🎵Prompt Response: Buses and Trains🚍🚉
with help from Gemini Nano Banana and Photo Studio Pro
What’s the best way to meet new people while traveling?
Public Transportation
I recall riding the bus from as young as I have memories. There is a feeling of nostalgia that goes with the sights and sounds of big diesel buses coming and going from stations full of people. I even like the old curved ceilings filled with flecks of gold glitter that were on buses in the 1970s. Maybe they were older than that, so if you readers ever rode one, please tell me about it in the comments.
So this girl with a nickname of motormouth could talk to anyone, anytime. My husband will tell you I still can—and do. That’s probably the first thing required to meet new people with or without traveling. But beyond that, the type of transportation you choose makes all the difference in the world in how much you can access your fellow passengers to get to know them.
It usually starts in the bus station before everyone is more cramped and trying to jockey for the arm space between you. Talking is easier when you are face to face with a little distance between you. Singing is, too. I thought I’d shared about my bus station mini concert in a previous post, but an hour of searching never found it, so maybe not. Or maybe it’s still one of my unpublished drafts.
Just Sing, Sing a Song
Anyway, I cannot remember the time frame or my age when it happened, or even where I was headed. I do recall the bus being hours late, and a group of people had gathered outside the station and sat on the cement walkway to listen to someone play the guitar. I’m pretty sure we were at Union Station in Los Angeles, and the guitarist was a young woman in a colorful, cotton gauze sundress. Or her boyfriend played while she sang. Either way, they started playing old folk songs I’d frequently sang with my mom, so suddenly I was singing “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” and she was adding beautiful harmonies. A lot of people sang together, and the peaceful atmosphere in that was far better than all the whining going on inside because of late buses.
Get on Board
The other mode of transportation that’s great for meeting people is on the train. In the lounge rooms at the stations, I recall a few conversations, but the lounge car in the large Amtrak trains yielded many more. There were two women from Wisconsin who worked in a factory that made meat pies you eat by hand. They are called pasties (no I didn’t miss the R), and they are usually served warm. These two ladies loved their jobs, and from that time, I’ve wanted to try one of these sandwiches. I got something close to it at the Garden Glow at Missouri Botanical Garden one year, but I think I’ll need to actually visit Wisconsin again to get the real thing. (The link with the word explains what they are and some history.)
On another train trip, I ate in the dining car where they put you at tables with strangers. It’s a lot nicer to visit with these strangers than to just watch each other eat and drink. One meal had me across from a woman who backpacked across Europe to see all the towns where her soldier father had been stationed. She was writing about it in his memory.
I’ve had philosophical conversations, given advice to newlyweds about marriage longevity, and met an Instagram influencer who became the only influencer I think I’ve ever followed. But it was our real life behind the camera conversations that made it worth staying in touch with her life. And, yes, a few conversations were odd and a bit unnerving, like a guy in Chicago who claimed to be CIA and a traveler who claimed Chicago was the real middle east of the Holy Bible. But those, fortunately, are the least of those I’ve shared public journeys with.
Wrapping Up
I’m finishing this really late because of all the searching I’ve done that has not given me results, but I hope you enjoyed my little jaunt down memory lane. If you ever want to take a bus or train to see who you might meet, I recommend the train, and I suggest the longer ones where you get to hang out in the lounge car. The Southwest Chief from Chicago to L.A. (Kingman, AZ for me) is the one I’ve ridden most, and you can join Amtrak Guest Rewards to earn points for future trips if you ever want to try it.
Where Have All the Flowers Gone
And, though I do know where the flowers and soldiers have gone, and I hate the idea of war, I also know that a strong military of patriots is an absolute necessity to protect us from our enemies. They have their own militaries, but they are more apt to agree to peace if they face a power great enough to hurt them if they engage. Please support our US military and our soldiers with your love and prayers. May God make us strong enough to win if we need to fight and unified enough that our enemies would rather go back home. 🇺🇸🪖🛐💪 In the meantime, enjoy listening to the song I mentioned above in this video:
This Train 🎶
And just for fun, there are a lot of train songs out there, but only one I know of where the singers make the sounds of the wheels in a unique whisper. This is the 7-minute version of Wendy Bagwell and the Sunliters singing This Train is Bound for Glory with a little comedy and a lot of talent from the girls sprinkled in.
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