Greetings Reader !

If you're new here, welcome to Nomad Navigations, where I share tips, insights and recent news on travel and the digital nomad lifestyle. This week I'm excited about:

🚆 High Speed Trains Coming to the USA
💼 Self-serve TSA Lines
💻 Remote Job Boards
​
Let's Jump In ↓

🚆 TRAVEL NEWS : High Speed Train Announcement

While I feel there has been a lot of travel news recently, nothing piqued my interest more than the announcement of 8.2 billion in funding for "10 major passenger rail projects across the country, including the first world-class high-speed rail projects" in the US.

It seems to be that the 2028 Olympics has spurred some of this investment with a focus on a route from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Although, this isn't the first time Americans have been excited about the prospect of expanded rail travel. Many projects have stalled or never materialized, so I'm cautiously optimistic about this current proposal.

Over 35 rail projects were named as part of the funding announcement, including:

• Las Vegas to the Los Angeles metro area: This 218-mile route will take two hours with a high-speed train and is expected to provide transit for 11 million people annually.
• Dallas to Houston: This will be a new high-speed service connecting two of Texas’ most populous cities.
• Raleigh to Richmond: This would be a new route and help save passengers 90 minutes.
• New York City to Scranton, Pennsylvania: This route will be updated on an existing track that has been dormant and provide easier access to New York City.
• Fort Collins, Colorado to Pueblo, Colorado: This new route will connect two parts of Colorado not previously served by rail.

There are lots of articles about this announcement but here are a few including the official White House Announcement , this one by the Washington Post, and this one from Scientific American about why high speed bullet trains won't work in the US.

​

💼 SELF-SERVE TSA LINES

In other news, apparently, TSA is testing a self-serve screening system in Las Vegas starting in January. It's been coined "Screening at Speed" and I have to admit I'm intrigued. While also wondering if this is really a good idea.

Many people can't even get through the current screening process without issues, do we really trust them to do it themselves?

You must be part of the Trusted Traveler Program to participate and they've received positive feedback during their initial tests and trials. With the current backlash around self-checkout at grocery stores, I'm mildly curious about this prospect, I must admit.

But considering that TSA has seen some of its largest travel days since it's inception just in the last year, their proactiveness in finding alternatives to screening passengers faster is applauded.

I also just learned that you can get a TSA themed 2024 calendar featuring the TSA Canines - what haven't they thought of?

​
👩‍💻 REMOTE WORK JOB BOARDS

Instead of highlight some recent open positions, I wanted to share some of my favorite remote job boards I consistently come back to in order to help you find your next remote gig:

1. ​Otta.com - this became an instant favorite. They have a nice interface and their algorithm matches you with the best options based on the feedback you give it.
2. ​We Work Remotely - home to the largest remote work community
3. ​Remote Woman - finding remote jobs as female-friendly companies
4. ​Working Nomads - focus on remote jobs for digital nomads
5. ​BuiltIn - while not exclusively for remote jobs, their focus is on startups and tech companies, of which offer a lot of remote positions.

​

🧡 That's a Wrap

This week was very news heavy but I'll be back next week with more travel tips and nomad insights!

-Tayler