Six Green Hours

Six hours on the train. That does not sound very tempting when put like that.

But having done 4 out of the 6 hours I need when taking a train today from Helsinki to Oulu, I could not be more excited. First of all, when you start your working day at 06.30, you get easily three hours of work before the email tsunami reaches you. It also somehow feels more appropriate to put your phone on silent when on the train than at the office. You can always use poor network as an excuse for not answering. The logic works for calls and emails. And when needed, the 3G network through the iPhone works OK to send emails or open GoogleDocs. The train is the perfect office away from the office.

The best thing of all is just the joy of travelling. On a winter day like this, Finland just looks absolutely stunning. The experience of changing location is concrete and happens without a single hassle. At least I give myself the luxury of buying just the yoghurts and snacks that I want for the trip. I feel confident enough to ask the woman across the aisle to watch my laptop when I go get a cup of coffee from the cafeteria. And I can catch on music. I look around me and seems like others are using the same opportunity. People on trains seem more relaxed than on planes.

Some ideas for VR for improvement:
- Yes, the cinnamon rolls could be fresh.
- Yes, the trolley cafe service could be on all trains.

And for the government:
- Yes, this could be an hour or two faster.
- Yes, it would be great to also travel South from Helsinki by train.
- Yes, this should actually be cheaper than flying.

It´s now 10.50. I just passed Kokkola. I have written 10 pages of text good enough for publishing. Yes, there´s the occasional yawn.

All and all, I am so glad I did not fly.