Boston — Day 1

After I was able to spend only 40 minutes at the ocean in San Diego, I began to rethink my fly-in, fly-out approach to business trips. My new approach involved taking a couple extra days off, spending a little money of my own, and using the free trip to a different area as a chance to see something.  This time, specifically, I wanted to see the ocean again.

I was going to Albany, New York, that summer, but Albany doesn’t have any oceans. I looked at a map, and picked Boston. It wasn’t quite as random as that sounds — I needed a place with an airport, a good public transportation system, and of course it had to be on the coast. When I booked my air ticket for Albany, I used the “multi-city” option, and booked one flight from home to Albany, the other from Boston to home. Sometimes that can be more expensive, but this time it actually turned out a few dollars cheaper than a round-trip ticket. I booked my lodging and an Amtrak ticket from Boston to Albany immediately afterward, just to make sure I had all my ducks in a row.

I had bought the train ticket online for $27. A couple of weeks before the trip, I got an email saying that route was closed for track repairs, and I could rebook for a different route for $89. I called a representative, and politely explained that I expected the same service from Amtrak that I get from an airline; namely, that if the company can’t honor my original ticket they substitute something that gets me there at no extra cost to me. She said that the main difference between Amtrak and airfare is that an Amtrak ticket is refundable, but she saw my point, and after checking with a supervisor she switched my ticket without charging me any more.

I left Albany by a 10:00 am train.

First ride on a train!

I enjoyed it. The seats are far more comfortable and have more legroom than airplane seats. You can also get up and move around at any time. The downside, of course, is the frequent stops. I was disappointed not to get a window seat, but after a while I realized another difference between a train and a plane: on a train, people come and go. My seatmate was due to leave the train somewhere in Connecticut, and when she did, I slid over and got the window.

It was a 7-hour trip, down through New York City and up the coast, and ended late afternoon in Boston’s South Station.