The power of doing nothing

I recently booked a ticket on a sleeper train from Glasgow to London, and it was surprisingly cheap. At the station, I realised why; I had booked a seat and not a bed on the overnight train. Sleeping in an upright chair—velour seats, stained headrest, other people’s sweat—gave a flashback to my childhood in the 1970s and the overnight train journeys to London I took many times with my brothers. I was always scared, but I learnt much about life (although I never received a Duke …