It’s True! You Can Fall in Love on the Train

Mike & Tess

When Michael stepped aboard our Cascades service planning to travel from Portland to Seattle in February 2009, he didn’t know then that the trip would change his life.

It wasn’t the adventure of train travel, but the chance meeting with the woman he would eventually propose to four years later, that made the Amtrak trip so memorable.

“It was a beautiful afternoon,” he recalls. “The sun was streaming in through the windows, and when you ride that train, you go up next to the Puget Sound and you have views of the water and the mountains.”

The scene was set, but it was Michael’s quick thinking that got him and fiancée Tess, a floral designer, seated together.

“When I was waiting to get my seat assignment in the station, I see this beautiful woman walk into the station and get a ticket,” Michael says. “So I got out of line, acted casual and got next to her in the line.”

Lucky for him his plan worked, and the two strangers were seated across from each other at a table, giving Michael the chance to offer to buy his fellow traveler coffee during the trip.

As they say, the rest is history. The couple has traveled multiple times on Amtrak trains since meeting, and the day we caught up with Michael, Tess was traveling the Cascades solo, texting memories along the way.

“I feel like the rhythm of the train and the changing landscapes facilitates an easy flow of conversation,” says Michael who has this simple piece of advice for first-time train travelers (perhaps even those looking for love): “Be open, be brave!”

Tess & Michael plan to wed on July 13, 2013. Send them your best wishes in the comment section below!