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Cross country from PGH to SEA and LAX (via SWC heading west and then CZ heading back east). :) I'm sure there are plenty of spots with no cell coverage (!!), but a moment or two in which to upload and download work emails would be helpful. :) Around urban centers, then, I suppose, are my...

Not that Wi-Fi hotspots and hair dryers have much in common, but I figured I'd start one topic instead of two. :) Has anyone tried using a portable Wi-Fi hotspot on the train? I have this one, which I've only used in a pinch when I was at an outdoor book festival and needed to be able to take...

You guys have thought of everything! :)

I plan to use the ball only if needed under the pillows provided at various places along the way. I'm a side sleeper and like the pillow at a specific height. Semi-inflated ball under a too-soft pillow will work wonders, I think. Try those roll-able compression space-bag things for a pillow...

Same as you, anuenue. I paid about $170 for two nights, total. I'm totally happy with that, and it did seem like the cheapest place around anyway. The fact that it's in walking distance is a plus. I too would rather walk a bit and save the stress for something else. :) I'm curious about how...

I sense the makings of a possible adventure if things should go awry with the timing of my trains and/or that bus then. As a humor writer, I'm totally up for an adventure like that. Just once, though. I'll take notes so I don't forget it and won't need to have it happen twice. :D

Good job, anuenue! Thanks for passing that info along! Saves me the effort of having to ask them myself. :) However, as I reread your answer, I don't see any mention of pillows. :blink: I'll assume "bedding" includes pillows. :)

Thanks for this great response. I admit I probably wouldn't have thought about the camera-against-the-window trick. I do have a travel mug with a screw-on lid on my packing list but I hadn't thought about something even more specialized. :) I'm a huge night owl so I think the early morning...

Apologies for the misunderstanding. I didn't mean my reply at all the way you took it. I just meant that I've found this forum really helpful as I plan my upcoming trip, and I was relieved that the hostel I booked wasn't getting responses such as "Yuck! Don't stay THERE!" I didn't mean in any...

Most travel sites have a similar feature. I was especially glad to hear that folks in this particular forum have experience with this hostel. :)

This is such lovely, beautiful writing. Thank you for sharing it.

I've been following this topic because I assumed one might need/want to know the time for things like on-board meals and also getting off the train at specific times. If you've made a dinner reservation on board for a certain time, it would be good to know when that time is approaching. :)...

In addition to writing a book on/during/about my upcoming train trip, I'm teasing my readers with blog posts as I prepare for the trip, too. You can find humor in the smallest places, if you look hard enough... Here was the first one, about a travel tips flyer included with the money belt I...

I'm a writer and proofreader in western Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh. (Go Steelers! <-----obligatory cheer required by local law) Grew up on the other end of the state in Easton, Pa. (home of Crayola crayons, the oldest flag in the country, and the spot of one of the first public readings of...

I never posted in this thread! :) I'm Austruck all over the Internet, since the 1990s, at least. (Been online since about 1987, celebrating thirty years online this year.) I write under my maiden name, which is/was Au (German, not Chinese). I grew up hearing every permutation and joke about...

I opted for the single room in the hostel, so I'll have my own room for sleeping but will share a bathroom. So the luggage thing becomes a non-issue for me at this point. Two nights in the hostel with this single room are going to be nearly $100 cheaper than two nights at the Metro Plaza in L.A...

I did wonder about this. I know someone who had a rough time trying to use a $2 bill because a cashier kept insisting it wasn't real because she'd never seen one (and was young enough to not have been born yet when they came out). Oops!

<following this post because I was going to ask about tipping eventually anyway> :)

Well, I'm going to be writing a book about this trip, partly while ON this trip, so a few small mishaps are almost hoped for. Almost. This trip is my biggest bucket list item, and the book project is a more recent add-on in order to justify the trip in my own mind. As long as I don't end up in...

It's good to read that others have stayed there. It'll be my first experience with anything other than a proper hotel or motel, but the price was SO much lower than anything else and it is SO much closer than anything else. I had to book it. Part of the whole adventure. :)