I’ve been working on the railroad…no, seriously.

Has this come up on my blog before?  Apparently only briefly (but I was published about my experience here).  A friend and former co-worker of the American Orient Express posted the above video recently and I had to share — I think mostly because there are some things I’ve done in my life where I look back and wonder, “Did that really happen?”

In the days before Facebook (gasp!), I rode the rails for two summers, getting paid to see the States from remote and crazy locations few people will ever get to see.  I survived the Norovirus of 2006 and the new ownership in 2007.  I made friends for life and worked harder than I can ever remember – physically and mentally exhausting myself on a daily basis – but still finding the energy to go out drinking if we were overnight in a city for more than 2 hours.  I shared a room the size of a closet and loved every second of it.

As I look forward to a new adventure next year, I hope it will have some of the same wonder, stress and feelings of accomplishment that I had while on board the only dysfunctional luxury train in the United States.  RIP, AOE.