Greyhound Bus trip.. Anyone have any experience?

[shamanelite]

So I have a couple questions for the people out there who have taken a lengthy trip on a grey hound bus, around 15 hours or so. How was your overall experience? And how accurate was the scheduling of the trip?

I plan on taking a trip soon with Greyhound, cant afford any other way . Tbh im extremely nervous as to how the overall trip will turn out. I have mild anxiety issues and Ive been reading more bad than good, so its kind of getting to my nerves.

[Sonomaa]

Ive taken 5ish hour trips on greyhounds, from Tampa to Jacksonville FL. it was a little boring and occasionally you get random people who like to chat, otherwise it was pretty straight forward, toss on some music and read a book. in my 5ish hour trips (multiple times taken) there was a "layover" of about 20-30 minutes at a larger hub as well as small random stops in which they say not to get off. when you get to the larger ones you can get off, get a snack and such and they will call you to get back on or you can stay on the bus (unless its a bus transfer)

my first trip was a little scary but the rest of them were straight forward. Assume you are going to stop on a long trip like that about 15 or so times, at least 3-5 of them will be short layovers

if your ass doesnt get along with seats, bring a pillow to sit on and dont eat anything that is going to make your ass fall apart (taco bell)

[ArchDizzle]

Took one once when i was a teenager from louisiana to tampa, shit sucked. Had no issues with the bus schedules everything was on time, but its uncomfortable as hell (air was out in one of the busses during the summer) and expect every depot where you switch busses to be ghetto as fuck. People trying to borrow/steal money, trying to sell you bootleg cd's and dvd's etc. Also all of the drivers and people working at the stations were dicks and were worthless when asking which busses were loading where. Goodluck!

Keep in mind back when I did it there Was no psp/ipods/smartphones to occupy your time, reading was not really an option since most of the trip was at night.


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[shamanelite]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll just expect the worst and hope I get lucky with it not being so bad. My trip will be mostly at night too. With an 1:20 layover at 3:30AM supposedly ><.

[Bluefrostie]

Bring a sweater with you. Some bus drivers like to drive with the AC blasting.

When I left, the first bus was totally filled, so they bumped me back on my first major hub out, which pushed my entire trip back in total about eight hours. I guess they sold more tickets than they had seats, so make sure that you're one of the first ones in line.

[Daruma]

depends on where you are going from and to. I went on a 3 day trip from california to new york. Will never EVER do that again. The lowest of the low of human population tend to be on those buses. When I mean low I mean like scumbags, rednecks, jerks, assholes, etc. There were plenty of decent folk on there too but one mom had two or three kids who decided for like 3-4 hours straight that they would army crawl under the seats and sleep under the seats...where god knows wtf was down there. Most people smelled like shite as well (including me...no shower for 3 days eats ass). I slept like 10 hours total maybe. In i think it was in columbus ohio I had a drug dealer try to sell me shit by asking for change for a twenty...and then when i got my money back from him he and his buddy decided they were going to stowe away on the bus I was riding on. His buddy sat right next to me (gee how convenient) which made everything go through my mind about what could possibly happen. Didnt know if he had a knife or a gun cause he had long baggy pants on while the guy who tried to sell me shit had no place to hide anything. So being young twenty dumb something I was planning on not sleeping that entire night. Luckily another dude got pissed at these dicks and found out they werent supposed to be on the bus. Everyone was pissed cause they caused us to have a 2 hour delay at fucking 3 am! So my life was spared heh. Funny thing is...when we got to NY the buses were clean, the people were nice, and everything was fine. Guess Ny taxes arent there for nothing

Best advice for you is pack lite, be aware of your surroundings, and dont stick out like a sore thumb. More than likely nothing will happen. But be fucking vigilant. Think of it like walking the streets of rio or someplace crazy where anything can happen if you are dumb or naive enough to let it happen.

[Mizango]

Made a few long distance Greyhound trips over the years, the longest of which was 27 hours long. All of my experiences have been phenomenal. Just pay attention to the gates that you bus departs during layovers and double check with the counter if you have any doubts whatsoever. Like Sono said, bring a good book, an iPod or a DS or something you find entertaining and you will be just fine.

As Frostie just said, bring a sweater and Id definitely a pillow to crash on. Just take in the experience and enjoy the sight seeing of different states. Usually the driver will point out landmarks and/or famous icons/places that you may recognize. Out of some of the 14ish trips or so Ive made on them, I have never had a shit or awkward experience. No worries, you will definitely meet someone to chat and talk with on the ride, its inevitable. Hope that helped, just enjoy the experience is my best advice. Getting to see other places is the best part.

[Skjie]

Just don't go to Alberta.

[Rhinox]

Stay away from the St louis Greyhound bus station.

Shit is ghetto as fuck.

in fact p much all bus stations are ghetto as fuck

[fantasticdan]

Just hope you don't end up with amish people on your bus. Also, use common sense and don't make yourself an easy mugging target if you have to layover in a shady bus station.

