Anybody here ever travelled on Greyhound?

[raccoon]

Last time I did was 40 years ago.

If anybody has recently, please share your experience, strength, and hope.

Just curious and wondering if I could save money by using Greyhound instead of flying, sometimes.

[Roon]

1. Going to and coming home from job corps

about a 500 mile trip one way. One night on the way home a couple in the back seat started to have "relations". They were drunk. One other time this drunk guy started hitting on me and told how he had "relations" with a cow.

Fly. It's so worth it.

[Pierre.Suave]

4. you just made me almost spit up my drink

that is hilarious.

I have one bit of advice, DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, IF YOU CAN AVOID IT, TAKE THE GREYHOUND.

I have done it once and it was the worst 14 hours of my life.

[Roon]

14. It's a terrible way to travel

For trips 250 miles or less, it's not so bad, but those long ones really suck.

[RebelOne]

2. Yes, once and never again.

You definitely should opt for flying.

[ceile]

3. I spent 48 hours on a GH bus.

It wasn't horrible, but I will never ride with them again. Fly.

[raccoon]

8. Yall have convinced me! (answers 1-4). nt

[taterguy]

5. Have you considered AMTRAK?

I've had some very pleasant experiences on the train

[raccoon]

9. I've considered that. Took Amtrak to Miami years ago. nt

[RebelOne]

26. Yes, AMTRAK is the way to go.

I used to travel from Miami to Philadelphia every summer when I was a kid by train. Many years ago, I took the train up to New Jersey to visit my sister. I got a compartment. Nothing like it. The compartment may be small, but you have privacy and it beats sleeping sitting up.

[noonwitch]

30. It's been a while, but I like train travel, too

I took Amtrak from Detroit to NYC in 1990. It was a lot of fun. We rode coach on the way there and had a compartment on the return trip. On the way there, I hung out in the club car most of the trip, and I got to meet some really interesting people. There were some students from Germany, NYC residents returning from summer vacation, a group of high school christians (and their chaperones) on their way to attend a conference, and we all played cards together most of the night.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

36. When I visited the US in 2003 I used Amtrak

I used Amtrak to commute from New York to Maryland and subsequently from Maryland to New Jersey and back. I loved the experience -it was pleasant, clean, nice decor the staff were polite and helpful and there were some interesting and friendly passengers. I couldn't recommend it enough and will definitely be using it again next time I visit

[texanwitch]

6. Stay out of the back of the bus,

I rode Greyhound a few years age to Washington D.C., had the time and wanted to see some of the country.

It wasn't bad.

With all the problems checking in at the airports, riding a bus seems better now.

[ThomCat]

7. I used to take the bus all the time

between cities in upstate New York. Fly if you have the chance. The seats are bigger and more comfortable, the bathroom will be cleaner if you need to use it. And you'll get there sooner.
x(

[pitohui]

10. not recently and hopefully never again

considering the many low cost transatlantic fares available today, i'm not even sure you would save money

in any case life is too short

[Phillycat]

11. It would also be hard to find a transatlantic bus.

Heh. :D

[pitohui]

17. yes, i meant transcon

can't type worth a durn today

[crispini]

18. hee hee hee

[Patiod]

12. I'd break their little backs!

Seriously, I'm with you - haven't used them since college when the 3 hour trip between school and home was fine, but my standards have gone up considerably since then

[datasuspect]

13. often - it is vile, filthy, horrifying, and often life-threatening

.

the drivers are sub-par, the stations are in the worst crack-infested parts of every american city, and the fellow passengers more often than not have very poor hygiene.

better off taking amtrak for the long haul and greyhound for 300 mile (or less trips). actually, the shorter the greyhound time, the more thankful you will be.

[Roon]

15. I was in a bus station in KC once

This guy came up to me and started talking. He did something weird with his hand and pocket and dropped some crack that was twisted up in a baggie. I somehow managed to pick it up without him realizing it and then he hit me up to buy some crack. I told him, "Naa, I am here picking pockets." Then I handed the crack to him. The look on his face was priceless.

