Happy (late) Thanksgiving, everyone! Today was a harsh awakening to reality, as I arrived back from break at 2 AM this morning and had to get right back into the busy rhythm of school. This year, we just have a week and a half left of classes after break, then five days of reading period, then finals. It’s a quick turnaround, and there’s a lot to do. This break was my first time traveling to and from Amherst by plane, so I thought it’d be a good time to go over how traveling works around here.
Amherst is a little bit out of the way, and it can be kind of a trek to get to the airport. The closest one is Bradley, which is right between Hartford, Connecticut and Springfield, Massachusetts. It’s only 50 or so minutes from campus, but there’s no public transport, so you have to arrange a ride from a friend or pay a somewhat steep price for a ride share. Bradley is more limited, with flights mainly between here and the East Coast and Midwest. Boston Logan, a much larger airport with flights to the west coast and international destinations, can take anywhere from 2-4 hours by car or bus and the traffic can be crazy.
My favorite type of transit is the train. Northampton, a larger neighboring town, has a station that is on the Vermonter line. This train runs once daily from DC to Vermont (and back down, going through NYC). While a rather slow train, it’s direct and roomy, and you can sit and get some work done on the ride. This is a great option for people from the east coast. You can also grab other regional trains from this station.
The Peter Pan is the primary coach bus in this region, and will take you all around Massachusetts and to New York. Some of my friends take a train or bus to New York and then get flights from there, as they are sometimes cheaper. The Association of Amherst Students, our student government, tends to arrange shuttles to Boston and New York around breaks, although they still do cost money.
This break, I drove to Boston (with no traffic this time) and caught a flight to visit my boyfriend’s family in Miami for the first few days of break. I then flew from Miami to Baltimore to spend Thanksgiving with my family, then from Baltimore to Bradley. I ended up on the same flight as my friend, which was a total surprise (and a convenient one for catching a ride back to Amherst). And now here I am, adjusting back from the slow pace of break to the race toward finals. It’s hard to believe that my second-to-last semester went by so quickly. I will be spending the last days of the semester working a lot on my thesis and organizing my co-op’s Wine and Cheese event, so it’ll definitely be a busy time.
That’s all for now! Feel free to email me (swolff25@amherst.edu) anytime with questions.