[Silenka]

Yeah, stations of any type are ghetto as fuck and normally crime magnets. Same goes for buses as trains, very shady places usually. They always make me pretty nervous. The bus itself was fine. The one greyhound trip I took was pretty good. The bus driver was kind of a dick but that didn't really affect the passengers in any way. The bus was very cold and I didn't have a blanket so definitely bring something to keep you warm. On my trip, I accidentally dropped my ticket for the next bus somehow on a 2 hr layover in Columbus, noticed after a little while and ran back onto the bus I had gotten off of, checked my seat and found it on the floor, thankfully. The woman cleaning the bus was like 'wtf are you doing?' but I mean, do what you have to >_> I got my luggage in short order after we arrived. It was a pretty interesting experience, I guess the only really bad thing was the guy next to me who wouldn't shut up and leave me alone.

Just as a side note, having taken both the greyhound bus and the amtrak train on semi-long trips (~10 hrs) I would say the train was much more comfortable - not too much more expensive (if at all), tons more leg room, the ability to get up and walk around, dining cars, etc. The accommodations on a train are much better imo so if given a choice between the two if they're the same price I'd say take the train. Only downside is there are more possibilities for delay (for instance, the tracks froze on a December trip and delayed our arrival at Union station 4 full hours). Although, no traffic to worry about so maybe it balances out...

[Kerberoz]

It all comes down to luck. I've ridden quite a few times, and sometimes it's a smooth, boring trip, while other times you get delays and smelly/shady fucks all over. The stations are usually worse than the buses and usually in the worst ghetto areas of the city. Last time I went to Pittsburgh, there were no less than 4 homeless kicked out. Some guy was in the station offering taxi rides... step outside and he's driving a 1990 Oldsmobile with a thuggish-looking dude riding shotgun.



Bring lots of reading material, and try to sit next to someone normal. If you sit by yourself, you'll be leaving the other seat open for some freak at the next stop.

[Eggroll]

Just don't go to Alberta.

Beat me to it D:

[AlexRuzhyo]

Slight highjack, but I was debating going on a one-way bus or plane from Pittsburgh to Memphis. Would recommend bus or air to save money? My buddy, who has tried both, says to go by air even with the $60 more he had to pay.

I suppose I should look up the priced for both before asking, but there's no set time yet. The odds are I'll be buying a ticket a week prior to leaving.

[shamanelite]

Well, Ill be leaving from Baltimore to Indiana. So im pretty sure that atleast until the PA or Cleveland layover its gonna be ghetto as fuck but oh well. @Alex, I personally would fly over anything if I had the choice. The difference in cost for me is about 300$ though :\

edit: Anyone ever been through the Cleveland or Pittsburgh Stations?

[Daruma]

cleveland wasnt too bad when i went on that trip...its columbus that i would watch out for.

[Jeryhn]

Did a 2.5 day trip from California to Ohio on Greyhound and back again. Overall, it wasn't too bad.

- Take advantage of longer layovers to grab some (real) food. Try not to buy food attached to the bus stations themselves unless they're interconnected with other transportation systems, it sucks hard. Even fast food is better, I learned to love Wendy's pretty well on my trip. Stops will actually be fairly frequent, about once every 3 - 3.5 hours or so at various gas stations/rest stops between stations.
- Bring a DS, PSP, a book or two, whatever. Don't count on getting much internet service to your phone or other device during the trip (obviously). While conversation with some people can happen, it'll only sustain you so long. Also, if traveling alone, try to grab your seat near the front - with others, sit pretty much wherever you want.
- Never leave your shit unattended, even on the bus at a rest stop, in a bathroom or at a station. Use a stall and bring your shit in it with you. If you have someone with you, take turns going to the bathroom or going to get food (or make arrangements for buying each other food at different stations).

The best part about my trip was that we were headed to a concert, so my friends and I started on the bus by ourselves and eventually as we stopped by each station more people heading to it boarded the bus and we all chilled the fuck out. Made a lot of long-distance friends that I still have to this day.

[Aksannyi]

edit: Anyone ever been through the Cleveland or Pittsburgh Stations?

Rode to Pittsburgh from Erie when I was going to MEPS and ultimately into the Army. Wasn't too bad, a lot of undesirables but what bus station doesn't have them? The waiting area is pretty small and it was all around pretty dark. This was almost ten years ago though. I don't remember anything outright bad about the area, but then again, ten years, etc.

Worst part of Greyhound bus riding for me is the bathrooms, I was getting off whenever we had layovers and using landlocked facilities.

[shamanelite]

Thanks :D

[Mizango]

Stay away from the St louis Greyhound bus station.

Shit is ghetto as fuck.

in fact p much all bus stations are ghetto as fuck

AHAHAHA. Goddamn I love my city. Took 3 trips there via Greyhound, one of which was right after 9/11 (companies terrified of flying and liabilities at the time) and man niggas started fighting right at that KFC/Taco Bell across the street from the station lol. That place is too close to E. St louis, so you already know what time that is.

4 of the best years of my life loving there, but never ever once went back to that part of town lol.