Around the Country in 8 Days, Part 1

While it may seem a bit ironic, this post was originally meant to have been written shortly after I got back from this big, slightly unseemly, and yet absolute adventure of a cross-country trip on Amtrak in the short span of one week (plus one day.) However, when that trip intentionally buttresses the start of a new position, which was the whole reason for the thing in the first place, it makes more sense that I wrote this on another train, also headed in the same direction as the first leg of my longer trip, albeit with less hiccups caused by extreme delays leading to frustration and worry that the trip was over before it even started. But that'll be explained shortly.

A background into why I was on this trip in the first place

Disillusionment with the federal government

As many of my friends no doubt know, I was unhappy in my old job with the federal government. While I won't go into the why beyond a vague "I realized it isn't what I wanted to do," I knew then (roughly September 2023, then only 7 months in to that position and 9 months baccalaureate) that it wasn't meant to last. I couldn't stomach it and I couldn't shake the idea that continuing there would cause my soul to rot. So, I started looking for new jobs. And looking. And looking some more. And looking even more...

And suffice to say, no one wanted a person who was so fresh out of school and without the experience they were looking for, even with my six years' prior experience with the government. That put me in both a bind and a bit of a burnout spiral, as I was doing well in the position, but I was certainly frustrated and took every opportunity to use my leave balances and not focus on the work. That worked for a time and I was considered a great technical lead of my team with my colleagues' concerns first and foremost in my mind. But, it simply wasn't meant to last.

Fast forward to August 2024, and I was complaining constantly. All my friends that I was complaining to were beyond tired of it, but even though I kept applying, I wasn't getting anywhere. So the complaining got worse. It was only around that time that my dear friend Selenea reached out and told me that her office was hiring for a position in the city of Baltimore's government. Since my only work experience (minus retail as a teenager) was with the government - college tech support, federal government - this seemed like a no-brainer. So, she hooked me up with an interview with her office's executive director and deputy director for data. They were positively blown away by my technical expertise and communication skills (what can I say?) and soon after put me in the running to get hired.

Frustratingly, that process took roughly four months from start to finish, which was a bit of a damper on my work mood again given the freedom kept slipping away by virtue of me having to stick around at my then-current job for so long. But, I was able to stick a bit of a continual thorn in the eye there by continuing to take leave and even culminating in a two week-long recovery period from laser eye surgery. It was only after that period, somewhat in the early part of December, that I finally heard back from HR with the city and got my start date - January 6, 2026! (And before you ask, yes it is a coincidence and no I was not in DC on any recurrence of the date)

As soon as I got that phone call, I rushed back inside to my desk and filed my resignation. And boy oh boy, was my heart filled with glee! Even my project manager at the time, the absolute angel, said she could tell I was leaving by how much weight looked to be lifted off my shoulders. While there was some initial animosity from my leadership and maybe even somewhat from my team for leaving them high and dry, it was without a doubt the best possible decision I could've made for myself regarding my career at that time. And so, a chapter in my life closed for good.

Maybe no job is perfect?

I started that new job as principal platform engineer with my head held high, my hopes high, and even my office being on the top floor of City Hall! So, still kind of high. But as crazy or awful or privileged as it may sound, I experienced further disillusionment there relatively quickly that lead to me wanting to get away from there too. This was certainly a case of death by a thousand cuts, where the death was of my willingness to continue working there and the thousand cuts were all the spurns, spats, and spurious projects heaved onto my lap, with the first indicators showing up as quickly as within the first two weeks of being there. While I expected there to be less etiquette or standardized practices regarding software development and even more broadly computer maintenance, nothing really prepared me for the passive-aggressive control at play in the office (to put it vaguely.)

Perhaps I was used to more autonomy with the federal government than afforded to others in different governmental structures (a common theme of my grievances, as you shall see,) but there's no other way to say it - I was seriously irked by what I considered egregious micromanagement. While my supervisor was extremely understanding and shared my concerns, little was able to be done to alleviate the worries that sprouted from severe microscopic magnification and inspection of all project details for every single task. But I was too new, too green behind the ears, and frankly too inexperienced with the career world to try to risk setting out on my own again. It simply wasn't possible. Thus began a begrudging effort to continue to charm people through my hard work and good communication, even as frustrations built up from a lack of modern technology, haphazard project assignments, and stripping away of work privileges, chiefly telework. And I certainly wasn't the only person who noticed this - the turnover in that office (and frankly, the city at large but zeroing in on my former agency) was appalling in how truly high its rate was.

And so I stuck it out and made friends. I genuinely enjoy making friends and found delight in those I made in that office and the city at large, but I did have a goal in mind with some of the higher-up ones - see if I can convince them to hire me for a new position in their agency that hopefully pays the same or higher than what I was making then, which to be fair, was pretty good. Maybe I could call my salary golden handcuffs, but I'd also call it really great considering I work for a local government.

And then one day this year, somewhere around April, I was perusing the job listings for the city in Workday when a particular one caught my eye - Deputy Director, DevOps. This position was within the city's IT department, a behemoth still catching up to the times, but arguably on a good path forward. Given my expertise is in DevOps and I felt like I had no trajectory staying where I was, I applied to the position quickly and reached out to the person I'd be working under, the director of that team. After our conversation, it was all too apparent that this job truly was meant for me and that I had made the right call in applying for it and believing in myself.

