I have been on two train journeys since March 2020. Both were uncomfortable and masked affairs undertaken for necessity. There was no pleasure in the experience.

I have spent thousands of hours on trains in the last thirty years and I miss it. Even after three decades, I still feel a tiny thrill of excitement when I get on a train. It’s a moment of opportunity, the potential for new experiences and adventures.

I miss “train dreaming” - the thoughtful and mediative state that your brain slips into as you watch the countryside, towns and cities flash past the window. Some of my best personal and professional insights have occurred in this state, as my usual predictable brain patterns and background noise slip away and are replaced with something more fluid and curious.

I miss the other passengers. I’m fascinated by humanity and people watching on the train is a pleasure that I miss. Everybody has a story, and I want to understand it:

How did they meet?
Where are they going?
What are they reading and why?
Who are they talking to on the phone?
Who are they having that imaginary conversation with in their head that is playing out on their face?
Why so angry?
Why so sad?

So many questions …

I also miss those random moments where our lives connect and intersect for a few moments. I’m an introvert by nature, but trains make me feel more comfortable talking to strangers.

Those train moments will come back. I am just going to have to learn to be patient.