[datasuspect]

19. that is beyond weird.

i remember the native american lepers in the dallas bus station.

arguing with AMTK cops at NOLA train/bus station and getting free sleeper upgrade.

sleeping in a luggage cart at the denver bus station.

[Little Wing]

24. Narc

You sell, you're busting for dealing.

Pretty lame Narc, but I'll bet methheads fall for it

[LibertyLover]

16. No, but I've traveled with a greyhound

2 in fact, not to mention the whippets and the Siberian Husky - does that count?

[Schema Thing]

20. Isn't Amtrack crazy expensive?

[Phillycat]

21. It really is. It's almost never cheaper than flying.

Now, Greyhound IS cheaper, but as you can see on this thread, it sucks like crazy.

[Schema Thing]

22. Yeah...

but we wouldn't have to bathe, and we could have sex in (on?) the seats. C'mon babe, ditch that other dude and let's hit the road rollin'.

[Phillycat]

25. Erm.

I don't think so. :D

[Schema Thing]

31. Damn!

and I was going to buy a mega sized bag of sugar donuts for the road, and maybe one a'them disposable cameras too.

[taterguy]

28. It must depend on the route

I used to go from central NC to DC. Round trip was about 125. Much less stressful than driving

[hedgehog]

23. Wait - this thread has given me a great idea:

Over on GD, there are a number of posters who want to set up a Universal Draft for National Service at least partly so the children of the wealthy would be forced to associate with the children of the poor. Maybe we could require all college students to ride the dog, instead. That is, unless you think it will lower the atmosphere on the buses?

[ForrestGump]

27. When I first came to the US I traveled around a lot

by Greyhound (in advance of coming here I bought a couple of Ameripass booklets), having experiences along the way that I wouldn't trade for anything. The whole experience, mostly through the people I met (but also through totally pointless experiences like riding around Arkansas all night because I didn't have a place to stay in Memphis, and ending up in the wee hours in a Little Rock greasy spoon with some young black dudes trying to con me and some overtly racist white men threatening to kill them), offered a unique perspective of the USA even relative to the backpacking/vagabond mode of my travels here.

But that was 22 years ago, and not only have I moved on in some ways but the system's probably (from what I hear, it is, anyway) less now than it was then, as are the buses and the entire experience. Even back then, if you wanted to find the very worst part of town the best way to do so was almost always to find the Greyhound station (it was true even in affluent towns). I always preferred Trailways, anyway, when they were still running.

A couple of times I've thought about jumping a bus again, as a practical solution to transportation difficulties, but the schedules always turn out to be so convoluted that it just takes too much time (AND is not as value-for-money as I remember). Not as bad as Amtrak -- expensive and, invariably, since the US decided that sending a billion semis out to do the work of a few more energy-efficient trains was a good idea, it seems like the route between two adjacent cities in any given state involves a detour to some city eight states away.

And flying pretty much sucks, these days, anywhere inside or in or out of the US (and most US airlines these days are just plain awful).

I'd walk. :D

[Irreverend IX]

29. I did two 12-hour rides.

It was tedious but cheaper than flying and I didn't mind it terribly. Then again, I've camped in sub-zero weather for kicks and hiked miles carrying 80+ pounds, so it takes a lot to bug me. The bus seats were certainly kinder than plane seats to my 6'3 frame. Along the way, I got to chat with a fence company owner and sometime meth dealer and later a Japanese exchange student from a nearby college, and these made for more interesting single-serving friends than I'm used to on planes. If you're not a wimp, Greyhound isn't a bad way to go. Of course, I was traveling through some rather clean, low-crime cities. I wouldn't want to ride Greyhound through Detroit or New Orleans.

[hickman]

44. I put my daughter on a Greyhound in Detroit 5 yrs ago.

Station was clean, easy access to parking, and filled with families and students. Desk people were polite, helpful, and didn't take any crap from anyone. My daughter's biggest complaint was the boredom of the ride.

