spent

With two nights on the California Zephyr and two beds to choose from, I picked both.In February 2026, I took the Amtrak sleeper train’s full route from Chicago to Emeryville, California. For the 53-hour train journey, I booked a $2,200 bedroom with a foldout couch and an upper bunk. As…

Growing up in a big Italian family, I always enjoyed Sunday afternoons filled with bowls of spaghetti and meatballs cooked by my nana. Winters meant my dad would grind meat in the basement to make soppressata, or “soupy.”Throughout middle school, high school, and college, I took six years of Italian,…

There were so many things I couldn’t have predicted about sleeper train travel before taking my own night rides.I slept on an Amtrak overnight train for the first time in October 2021. I booked a round-trip ride between New York City and Miami. Each ride was 30 hours.On the way…