Last spring break, my kids and I took the Amtrak train between Oakland, Calif., and San Diego. We had a great trip and you can read about it in this
past blog post.
This year over the kids' vacation we decided to try out a different mode of transportation -- the bus. We traveled between Boston, New York, Philadelphia and D.C. via Greyhound.
When I told friends about our plans, I received mixed responses. It seems people have preconceived notions about Greyhound. They think the buses are painfully slow and dirty--and they have all sorts of things to say about the passengers. One friend told me she had read about a shooting on Greyhound in the newspaper.
We actually found the buses to be quite delightful. "I love the bus," my daughter squealed about half-way through our bus trip between Boston and New York. "This is so much fun!"
Here's why are family loved riding the bus:
You can see lots of stuff outside the window. "Look! The Empire State Building!" "Look, there are deer over there on the side of the road!" The kids loved looking out the window, and on the bus you're riding up high so it's easy to see everything. I got quite excited about rolling through Baltimore--a city I've never actually visited before but became familiar with by watching the
Wire. I think I spotted the Shipyards area featured in the second season from my big picture window on the Greyhound.
The people are nice. On our leg between Boston and New York, the bus was so full that our family couldn't even sit together. I figured that this would be a disaster, but when my son plopped down into a seat next to a lady, she immediately asked him, "What you got in that Thomas the Train backpack?" I was sitting right behind him, and several people offered to switch seats so I could sit next to my son, but he refused. He wanted to stay where he was.
The passengers are interesting. Between Boston and NYC we sat next to a man who went to high school with Cyndi Lauper. Between Philly and D.C., the kids sat in front of a man who was part Native American. He was going to the capitol to visit the Museum of the American Indian. At over 80 years old he had returned to school and going to the museum was a class assignment.
You get lots of legroom. Ahhh....you can stretch out your legs. And there's usually a nifty little foot rest that you can pull down, which makes it easier to find a comfortable napping position. First class? No, but a lot better than what you find in coach on any airplane.
The travel time is slow--but not too slow. Yes, the bus is generally slower than the train or driving in your own car. But when you're traveling shorter distances, say between NYC and Boston, you can typically find a nonstop express bus that gets you there in the same time it would take you in a car if you drive 55 mph. I actually relished the leisurely pace. My daily routine involves rushing from here to there so I found the bus rather relaxing.
There's free wi-fi. Many of the Greyhound and Peter Pan buses traveling along the I-5 corridor have free wi-fi--yes, free.
It's cheap. An adult ticket between NYC and Boston cost us $23 on Greyhound. The ride was 4 hours and 20 minutes. For comparison, I looked at the same trip on Amtrak. I found adult tickets for as little as $49 and that particularl trip was 4 hours and 13 minutes. The Amtrak itinerary that's only 3 hours and 40 minutes costs $95 for an adult.
You might score one of the fancy new buses. Last year Greyhound introduced
sparkling new buses with plush seats, electrical outlets, wi-fi, and even more legroom. These travel along the I-5 corridor on the East Coast, only on specific routes such as between New York and Boston. You can't specifically book a seat on one of these new buses, you just have to get lucky. However, you can book the new
Neon Service that mainly services cities in New York and offers the same perks.
Gone are the days of putting a vacation on the credit card. With interest rates skyrocketing and credit limits shrinking, it just doesn't make sense.
