6 . I was lucky on the first night of the trip, because I had an empty seat next to me. But I found out this wasn’t the best solution for sleeping. I woke up early and kept a journal.

I was excited to see Chicago. I had never been there before and didn't really know what to expect. l was also looking forward to finding somewhere to take a shower. I wouldn't recommend trying to shave (刮胡子) on the train, Even holding a toothbrush by your face could be dangerous with the constant movement of the train, let alone a razor(剃刀).

We had one last stop before Chicago, and I remembered hopping（跳跃）on the platform for a few minutes. It was cold! I was on my way to Cali, and figured I wouldn't need too many warm clothes. Brilliant. I had one hoodie (连帽上衣) and was wearing it for most of the trip. We got on the train and soon things changed from the scenery along the Great Lakes, into a more urban area. On the train, you aren’t presented with “Welcome to...” signs for different cities and towns. You get to see parts of them that aren’t cleaned up and beautified for your view. You get to go to the areas that aren't so pretty, and that’s another reason why I loved the experience.

We rolled past alleys, streets, and soon enough, a lot of other trains. Chicago seems to be quite busy. The amount of tracks and signals was amazing. The sun was rising when we rolled into Union Station's platform. The entire platform is inside a big “garage” for the trains. I grabbed my luggage and made my way inside the station. The architecture of Union Station was really amazing.

7 . A couple in their 60s has travelled 12,000 miles across 16 countries from Britain to China — riding their bikes the entire way. Grandparents Peter and Chris stepped on the long journey after deciding to ''do something a bit different''. They travelled across cities, deserts, mountains and everything in between across Europe, the Middle East and the East Asia. The married couple of 37 years enjoyed themselves with delicious local food and spent most nights inside a tiny tent put up wherever they could find shelter.

Peter, 66, said the moment they finally had a look at the famous Great Wall after a year and a half of cycling 30 miles a day was ''really exciting''. At the end of their journey, the special pair didn’t fly home but instead choose to book a cabin inside a 400m-long container ship. The final part was a three-week voyage from Singapore across the Indian Ocean and into the Mediterranean Sea before arriving at Southampton.

''You never know what the day is going to bring. All you know is that you are going to get on your bike and cycle. Every day is an adventure and every day is new. Overall, the experience is absolutely unbelievable, '' Peter said.

Peter and Chris initially set out to cycle from Britain in January 2017 but were forced home. They had cycled all the way to Hungary when Peter slipped on tiles and broke his leg. After even nonths of recovery, the couple set out again in Britain. They finally arrived in China in November 2018.

3th Peter and Chris agreed that the best part of the entire trip was coming across the kinhood of strangers along the way, many of whom invited the couple for food and drink. Chris, 64, said ''It was a wonderful experience, particularly wonderful because of the amazing people we met along the way. ''