A Different Perspective

Sometimes it really helps to get a different perspective!

Today, I really do have a different perspective because I'm actually writing this post while sitting in a park in Palo Alto, California.

My view, as I write this

Why for? Well that's a good thing to wonder about and the answer is that I am here because it is the home to the Danish Consulate in the United States that issues passports.

And since my Danish passport was coming to the end of its life and I needed to get it renewed, I had to come here.

It might sound like a lot of trouble to have to go all the way from Western Washington state to the Bay area of California in order to get a passport renewed but that is the way with the new European Union passports that have all manners of biometric data built into them.

It is only this consulate and the Danish Embassy in Washington DC that can now issue Danish passports in the United States.

I went about this whole process of rather unusual way. Instead of the more obvious "take a flight, get into a hotel, come out to your appointment, go back to the airport, take a flight home" I decided to come here by train.

It's a 24-hour journey each way by train, and that may sound like a lot, but it is one part of my European Heritage that I have never shed as a result of living in the United States, namely the fact that we go everywhere by train.

Of course there are no high-speed trains in the USA, so it's old-fashioned, but I don't really mind.

There's something strangely "civilized" about taking a train journey, in the sense that you get to pretty much sit and you don't have to do anything for a long time.

San Jose Train station

Part of my reason for choosing this option is also the fact that I didn't really have anything I needed to do in this area other than the passport meeting. Which, basically, took about 35 minutes.

So my thinking was why not make the journey itself the excursion as opposed to the destination. So I was basically just coming out here and turning right around and going home.

Now that my appointment is over, I'm going to take a commuter train back to San José, and then board the overnight train back to Seattle. I have reserved a spot in a sleeping compartment, so at least I hope to get some sleep on the trip. Mostly, though, I'm going to sit there and enjoy the landscape slowly going by.

It really is a different perspective, when you don't feel like you're rushing.

Somehow, I feel like I will have more energy and a fresh perspective when I start up work again on Thursday morning. And that's definitely a good thing!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Do you ever get fresh perspective from changing the way you travel? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2026.03.10 16:53 PST
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