Travel with Rick Steves · Saturday, July 25, 2026
Author Erik Weiner advocates for long-distance train travel in the US, highlighting the unexpected and intimate conversations that can occur with fellow passengers. He describes the four typical categories of Amtrak travelers and his own experience with 'chrono phobia,' finding the enforced slowness of train travel to be therapeutic.
“And you have these conversations with people that you just wouldn't have at 30,000 feet.”
“There are four categories of long distance Amtrack travelers. Uh, number one is retired people with lots of time on their hands. Number two is people who are afraid of flying. These are my compatriots too. Uh, they take the train. Number three or Fomers. A Fomer is a rail enthusiast who gets very excited about locomotives and other things like that. Uh, you care to take a guess at what the fourth category is? You'll never guess, so I'll tell you it's Mennonites. Mennonites. Lots of Mennonites on the train.”
“And when you're on the train for some 60 plus hours, you're just forced to slow down. I mean, you either go crazy or you slow down. Those are your two choices. Um, and I decided to slow down.”