The Zen of Train Journeys

Most train journeys are ones of necessity usually to and from work, often on overcrowded subways or commuter trains. These train journeys can be uncomfortable and spent staring at your shoes or if you’re unlucky, into someone’s armpit! 

Despite this, more and more people are taking to the rails and train journeys have become fashionable again. Quite often that popularity has nothing to do with unpleasant commuter train experiences but instead, people are starting to revisit the sense of adventure and spirit of travel a train trip can deliver.  People are once again taking a train journey for the sake of the train journey.

The key ingredients to these rail adventures are feeling safe and secure, a comfortable seat, a big window to look out of, and great scenery appearing to effortlessly pass by.

Train Journeys & Mindfulness

There is much talk of mindfulness these days. Maybe a railway journey just for the pleasure of the ride is a form of mindfulness?

Zen is the Japanese pronunciation of a Chinese word, ch’an, which comes from a Sanskrit root meaning “thought,” “absorption,” or “meditation.” And meditation is at the heart of Zen, along with an emphasis on self-control and insight.

When roaming the rails for pleasure, one can be very much ‘in the moment’, leaving behind the clutter that invades our thoughts. Your mind can just drift along with the hum of the engine, the muted chorus of the wheels and hypnotic effect of places flashing past.

Your reverie might be disturbed by the train rushing through a tunnel, catching site of an interesting old building, lovers walking across a field, or a river idly meandering alongside the track.

You take time to wonder about what goes on in these places and the lives led in them.

Such a train journey is a ride into your imagination as well as the places you are travelling through, be it the city or the countryside. And be sure to turn your mobile phone off when you get onto the train to allow yourself to enter this different world.

To connect with the zen of train travel, take a look at the many rail tours on offer presented by LOCO Journeys and allow your mind and body to escape to somewhere completely different.

Train Journeys

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