Train Ride to Paradise

origin it might claim. So a journey by air leaves the traveller as deflated as a punctured tyre. But the problem today is that aeroplanes and their partners in crime, automobiles, are putting other forms of travel out of business. All too often nowadays it is not possible to reach your destination by rail or boat. So dominant is air transport that many travellers automatically turn to airline timetables without considering alternatives, even though they are just as quick and far more comfortable. My younger son was a frequent flyer between London and Edinburgh. That took almost as long as the train door to door and was a total waste of time. But I couldn't persuade him his time would be much better spent comfortably seated in a train than driving to and from airports, queuing to check-in, to be frisked, and to board the plane, sitting with his knees in his chest for forty minutes, then walking down endless airport passages. He was seduced by speed, real in one sense but imaginary in another. For me getting there is as much part of a journey as the destination. That's why I always try to avoid flying on holiday. I do not wish to start my holiday feeling deflated. My first choice is rail with, if possible, a sea voyage added, even if it's only a short ferry crossing. It is with more than sorrow, it is with pain that I've seen the