Hello Readers,
Welcome to Day Three of The 12 Days of Books!
Have your travel plans ever been derailed? You think you’ll get to your connection in plenty of time, but the LIRR is delayed (as usual), the runway is icy, or your car has a flat tire and suddenly you have to improvise and find an alternative way to get to your destination. 
Travel struggles tend to test character. Over the summer, I was trying to get from New York to Nashville with a layover in Atlanta. The flight stayed grounded in JFK for over two hours because we had no pilot. NO PILOT. Everyone on the plane was going to miss their connection in Atlanta. It was late. There would be no more flights out of Atlanta that night. We would all be stranded at the airport. You could feel the anger on the plane.
Although travel hiccups tend to be a hectic ordeal, they usually result in a great story. In The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, journalist Tom Langdon is forced to take a train from Washington, DC to Los Angeles after a misunderstanding at airport security. While on his journey across the country, Tom meets a handful of wonderful people who share their time and stories with him.
The Christmas Train is a feel-good Christmas novel that will make you want to take a cross-country train ride. In fact, if you’ve never taken a trip with Amtrak, you will be tempted to book a trip tomorrow. However, if you HAVE taken a trip with Amtrak, you will quickly recognize that Baldacci’s version of Amtrak is highly romanticized and something that can only be found in a cheesy Christmas novel.
Although Tom was not anticipating such a time-consuming cross-country trek, the journey turned into one of self-discovery. Tom’s life would never be the same after this travel “hiccup” and did indeed result in a great story.
As for me and my travel “hiccup” this last summer, it turned into a great night. The friends I was supposed to meet in Nashville drove out to Atlanta to save me from sleeping on the floor of the airport. We spent a good portion of the visit reflecting on how ridiculous it was that they drove all the way to Atlanta to pick me up, but that experience added another layer to our already deep and valuable friendship.
As you travel this holiday season to gather with family and friends, enjoy your journey and bring a copy of The Christmas Train with you . . . you never know when you’ll be in need of a good book.
Live, Love, Learn,
Candice & The Write Teacher(s)