Fast forward a month, and after three rounds of interviews and all of the standard rigamarole surrounding a new position in the city, I got my date - June 8, 2026. That same feeling of elation washed over me as it had back in December 2024, and I quickly let my supervisor and chief of staff know of the impending change. Yes, yes, of course, there was some minor shock and concern, but overall they saw the bigger picture, the trees and the forest - it was better in the long run for me to be over there, and who knows, my being over in the IT department could help them push some initiatives as well. So, the transfer was filed and I was in a new holding pattern, waiting for that ever closer date to finally be the present and quickly the past. But a new thought struck me - why should I just continue to work and then switch right over to the new job? Hadn't I already done that and suffered because of the lack of closure and relaxation? It was then I popped open Amtrak's website on my phone and began searching for the best route to get me across the country.

The plan

On the website (and with some healthy search engine magic,) I figured out a route that would have me hit every major part of the country and still find time to explore some cities here and there. Starting in Baltimore (naturally,) I would take the Northeast Regional to New York City, then hop on the Lake Shore Limited to Chicago, spend a day there, and jump on the Southwest Chief to Los Angeles. From there, I would take the Coast Starlight up to Seattle to spend another day before heading back home. All the while, I would take photographs using my brand-new (used) Sony α NEX-7 to capture in full RAW glory my cavorting around.

There was one snag in that plan, though: annoyingly, there was no train back to Baltimore from Seattle that would get me home in time to start my new position or have time for laundry! The fastest train route back would get me there late Tuesday, which just wasn't going to fly. And so I decided to fly home from Seattle, getting me back early Saturday morning with enough time to relax and get some laundry done prior to my new start. With that, all I had to do was book everything, get some hostels in my itinerary, and go.

Thus began the trip

On the day that the trip started, things were going alright for the most part. All the dishes were done, laundry put away, bed made, bags packed, outfit ready. I took my things, locked the door behind me, and went to my usual bus stop to take down to Penn Station.

Being completely uneventful, the bus got me to the station pretty quickly so I hopped into the station, found my train on the status screen, and took a seat on a bench to read my book. From here, things started slipping.

You see, Amtrak is notorious for being late. I imagine this comes as no surprise, but typically the one line that is not very late would be the Northeast Regional, the flagship of both Amtrak and the US at large. The railcars, the tracks, the staff - all Amtrak! Yet somehow, with my amazing luck, the train I was waiting on was five minutes late. Then ten. Then fifteen. Then....

Noticing this severe slippage, I made my way to the ticket counter to exchange my tickets for whichever train was next. Complicating the matter, however, was my USA Rail Pass.

The USA Rail Pass is an Amtrak-issued pass that allows for riders to ride up to ten "segments"/rides on any Amtrak line (pending availability) over the course of thirty days after first use for a shockingly low price of $499. I say shockingly only because if you've ever traveled Amtrak before, you know that prices for most coach seats and rooms can be exorbitant, especially if you're booking close to departure date. Therefore, it seemed simply boneheaded not to use the pass as part of my adventure. But perhaps not shockingly enough, it takes the agents a little extra legwork to get my old ticket canceled and the new one printed.

While getting the new ticket for the following train (that was at that point on time) was no big deal, there arose a complication - the original train I was booked for arrived first, and without my original ticket (having been sacrificed for the new train,) I was no longer eligible to board said train and get to NYP (New York Penn Station) as fast as I wanted to. This arose a somewhat obvious panic in me, as my connection to the Lake Shore Limited wasn't too narrow a window if you took into account the original departure and arrival time of the Northeast Regional to New York, but with the hour-plus delay at hand, my window shortened dramatically. This led to me praying to whatever entity was there while checking the arrival times in the Amtrak that my vacation didn't come to a screeching halt or have to just be another long stay in the Big Apple! Of course, I understand the winds of fate blow as they may and to accept where I've been breezed to, but the anxiety of having to cancel all my other trains and stays were daunting.

The following half-hour was a cavalcade of worry on that - the "late" train I swapped suddenly became the earlier one, and boarded earlier than planned. I was then left sweating, as the "sooner" train was delayed about 10 minutes past the "later" train. Sure enough, my original train came, everyone else boarded, and left. I was pacing, proverbially biting my nails, just waiting. Then finally, my panacea (at least for this part...) - the train arrived! I quickly gathered my things and boarded: destination NYC!

The train ride up to New York itself was pretty uneventful, as from then on it was still delayed in general but hit all its next stops in quick succession. It was only once I got to my destination that the scene was practically cinematic - the train stopped, I quickly grabbed my things, then made my expedient way toward the exit doors. Upon getting to the exit of the train, I could see that my next train, the Lake Shore Limited, was sitting right across from my current train. This then transformed my problem dramatically into nil. At least, it was nil until I realized that in between both stood an escalator and a long queue to board it. I had to hoof it toward the middle of the queue, tried asking for someone to give me space (which he didn't,) and when he didn't I just slammed my way in between him and the passenger in front of him and quickly showed the conductor my new ticket and boarded. Take that, New York line etiquette!

And that began my journey toward Chicago.