Since I had no job in Canada, it was time to move on.

At my parents’ suggestion, I decided to take the train through the Rockies from Edmonton to Vancouver for a few reasons:

1. Unless I chose to take the Rocky Mountaineer for ~$830 (Ha!), relaxing on a train was about the same price as flying.
2. I’d never been through the Canadian Rockies before.
3. By riding the train through the night, I essentially would get a night of “free” sleep for which I didn’t need to plan lodging!
4. Instead of flying straight to Seattle, I’d get off the train in Vancouver, which is the home of not just one, but two Hell Pizza locations. <To learn what Hell Pizza is, you’ll just have to keep reading or google it.>
5. I could make my friend Scott jealous.

With a train ticket purchased, my journey further into the unknown started with a Greyhound bus ride from Canmore to Calgary. There I had planned on immediately catching a bus to Edmonton and then sleeping in the bus or train station… or somewhere. Hooray for solo cheap travel! However, the people of Greyhound were looking out for me and didn’t think I should wing a night of sleep just anywhere in Edmonton, so they changed my ticket to the overnight bus, leaving me with probably 6+ hours to kill with all my luggage in the Calgary station. Luckily, the Detroit Tigers were in the middle of a game, so I was able to stay entertained. And once I was on the bus – since I’m pretty small – I was able to actually sleep in 3 different positions on the bus that night!

Once in Edmonton, I caught a cab to the VIA Rail station… and then sat for a 2+ hour delay. That’s when I met Kelly, the man who would be my cross-aisle travel companion. He was making a move from Edmonton to Vancouver “just because he was sick of Edmonton.” After some chatting, train exploration, and discussion, he broke out the cognac for the entrance to the Rockies. Yep, Scott would have approved.










The first few hours took us through pretty flat land as we worked our way west. One older gentleman who rides the train between Edmonton and Jasper just for fun wanted to give me commentary, but I wasn’t in the mood for a tour. I just wanted to look out the window, write in my journal, and listen to music. Of course I felt bad for not engaging in conversation, but I didn’t feel like talking.

Once we hit the Rockies and started to approach Jasper, I switched to photography mode, which isn’t the easiest on a train. It didn’t take me long to realize my attempts for quality photos were slightly useless, so I did that which is hard for me to do when my surroundings are beautiful: I set the camera down. Yes, it was tough, but I saved myself from some frustration.

We had a longer stop in Jasper than expected, but Kelly and I managed to just squeeze in a stop at the Jasper Brewing Co. He came out with a growler that he then finished with another group of people while waiting on the platform (because of another delay). Guess I’ll have to go back if I want to try one of their beers!










Since Kelly knew my backstory and that I was the budget traveler who wouldn’t splurge for dinner on the train, he decided to treat me to the full diner car dinner. 😮 Before we made our way to the car, I thought dinner would be like the food car on my train trip in Australia: a few options to order but nothing special. It definitely was fancier on this train. Check out this meal. My meal on the rails was the fanciest I’ve had in years! … and free! Thanks Kelly. I shall remember you when I have money and see a cheap train traveler.
















Sleeping was surprisingly comfortable for having the cheap seats. Luckily, there weren’t many people on the train, so I was able to have 4 seats to myself and sleep like so…

Sadly, train travel is a rather ignored method of transportation – especially in the States. Sure, it’s not the fastest, but why must we always hurry to get places? Why can’t we spare 1 day of life to enjoy a journey through the mountains rather than 30 minutes of flying over a mountain range? Don’t get me wrong, I love flying over the mountains – especially between Fairbanks and Anchorage. –> Note, if headed to Fairbanks, get a seat on the left side of the plane. When headed south to Anchorage, sit on the right. That way you get nice views of Denali/Mt. McKinley right out your window! <– However, having hours to just sit in a seat and not worry about where you’ll sleep, how to get to your next stop, how to carry all your gear, etc. is just so peaceful. I start thinking about those things near the end of my train journeys, but most of the time I’m free to relax and enjoy the trip. So much of society is wrapped up in being efficient and getting places quickly. Why not slow down?

My train trip was about 20 hours long, which brought me to Vancouver and oh-so-close to Hell Pizza around 9am. On the agenda: eat Hell Pizza… after meeting up with Dylan, an Irishman I had never met before. 🙂