doesn't matter if it's the Ghan from Alice Springs to Adelaide in Australia, the midnight train to Moscow in Russia or the simple train to the airport here in the Netherlands, I just enjoy the ride. And yes, I'll admit it, like any other Dutch train traveller, I've spent quite a lot of time complaining about the insane ticket prices and delayed trains, but deep in my heart I can't be mad at trains. Riding a train is like taking a time-out and as my life became crazier and crazier over the past year the train became the one place where I could relax and think instead of worry. Now I already think too much as is (yay for giftedness!) and when I'm on a train, my brain likes to go a little crazy with excitement. It's the same in every country, but easiest to illustrate by taking you on a virtual trip I took many times in 2016, from Rotterdam in the west of the Netherlands to Venlo in the south!

I like trains
I get 2,5 hours to myself, on a train. I don't have to do anything, just stare out of the windows, maybe read a book. I'll be there in no time. Seriously, trains are great. They're fast and shiny and so relazing. I like this. No, I love this.

Please don't let me miss my connecting train
Dear Dutch train gods, please don't let this train be late. Please don't let this train get stuck behind a cargo train. Please don't let me miss my connecting train, I don't want to be stuck in Dordrecht for half an hour. I can't handle that stuff. I have to catch that train at... when did it leave again? And from which platform? Why do I always forget important stuff like this when I go to the south?

My country is so beautiful
Yeah okay, most of it is flat green meadows with some water here and there, but have you ever seen the sun rise over Hollandsch Diep while crossing the Moerdijkbrug by train? It's so freaking beautiful. This more than makes up for having to wake up before 7 am.

There are so freaking many geese in Brabant
Seriously Brabant, what's up with all the geese? I can hardly see the grass of the meadows, that's how many geese there are. I wonder exactly how many there are here. I'm gonna count. Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneight. That's a different bird. Not a goose. Teneleventwelvethirteenfourteenfifteen. Slow down train, I'm not done counting yet! Oh, never mind then...

My butt hurts. So bad.
This is pure pain from the waist down. Why did they put such hard seats in trains that literally go from one side of the country to the other? I can't sit anymore. Changing positions doesn't help. I don't know where to put my legs. This is no fun. And I'm not even in Eindhoven yet. Why am I doing this again?

I am in an empty train...
So everyone got off the train in Eindhoven. And now I'm all alone in this part of the train. Like fifty seats, all empty except for mine... This train does go to Venlo, right? What if it just goes to one of those places where they keep the trains, like a train garage thing to clean it or something, while I'm still here? No, this has to be the right train. Maybe people just don't go to the south in the morning?

How am I still not there yet?
I've been on this train since forever. I've been on this seat since forever. And I'm still not there yet. I guess I'm officially in the province of Limburg though. I'm not exactly sure, but the names of these places along the tracks do sound a bit southernish.

I'm going crazy on this train
I don't remember a time before this train. I am dead from the waist down. I have no idea how long I'm still going to be here. Probably for all eternity. Also, I'm hungry and I only have one cookie left. If I eat it now I won't have anything to eat on my way home... I'm eating it anyway before I lose my mind.

Why is a stop in Blerick even a thing?!
Seriously? No one ever gets off in Blerick, no one ever gets on. I can freaking see Venlo on the other side of the river, I can almost touch it and still we're making a stop here? Why?! Why wait for five minutes in freaking Blerick?! If I go running down the train tracks right now I'll beat the train to the station, no problem. Can we go now? We've been here for ages waiting at a deserted station! Please just bring me to Venlo now before my butt falls off from sitting on these horrible seats!

I like trains
Trains are awesome though. You get to see so many cool things, you don't have to do anything, just sit back and relax and before you know it you're literally on the other side of the country. Trains are the best.

And then I'd finally be in Venlo and I'd forget all about how much my butt hurt, how bored I'd been and how pointless a stop in Blerick is. That's how it's always been with me and trains: I love them, hate them, then love them again. I'll complain about them in public all day, but deep down inside I will always love travelling by train. I honestly can't wait for my next train trip, to Belgium at the end of this month!

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14 Fellow Ramblers

  1. Your blog is beautiful! Loving the design and your writing, I just binge read a bunch of your posts and I followed you via GFC! :)

    www.letmecrossover.blogspot.com

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  2. I love travelling by train, I get to see so much countryside and it can be super peaceful. However too long sat down and I tend to get fed up haha xx

    Itsallzara.co.uk

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    1. I know exactly what you mean. One time I was stuck behind a super slow cargo train and it took me half an hour extra to get to my destination. It drove me crazy, hahaha.

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  3. I absolutely love train journeys. I really don't use the local trains enough. I should use them more!

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    1. That's what they're for and you should definitely travel by train more often if you love it! :)

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  4. I love trains too! Before I moved to Cornwall I loved in Essex where I would have to get a 6 hour train journey to travel to Cornwall and I would just love watching the scenery change and you really do see just how beautiful ones country really is. Although I do find it spooky when you're the only one left in the carriage at night haha

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    1. Oh my god I'm so glad I was never on my own at night! I was already spooked when that happened at 10 in the morning, hahahaha.

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  5. Hahahahaha I love this post, it's brilliant! Seriously, though, I love travelling by train too (unless I get some idiot near me who talks loudly on their phone or is listening to music so loudly I can hear the words). Because I'm not in control of how fast or how many stops the train makes I can just sit back and relax. Although I'm not sure about a really long journey, I don't think my back would be at all happy about that :) x

    Lisa | www.lisasnotebook.com

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    1. Thank you! Loud people can ruin the experience a bit. One time I was stuck with a group of 30 half drunk college students and I seriously considered getting off the train and waiting half an hour in the cold winter night for the next train.
      I think it's relaxing that you have nothing to do when you're travelling by train. It was the only time in 2016 when I could read a book without feeling bad about it. Reading made the long journey much easier!

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  6. Now I really want to ride on a train :P I've ridden a subway before, but that was into the city. It would be so beautiful and relaxing to ride one in the country.

    Your blog is so lovely! The design is very clean and the pictures in your posts are beautiful. I also love your bio. :P Keep writing your lovely words! <3

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    1. Trains are so much more fun than subways, I promise. Train rides have better chairs, better views, better everything.

      And thank you! It's comments like these that keep me going ^-^

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  7. Aww I loved reading this post so much! This past week with the snow we've been having in the UK I've been getting the train to work instead of driving so this post have been very apt for me since Monday. :P

    https://theremightbecoffee.wordpress.com/

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    1. Thank you! We've had a lot of snow too, but here that means that the trains aren't an option at all. One snowflake and the tracks are 'frozen', hahaha.

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