That’s right, folks.  I’m switching up the game.  Jessica and I have had it just about up to here with the TSA, so we’re going to voice our disgust via utilizing another travel medium.  Trains.

I’m going to start researching point redemption rates for Amtrak and ways to hack the points-earning system so that we can start traveling slowly – enjoying the journey as much as the destination.

Traveling by Car

I would also like to travel by car to some of the places we decide to go.  In the future, I’d love to build a small teardrop trailer (after the Tiny House is done, of course!) and tow it with a diesel powered vehicle.  Until then, though, I’d like to plan some vacations where we travel by car to our destination, enjoying multiple stops along the way.

I’m a tad bit upset that our Beetle TDI is getting an average of 32mpg right now, but I should probably be happy that that’s a higher efficiency than most cars.  I’d prefer to have a vehicle that gets 50mpg or better (and NOT a Prius), or have a GTI.  You know what I’m saying?  Go big or go home.

In the Future

I’ll be posting more about my point-earning schemes to travel for free on Amtrak trains, and I’ll report back how comfortable (or uncomfortable) the journey ends up being.  We already know the train system in Europe is awesome, but how good is the US implementation?  Stay tuned to find out!

Sidenote

I still have 130,690 Southwest Rapid Reward points AND a companion pass, so Jess and I will probably use that up a bit more before the end of the year, when it runs out (2013).