#AmtrakResidency

I just applied for the Amtrak Residency program. This is a cool idea originated by writers discussing their inspiration from train travel on Twitter. Amtrak's social media people picked up on this and decided to offer free train tickets to writers. While not a traditional writer, I am "passionate about train travel and writing" and might offer a unique perspective as a blogger - at least that's what I told them on my application.

One of the requirements of this program is a Twitter handle so I'm finally on Twitter! You can follow me @MapOfTheWeek - note my sidebar.  


With only 24 slots and over 10,000 applicants (so far) my chances are slim but I can still dream about it with a little help from Amtrak's nice maps,

 their interactive atlas,

and their "Track a Train", where you can see where each train is at any given moment. See the bottom left of their home page to activate.