I kind of like flying. It's an "experience" I don't get to do very often. It's kind of fun figuring out where to check in, finding the terminal, etc. I'm sure it would get old really quick if you did it often, but we only do it once every 5 years or so, so it's something out of the ordinary.
I don't like the tiny cramped seats. My knees hit the seat in front of me, and I can barely move. I'm not a huge guy, but my arms and shoulders hang over the arm rests forcing my wife to scrunch up in her already tiny seat.
I used to try to get a window seat so I could see outside, but there's not much to see through those tiny port holes. So now I try to get an aisle seat so I don't have to climb over people to go to the bathroom. It also gives me a bit more elbow room on one side, until somebody walks by.
First class would be nice, but that's way outside of our travel budget. I always think it's funny they have the "rich" section with luxury seating, and the "poor" section for the sardines. Why not have "middle class" seating throughout the plane where everyone is a bit more comfortable, at a slightly higher price. If they averaged out the prices it would probably work out about the same for the airline.
One thing I don't like is most of our flights always seem to leave before 6am. They want you there two hours early, and it takes us almost an hour to drive to the airport, so we have to get up at 2am to catch our flight. We're NOT morning people.
It sucks to be so tired when you finally reach your destination, especially if there's another hour or so drive once you get there. I've considered doing overnight flights, but try as I might I have never been able to sleep sitting up. So I know I would arrive completely exhausted from lack of sleep.
One thing that bugs me is how much stuff people bring as a carry-on, just so they don't have to check baggage. I paid for my seat but usually fight to find a spot in the overhead bin, usually several rows away. And forget about the whole under the seat thing, I'm already cramped enough.
I flew Southwest airlines several years ago to go to a conference. No reserved seating, so it was a mad dash hoping to find an open aisle seat. I ended up next to two old ladies with cats in carry-on carriers. I didn't even know the airlines allowed pets in the cabin. Thankfully the poor cats were silent the whole trip crammed into their collapsed carriers under the seats.
Flying may be quick, but the stuff associated with flying ends up taking all day. So the first and last day of any long distance vacation is wasted traveling.
We took a train for the first time a few years ago from Vancouver, WA to Seattle. We really enjoyed it. Nice big windows to look out, we could get up and walk around, go to the diner car, etc. It wasn't much faster than driving, but it was nice to relax and not worry about traffic. Unfortunately, the train was broke when we were heading home so we had to wait four hours while they called in buses. Then we had a miserable four hour bus ride, stopping at every train station between here and Seattle. I would love to do the train again, but would never ride a bus again. Of course, there are only so many places we can get to by train.
For the most part, we have stayed closer to home in recent years only going places we could drive to. It's a much nicer experience, even if it takes longer. We can stop when we want to, and we try to see as many sights along the way as we can. Once we retire, I'm hoping to take a cross country road trip again. It will be nice to take our time and not have to rush to get back for work.
