Article: Meet the People Taking 8-Hour Train Rides to Get Work Done

[jamesontheroad]

Posted yesterday on Details.com: http://www.details.com/story/meet-the-people-taking-8-hour-train-rides-just-to-get-work-done

Earlier this year, entrepreneur Rae Michalik booked a round-trip train ticket aboard Amtrak from New York City to Montreal, and spent the eight-hour ride up and the eight-hour ride back down making hay on TravelCat, a startup online travel concierge. Over the course of the 16 hours, she cranked out blog posts for the site, coded some HTML, and wrote letters to potential investors and super-users. She spent time working in her seat, in the dining car, and in the “dome” car, which is specially designed for sightseeing. Sometimes she used the train’s Wi-Fi. Other times she purposely stayed offline.

But this was not your run-of-the-mill business trip, or even over busy bookends to a weekend vacation. While others travel for work, the 27-year-old actually travels to work—that is, she travels exclusively to get work done en route.

I would never get any work done on the train, too busy looking out the window

 

[KmH]

I'm an avid reader, but can't read on a train. I too am to busy looking out the windows.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

On VIA's Canadian I was always looking out the windows as well, usually up in the dome or in the back of the park car. On Amtrak I often find time to read and work without issue. Probably because there are no dome cars or park cars, the windows are excessively tinted, your one and only visual perspective of the world around you is at an impractical 90° angle, and they refuse to turn off the glaring interior lights at night. Some of Amtrak's newer replacement windows appear to be some sort of diffractive acrylic, which makes avoiding potential visual distractions even easier than before.

 

[Lonestar648]

Before I retired, I was traveling by train to many of my customers. I found that I could get so much work done on the train (Survey Reports, Trip Reports, Project updates, etc.). Yes, I found myself drifting to the scenery outside, but I traveled the LSL, CL, TE, EB. CZ several times a year so it was easier to concentrate. Unless I upgraded on plane flights, it was hard to get any work done with the seat next to me or behind many times reading my computer screen, thus stopping any work I wanted to do. I found I was very productive on the train. In the end, all of my team traveled by train for the same reasons.

 

[HenryK]

I used to write on the train but in recent years the tracks have all been beat to hell by heavy freights, making the ride too rough.

 

[tp49]

I did a decent amount of studying both while in grad school and for my licensing exam on the Capitol Corridor riding a couple round trips end to end on a weekend. No wifi and minimal distractions forced me to get the work I needed to finish done.

 

[SarahZ]

I often do homework on the train to Chicago, and I completed a midterm exam during my trip on the EB.

I find that the train helps me feel like I'm out doing something fun while providing the comfort and table space necessary to work. Plus, I like having a view to check out every so often.

It's sort of like a moving office. I'm "trapped" in my seat and forced to work, but I'm still out doing something fun. It satisfies both id and superego.

 

[fairviewroad]

I'm gonna call BS on the premise of the article. They only cited ONE example of someone who takes the train solely to get work done. I'm sure there are many people who purposely take the train as opposed to flying to get somewhere, using the extra time en route to work. But the young woman who rode up to Montreal and back allegedly does so just to work while on the way. Bravo to her...though I'm guessing she chose Montreal as the layover point for some other reason, not specified in the article.

Otherwise, she'll have a 15 hour layover, a costly hotel room and several meals just to satisfy her need to work without distractions. Doesn't seem like a sustainable business model to me.

 

[TiBike]

Sounds like someone trying to justify it as a tax deduction.