You pack your laptop and book a one-way ticket to Bali. Three months later, you're back home, broke and burned out. The digital nomad lifestyle you dreamed about turned into a nightmare of bad Wi-Fi, lonely nights, and zero productivity. Maybe you thought working from paradise meant actual paradise. Maybe you believed the Instagram posts showing laptops by the pool. The gap between fantasy and reality hits hard when you're trying to run a business from somewhere the internet cuts out every five minutes.
In October 2021, I booked a round-trip ride between New York City and Miami on Amtrak's overnight sleeper train for the first time. In total, I spent 60 hours on the rails. On the way to Miami, I spent 30 hours in a $500 roomette accommodation, a 20-square-foot enclosed private space with a foldout table, two chairs that fold out into a bed, and an additional bed that pulls down from the ceiling.
