Going Solo: Trains

Trains. At first glance a simple mode of transport, ferrying people to and fro between home, work and... well, anywhere else that takes their fancy. But now picture this: one girl, one train journey and nine hours with which to fill the time. Now that my friends, is a whole different kettle of fish.

When I was first faced with the prospect of travelling from a small train station in the south eastern corner of England to a slightly larger train station in the Scottish midlands via London, I was over the moon! Imagine the adventure, the excitement! I would by myself, with no adults hounding me over train times and packed lunches, in London! However London was only an hour-long pit-stop in my journey, during which I had enough time to acquaint myself with the train station, buy some magazines (the queues in Londonian WHSmiths are maHOOsive), cross the road to buy a milkshake from McDonalds  (traffic in London is just as bad as it's made out to be, which doesn't make for quick and easy road crossing), return to the station and board my train.

Once I had boarded, I was informed that actually it wasn't a service with seat reservation, after I had (politely) asked a woman to move so I could get to my allocated seat, 7A. I was then stuck sitting next to a woman approximately 30 years older than me who I'm fairly sure didn't want me there, the evil looks being something of a hint. But hey, 'que sera sera' right? Now, I spent the majority of my journey mindlessly listening to my iPod and eating my packed lunch (because sometimes parents do have a point when they tell you that food in London is ridiculously expensive, we are in a recession you know) but if you would like some ideas on more productive/interesting activities to do on a train then look no further:

Things I Should Have Done On My Nine Hour Train Journey

1. Knitted  A Scarf - If I had started it then, it might even have been finished by the time winter comes around.
2. Written A Short Story - I could've had it published and be hailed as the next F. Scott Fitzgerald *sigh*
3. Created A Blog - Well, better late than never...
4. Learnt How To Whistle - The woman next to me already hated me, so what would I have had to lose?
5. Schoolwork - Urgh, maybe I should rename this as something I could have done but wouldn't have in a million years.