Part of the big question of this trip was “Can I do an extended trip without having a plan in place?”. It turns out that the answer is a very qualified yes; I can do it, but I’m really bad at it, and much like the silk rope producing spiders in the Get Smart movie, I do not like it.

The planning as I go bit, that is. The actual travel part is fun, it’s the figuring out where to go next, how to get there, and where to sleep bit that I’m not a fan of.

Seeing as I’ve been traveling for a month and a half, I think that’s long enough that I’m OK with ending the wandering and just planning the next month out. So I did.

• From Portland, I’m taking a train to San Francisco. It’s an overnight trip, but only just, so I’m not bothering with a sleeper.
• In San Francisco for four and a bit days.
  It’s an early departure, so to take the advice of Eben, I’m going to be packed up the night before, so that all I have to do is wake up, grab my stuff, and leave the room.
• From San Francisco, train to Los Angeles. This one’s a day train, though it’ll be a long-ass day.
• In LA for a day, with a late-night departure the next day.
  The LA bit is to catch up with Andrei, though the timing is needed to catch the next train in the sequence, so that worked out nicely.
• From Los Angeles, train to New Orleans. This one’s a two-night trip, so … I’ll be in my sleeper cabin.
• Three days in New Orleans, staying in a hotel at the edge of the French Quarter.
• From New Orleans, train to Chicago. It’s an overnight, and I went for a sleeper this time.
• Four days and change in Chicago.
• From Chicago, there’s a train to Indianapolis, arriving at ten to midnight, because Amtrak hates sleep.
• Four days in Indianapolis.
• From Indianapolis, a train back to Chicago, leaving at 6am, because of the Amtrak campaign against sleep.
• A day and a half, give or take, in Chicago.

And after that, it’s all pretty normal; Fly to Iceland, spend a week in Reykjavik, fly to London, join a tribe of Squirrels, … The usual travel stuff.

For anyone curious about actual times and dates; This is what the inside of my mind looks like.