Trains of my soul took off a long time ago. These days I think about trains a lot.

Being on a train is an amazing experience. You get to live through a chunk of your life that is out of your control. If you are on a long train ride, and especially on an old train, there is no wi-fi, and your cell data is often useless because the reception is so shaky. Also, you might not even have an option to charge your devices. In that respect, a train ride is like a time warp. It helps to unplug, to cleanse your mind. It’s like that mantra, “Jesus, take the wheel”, it gives you a luxury of not having to make any decisions at the moment.

I sleep on the train. It is the best time for catching up on sleep. I sleep even more than normal. But if I manage to stay awake, and the train attendant offers coffee, regardless how crappy (and make no mistakes, crappy it is!), I love to read an actual paperback, or write. In those moments I regret that we no longer use typewriters. In fact, I keep hoping that someone someday comes up with a Kickstarter campaign – a brand new, light-weight portable typewriter that uses no electricity and unfolds from a case the size of your iPad. God, what would I give for having freedom from social media pop-ups, funny cat videos and, yes, even messages from my dear friends! Because as a modern-day writer, my attention span is a rare commodity, a caviar of my skill-set so to speak.

I used to take train rides for work all the time. I went to the conferences, meetings, and events all over my country via trains and buses. Compared to trains, buses do not have the same nostalgic fondness for me. They are faster, have more routes, but they don’t give you the same space for privacy, for your thoughts. And even if I share a train car with people, I still feel like my personal space is not in jeopardy.

Back in the day, when I constantly used trains for commuting, I didn’t think much about them. They were just means to an end. But I’ve done so many train miles that apparently my brain created special grooves, that whenever I am on a train (or even hear train sound!), my attention gets focused, my agenda somehow sorts itself out, and I know that for as long as I am on this train, this is the one and only thing I need to be doing. And I am good at it. When I get off the train at the end of my ride, I will have to deal with the crowds on the train station, with even more crowds on the subway, with enormous lines in the nearest McDonalds (for whatever reason, it is the joint of choice for literally every train commuter!). And I know that I will deal with all of those things, one at a time, as these tasks present themselves. But as long I am on that train, I am good and well.

𝕎𝕖𝕝𝕝, 𝕥𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕤𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕨𝕚𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕤
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕠𝕣𝕖𝕤 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕘𝕒𝕞𝕓𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕤
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕤𝕥 𝕤𝕠𝕦𝕝𝕤
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕟𝕠𝕥 𝕓𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕥𝕖𝕕
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕗𝕒𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕨𝕚𝕝𝕝 𝕓𝕖 𝕣𝕖𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕕𝕖𝕕
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕝 𝕨𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕝𝕤 𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘
𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟, 𝕓𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕤 𝕠𝕗 𝕗𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕕𝕠𝕞 𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕚𝕟𝕘

𝔹𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕖 𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕘𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝔼 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝔹𝕒𝕟𝕕 – 𝕃𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕠𝕗 ℍ𝕠𝕡𝕖 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔻𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕤