Thread by @AlexandraErin

So I had a good time on my trip. Learned a few things about myself, post-vaccine life, and rail travel that I think will be useful in the future.

One big thing is basically that while I drastically prefer trains over planes, there are limits to how much travel comfort you can purchase at the consumer mass transit level. My sleep needs are highly particular and few vehicles are likely to hit the necessary sweet spots.

The private bathrooms in Amtrak sleeper rooms are *almost* but not entirely impossible to use for someone with my exact body shape and level of flexibility. This isn't just about being fat but it's also not not about that.

But outside of sleep time and other biological needs it was still a very fun and pleasant experience to spend a travel day in a private little room with a comfortable couch and an acceptable chair, watching episodes of Miss Fisher's Modern Mysteries on a tablet together.

The chair... wasn't bad. More comfortable than an airline seat, certainly. Less comfortable than an Amtrak coach seat would be, if you could get a coach seat in isolation.

If I ever spend time in an Amtrak bedroom again I'll bring something to put my feet on.

I think for me the height of rail comfort is still being a solo rider in a roomette. Privacy, views, control over light level, room to put up one's legs, etc. I'd still take a bedroom trip with someone I'm close with, but viewing it as a "slumber party": don't plan on sleeping.

I brought along a lot of things that I hoped would make the trip more comfortable or convenient or luxurious, only to learn that not having so many things to drag to/through train stations would have been all of those things.

Some winners, though!

Affiliate links incoming.

I got these magic anti-spill coasters with an in-house use but also with the idea that they might be useful on the trip. They were! We probably would have spilled drinks several times without them.

amzn.to/3uGHvTL

What I think of as my "Dalek stool" turned out to be more versatile than I had imagined. Emergency rest spot is its least use. Its adjustable height makes it a decent footrest, and especially combined with the magic coasters, also an instant end table.

amzn.to/3fIsIDA

These collapsible cups added a touch of fun to making drinks in the train room while not taking up much space in a bag. I do wish they had more than two cool designs as we're a three-person household, but only two were on this trip.

amzn.to/3pn42Ur

And this was basically the only part of my ridiculously overthought luggage optimization attempt that actually worked as intended. Packed a week's worth of clothes into here, folded and compacted to the size of a medium pillow.

amzn.to/34FAhVd

If I hadn't done... everything else... I did involved in trying to make my luggage more convenient, then it would have been quite the impressive flourish when I pulled that out of my bag, unfurled it, and hung it in the hotel closet.

The little compartment under the bottom shelf in the picture is meant to be a laundry bag, and even with my clothes wadded up into it instead of neatly folded it still compacted almost as much.

And then the pocket cane, which is the first cane I've found that really hits the mark I've been looking for as an intermittent/occasional cane user of being something that is easy and convenient to carry when I don't *yet* need a cane but might/will.

amzn.to/3yXobF4

Final recommendation: mine was *very* heavy because I overthought and overpacked, but this is a very well-made and well-designed bag for conveying multiple personal electronic devices. Retractable straps to carry as a messenger bag, backpack, or briefcase.
amzn.to/3iio54T

At one point I had three tablets, two (actual) notebooks, a keyboard, a power strip, a Bluetooth speaker, a portable charger/battery, and a lapdesk in it, along with an organizer for cords and adapters.

Multiple people asking/wondering about the bathrooms. I'll just say this, and this is basically true of most in-vehicle bathrooms: they're much more usable if you can stand to pee, and aim well.

I could not use it sitting down at all because while I fit on the seat I didn't have any room to adjust my aim and would have been basically peeing straight ahead. Your junk may vary.

On the other hand, if you're not fussy, the Amtrak bedroom private bathroom is also a self-contained shower with a drain on the floor, so maybe you just make sure the door is well and truly sealed and let whatever happens, happen.

Although one of our two trains had a door that never firmly latched, leading to multiple incidents involving what Jack termed "the bathroom ghost", so I don't know that I would trust that.

That's very much the vibe of the roomette, yes.

https://twitter.com/littletnoee/status/1400344253557993474