I've spent 128 hours on overnight Amtrak trips. I wish I had known 10 things before stepping aboard.

A Business Insider reporter spent 128 hours in Amtrak sleeper cars and learned things about overnight train travel she regrets not knowing beforehand. Joey Hadden/Business Insider

There were so many things I couldn't have predicted about sleeper train travel before taking my own night rides.

I slept on an Amtrak overnight train for the first time in October 2021. I booked a round-trip ride between New York City and Miami. Each ride was 30 hours.

On the way to Miami, I booked a $500 roomette accommodation . The 20-square-foot enclosed private space had a foldout table, two chairs that folded out into a bed, and an additional bed that pulled down from the ceiling.

On my way back to NYC, I spent 30 hours in the next level up, a $1,000 bedroom accommodation , which is a private 45-square-foot room.…