[LynneSin]

32. You know it's cheap transportion but you get what you pay for

I got stuck from DC to Delaware with some plump person who promptly fell asleep and I couldn't get them awake so I could get out to the bathroom. Now mind you, that's the same exact problem on airplanes; however, you just happen to be on the bus way longer than the train.

I actually figured out a way to get from Marcus Hook (which is just over the DE border in PA) to NYC for $35 roundtrip taking public transportation (SEPTA to NJ Transit). I've done it several times and the ride is much quicker and seats are much roomier. Downside is I don't think there is a bathroom on the train, but since it's public transportation I could always get off of a stop and back on the next train.

Recently I discovered I can do the same thing from Perryville (over the border of DE in MD) all the way down to Washington DC and I believe even points further south in Virginia.

[LoZoccolo]

33. If you have a huge frame like I do, it can be a pain being seated next to...

...someone else with a huge frame in a window seat, as happened on my last trip. It might not be more cramped than a plane, though. The Amtrak is definitely better than both and is my favorite way to travel.

There are tricks you can use if you don't want to sit next to someone though. My favorite is to bring this true crime book I have that's about women in prison.

Oh, and be sure to bring some of those little wet wipes in the little packets, and some Purel; there's no running water in the bathroom with which to wash your hands.

Four times out of five, though, it's not bad.

[catmandu57]

34. Short trips are tolerable

I've made the mistake of taking some rather long journeys on the bus, after I added up all the lost time between transfers, the cost of bad bus station food, days and nights of not being able to sleep, it's costs far less to jump on a plane. Especially when Southwest came into being, my traveling days are behind me, but I'll never ride a bus again that's for sure.

[bikebloke]

35. Between New York and DC

That ride wasn't so bad.

I've taken marathon bus rides from Greece to Belgium and Switzerland. Two days is too long a bus ride. Especially when the drivers stop for hours, waiting for a shift change at border crossings. Once they thought they could skip a toll road in Switzerland, by taking back roads. In some village, they scraped a car. Well, they ended up stuck in a dead end. Then the driver of the scraped car pulled up. When he stood up out of the car, he went up and up. A huge bloke with a bloody apron - the village butcher. And he was mad.

[Rambis]

37. Don't!

drunks, drug dealers and pimps- The 5 hour layover in Omaha (12-4am) was one of the scariest nights I have ever spent. The only person that was not drunk, high or both was an asian girl who didn't speak english but we watched luggage for each other while the other went to the toilet.

[enigmatic]

38. for about 15 years

Off and on. I hate flying, and I love the experience of the road, even on Grayhound. Still much cheaper than flying, and once I saw how much Amtrack charged, I hopped trains instead.

I wouldn't swap all the cross-country trips on Grayhound for anything. Well, maybe Salma Heyek, but still...:)

[SKKY]

39. Went from Louisville to Tucson...

...It sucked, but I only had 100 dollars to my name, so my options weren't too plentiful.

[Gormy Cuss]

40. Short trips, it beats flying in terms of time and money.

Long trips, it's a hard way to travel. Anything over about 200-250 miles it's better to take a different mode if you can.

[Omphaloskepsis]

41. They used to sell three month "All you can ride" passes.

I was 21 and bought one. I wanted to see the country. So yes, I have spent many long nights on the Greyhound. Now I travel on Amtrak.

HaHa, my sister was right, she told me to never make-out with a girl you meet on the bus.

[qnr]

42. gone cross-country at least 13 times. some 'interesting' experiences.

However, I haven't done it in many years.

[Rhythm]

43. i've gone r/t transcontinent twice, plus a few other trips...

it's nuts, and you're usually riding with either "who's who in mental illness", or barrel of drunks.

however, i don't fly... can't stand it... and at the time i didn't have a car, and couldn't afford Amtrak, so it was the only way to get where i needed to go.