Why I Adore Public Transport

I love travel, for me the holiday begins the second we leave home – even if that means seven hours on various motorways traversing the length and/or breadth of England. (Actually the reason it takes so long is I never traverse England without a stop somewhere interesting so don’t feel sorry for me.) But if I can get anywhere by public transport I will do. Buses mean you can work, read or people watch; trains mean the same but you can also drink wine on a train without being frowned upon!

So I thought I’d share something I wrote on a recent train journey to Preston.

I am sitting pressed against the window, the fields flashing by in the corner of my eye, trying to distance myself from the smell of urine and the noise of the large family at the end of the carriage. In the seats directly in front of me a very overweight woman is talking noisily across the table. I cannot at first tell if she knows the lady to whom she is chatting or if these are casual train acquaintances.

            “Oh, by the way, you know that £200 grant I get for clothing?”

            “Hmm, no…”

            “You know, to help buy clothes for interviews – you lose that.”

            “Right.”

            “And the £40-a-week grant, you lose that; I’ll be £40 a week worse off if I work more than 16…”

            Her voice trails off into the distance, my mind wandering between the repeated shouts of “SIDDOWN” (a new word in my vocabulary) and memories of other train rides.

            The smell of cinnamon as the chai-wallah (tea-seller) darts up the carriage, the crunch of peanut brittle – a sweet, salty explosion – shared with the family of six squashing onto the bench seats with you. The feel of my knee pressing against my husband’s – the awareness of clammy skin in the early morning heat. The rhythmic clatter of the train against the tracks and the sight of a row of dark bottoms all attending to their morning toilet on the opposite track as we approach the edges of Mumbai.

           

Today I sent a competition entry, it wasn’t travel writing, but please keep your fingers crossed for me. Any comments on my writing - what you like/what I could improve would also be gratefully received.