Traveling Chimp

We’re all oh so familiar with the indignities of the grind, be it long delays, tiny seats or TSA cavity checks; but for those of us trudging up and down the East Coast there is an alternative.

I travel quite frequently between PHL and BOS, and up until 2007 that could be done quickly and cheaply on the hourly  USAir commuter flights. Around the holidays that year, for several reasons, tickets prices tripled, ruining the economics of my frequent flights. That’s when I rediscovered our friends at Amtrak and their Northeast corridor service, and I haven’t looked back since.

Amtrak trains along the Northeast corridor have frequent departures at reasonable prices. Local trains usually run about $120 from PHL to BOS, with Acela trains pushing $200. Acela is the high speed train introduced several years back to much fanfare. Between Philly and New York, it’s worthless time-wise, saving you only about 5 minutes one way on a 50 minute ride. But it does serve to, shall we say, cut out the riff raff…if you care about that sort of thing. Real times gains are to be had between New York and Boston, where the difference is about 50 minutes on a 6 hour ride. You’ll find families and college kids on the local trains, with the Acela mostly populated by like-minded business people (I’m not passing judgment. Let’s face it, both demographics have their issues) But the real joy comes when you arrive at the station 10 minutes prior to departure, ease yourself into a wide seat, and take off for your destination usually on time. And look down next to your seat, what’s that…could it be…yes, a power outlet just begging to merrily charge your laptop as you go.

Another huge advantage, one I’m exploiting as I write this, access to the airwaves. No, Amtrak has yet to provide on-train Wi-Fi, but your 5ft cruising altitude gives every opportunity to plug in that air-card or, as I do, tether that BB for broadband goodness. There’s leg room, there’s a cafe car, there are bathrooms you’d actually have enough room to fool around in. Again, if you care about that sort of thing.  It’s travel with dignity, and it’s worth every extra minute it might take to get where you’re going.

To that end, let’s do the math. 20 minute cab ride to the airport. 30 minutes to check in and get through security, and you better have gotten there 30 minutes before boarding to be on the safe side. PHL to BOS is about 40 minutes in the air and 15 on the ground to get to the gate (6+ hours if you’re going the other way and have to wait for a gate to open in Philly). Even without a checked bag it’s still at least 45 minutes before you’re getting where your going, so all told you’re talking 3½ to 4 hours door-to-door.

Now compare that to 15 minutes on either end of a 5 hour Acela ride. A ride in which you’re literally working from the moment you sit till the moment you arrive, and suddenly the time difference doesn’t seem so bad. One last hint, if you’re leaving Boston in the morning and can afford the extra time, skip the Acela for a local morning train. The business crowd (and there will be a large one) will head for the Acela, and the local will be half empty.

Don’t get me wrong, Amtrak has it’s issues too. There are occasional delays, the local trains tend to run about 150° in the winter (wear layers), and those of us traveling from anywhere BUT New York are forced to deal with those of you coming FROM New York, but it’s a small price to pay for the convenience, class and comfort of riding the rails. Next time your traveling the Northeast corridor definitely give it a look!

This January Energizer will introduce a new Solar battery charger complete with a USB port and space for two AA or AAA batteries. Anyone who’s ever wandered aimlessly through an airport looking for an open outlet knows they’re often in short supply. I’ve imagined before being able to just sit by the window charging away, but have yet to see a product that could make this practical.

Judging by the size of the panel on this guy, there’s no way it would provide enough juice to power a laptop, but maybe it could keep a cellphone up and running or make sure your iPod will survive that 5 hour flight. Keep an eye out for a review when this debuts next year…

Foxit Software will be introducing a new eBook reader, the eSlick, this coming January. The company manufactures a suite of pdf programs that compete with Adobe, but this is their first foray into the hardware market, and they’re hoping to compete with the likes of the Kindle and the Sony Reader by coming in under $250 retail.

I’ve been watching this market develop for some time now because I think these could be amazingly useful devices for the business traveler. I often times have to carry a large amount of documents on the road to make the best of my travel time and would love to be able to pack them all into one lightweight device. Unfortunately, I have a specific set of functional demands, particularly, the ability to highlight and annotate documents as I go. There are a couple models out there now which have those functions, but they tend to be unreasonably priced at this point.

I’m going to put these devices on the list of potential essentials and we’ll see if we can find that tool that’s going to save our backs in the future. Feel free to drop a line and let us know how these guys have made your travel life easier.

Hammacher Schlemmer has introduced a simplified GPS device that works by recording a position you define, then leads you back to that location with a display of distance and direction. Probably a little too “niche” for $80, but could definitely be useful in some of those expansive long-term parking lots when you just got off  that red-eye where little Jefferey in the row behind you was colicky.