I'm a millennial who spent 4 days traveling across Canada on a train with no WiFi and little cell service, and I wasn't bored for a single minute

In October 2019, I boarded a VIA Rail train in Toronto headed for Vancouver. The Canadian promised a scenic ride through the Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia provinces over the course of four days. We made seven stops along the way at stations throughout the provinces.

The site also says there's limited cell service, which means my data plan was basically useless and my phone was only good for taking photos.

I wanted to make sure I had something to watch before falling asleep and for when I got bored during the long stretches of the trip.

I thought I'd have plenty of reading time, but I never even cracked the book open.

My cabin was in the Sleeper Plus section of the train (a subsect of business class), which meant I had a private room with two comfortable seats that folded down at night to make room for the bed.

These tickets can cost up to $6,000 depending on the time of year you travel. The Sleeper Plus ticket I had included all onboard meals.

This trip was much more social than I had anticipated. When we first pulled out of Toronto, everyone gathered on the upper deck of the Skyline car, where the roof is mostly windows.

It was there that I met the other passengers who were in business class, and it became the spot where we all gathered again and again throughout the trip.

The windows made it easy to appreciate all the nature we were riding through. If you're traveling with the hopes of getting some good photos, this is the place to be.

Instead of sitting in your personal cabin or in your reserved seats, you can mingle and enjoy the view with others.

We swapped travel stories and had conversations about where we were all from.

I also picked up some photography tips from other passengers who were more knowledgeable than I was.

I started at the front and walked all the way back, snapping photos along the way.

My cabin was near the back, but it wasn't the last car on the train — that was for Prestige first-class passengers.

This car had a full-service bar and high-top seating, which I didn't have access to in my Sleeper Plus cabin.

Andy Du Rego performed as the resident musician on our trip, which meant that he would travel between Skyline cars throughout the day and play music for passengers.

VIA Rail employees led the tastings, which highlighted local beer and wine selections from the regions we passed through on the train.

We got together in the upper deck of the Skyline car to play a trivia game as well as to learn about which area and geographic landscape we were coming up on next.

Between participating in all the onboard activities, exploring the train, and chatting with my new friends, I barely made it through my Spotify playlist and I never opened my book.

At the end of the trip, it felt like the time flew by, and I realized I didn't miss the mindless scrolling after all.

I was shocked that in the 96 hours I spent on that train, I wasn't bored for even a minute.