Tales from a Train: Travelers tell stories of their journey

Travelers tell stories of their journey

Editor's note:

Associated Press Tampa, Florida, correspondent Tamara Lush spent 15 days traveling via train across the U.S. as part of Amtrak's residency program, designed for creative professionals to spend time writing on the rails.

Lush generally started the conversations with two simple questions:

Where are you traveling on this train?

Where are you traveling in life?

Machelle Lowe is a 45-year-old hospice worker in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.

[...] she was really harping at me about this mole on my arm.

Probably in the lymph nodes.

The other kicker is, I work for hospice.

TEXAS: 'THE ISSUE OF A WALL, IT'S REALLY COMPLICATED'

Tereseta Esqueda, 22, is a student at the University of Texas at El Paso.

[...] my grandmother and grandfather and other family in Juarez.

Pam Buresh, 54, is a business owner in central Oregon.

[...] they're my great-nephews and -niece.

I'm raising these guys, and they're super, super great and hardworking.

There's so many kids who need homes.

[...] the meth epidemic is everywhere, across the United States, and it hits every type of family.

Kids get stuck, they're left with it.

School gets out, I've gotta take care of the kids.

WISCONSIN: 'WE'RE TRAIN GEEKS'

Once a year in January, when it gets to be the doldrums, especially after the Packers lose, we usually take a three- or four-day trip just to rejuvenate our lives.

At night you'd go to sleep and in the middle of the night, the train would go by and the horn and the noise and everything, you'd never hear it, because you got so used to it.

The station agent that took care of the place back when they had station agents - he died some years ago.

[...] I went to his funeral, and his wife cried with me: 'You were the guys that he talked about.'

Getting on the train, it's just a chance to get away from the rat race.

Me and my friend are wanting to move there, and we're going to look at cosmetology schools.

For school I want to go to L.A. But we're going to Chico because my friend's aunt lives there.

Whenever I go get my hair done, I'm always really excited.

There's really not many rude people in Iowa.

I have pancreatic cancer, and my significant other couldn't come.

[...] Paul was nice enough to come, because it's nice to have another set of ears with you when you're getting doctor's opinions.

[...] all the opinions are good, which is rare for my cancer.

Today I got information on upcoming surgery.

When you're dealing with something like cancer and talking to a doctor, your mind goes a million miles an hour.

Find the rest of Tales from a Train , including Lush's reflections on the project, at https://apnews.com/tag/TalesfromaTrain .