My friends and I take a 14-hour Amtrak trip together every year. It's the cheapest way to spend time together.

Between working, going to graduate school, raising kids, and apprenticing at a tattoo studio, my friends and I all have very different schedules.

So, when we can coordinate our busy lives to hang out, it’s usually only for a few hours here and there.

A few years ago, I started brainstorming ways for us to connect over an extended period of time and came up with the perfect solution: a 14-hour round-trip Amtrak adventure.

When I first suggested the idea two years ago, I wasn’t sure they’d be into it.

None of us had ever done anything like it, but I thought it would be a great outlet for uninterrupted quality time.

To my surprise, everyone was excited and ardently said yes.

Our journey was decided: We would take the California Zephyr train from Provo, Utah, to Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and back.

The first girls’ trip was so much fun that we decided to go again, and now it’s become an annual tradition — and one of our favorite ways to spend time together.