Has anyone ever been on one? This year around Christmas time I really want to head up to Toronto from here in Houston, and being a poor college student, I don't have the kind of money it would take to fly myself up there. I was checking prices for Greyhound bus trips and I could get myself up there and back for like around 150 or 160 bucks, which I can afford, actually. But the trip is supposed to be around 1 day and 21 hours, roughly. That's just nuts. I know going in a big bus 1900 miles isn't supposed to be quick, but dang! I've never even been on a road trip or anything. Does anyone have experiences with long road trips or bus rides and could tell me how it went, or like how to keep from going absolutely mad?
I've never been on a long bus ride and all the long road trips I've been on I've had to drive, but for planes here are some tips that should work for you as well. Bring a good book to read or some magazines. Gameboys can be life savers, Tetris is pretty addictive and can help pass the time away. If you have an MP3 player or some portable music player I would bring it along also. And don't forget a good pillow, they may have them on the bus, but one from home will be much more comfortable.
It's draining. Plus, if you are unlucky, during that time of the year you might have bad weather, etc. I did some longer bus trips here in Europe when I was younger and I remember that it wasn't too much fun (unless you are with your high school class and are 15, 16 years old). Why don't you work a few days somewhere and make some money and buy a plane ticket...I would rather do that than spending 2 days (one way?) on a bus.
It's double the cost, the lowest round trip plane ticket from Houston to Toronto I could find was about 330 bucks, which isn't horrible, but outside my price range. I don't know where I could work for a couple days, and I don't have the time available for an actual job right now. And I would try and squirm the extra money out of my parents, but I'm getting them to pay for my lodging while I'm up there. (Whether my dad knows about it yet or not. I have his credit card.) One more thing, if I'm going to be traveling to a different country for the first time, will I need a passport? I mean, it's Canada, do they really care about Americans crossing the border and stuff? I hope not, that seems like a whole other mess. And will I have to exchange my money to Canadian money, or do they accept American? So many questions I have!
When I was in college many years ago, I took Amtrak from Houston to Chicago. I think that it was around 20 hours and it was almost unbearable. I strongly recommend doing whatever you can to get the extra $200 and take the plane. I would also get a passport. I remember the border patrol checking our passport when we crossed the US/Canada border. I'm not sure if they accept alternate forms of ID. As for Canadian money, its pretty easy to exchange US dollars for Canadian dollars. You can go to any bank in the US or Canada to do it but you may want to find one with the best exchange rates. Edit: Of course, you could probably use US dollars in Canada but that's not in your best interest since 1 US dollar equals approximately 1.5 Canadian dollars. I did this once in a pinch. Good luck!
As it turns out, I probably will be able to gather up that extra money and take a plane to Toronto. But it'll be weird going there, cause I've never been to another country! Or another state. Or another big city! Man, I lead a sheltered life.
Hmm I have been to Canada 3 different times and they never required a passport. However that was several years agop and we never stayed longer than 10 hours in Canada. CK
the longest bus trips i had where 24 hours and 27 hours, from holand to lloret del MAr (spain) and from holland to Croatie. i just had a few good books and my girlfriend.maybe you should et a sleeping pill. i traveled with 3 other people back from croatie, and they al fel asleep after 1 hour, and i didn't sleep the whole trip so i got a little frustrated. try to sleep.
Canada is like bizzarro world coming from the US. All the street signs are odd looking and in kilometers, everyone talks really weird and too fast, it's like a frozen tundra in winter, and everyone's too damn nice - almost like they're setting you up for a backstabbing or something. Go the other way towards Mexico instead
Only charter bus trips... it's fun with a group, of course. My only problem is sleeping in cars/buses/planes - I just can't get comfortable enough while sitting up. (anyone else have this problem? being tall probably doesn't help) The best one was a 24-hour or so charter bus trip where we had a really fancy bus; some of the seats faced backward. Between the forward- and backward-facing seats, there was a nice flat space under/behind the seats where people could sleep. Of course, I had to wait until morning when whoever had been sleeping there in the first place abandoned their spot. I've only done the regular Greyhound thing once and will do everything in my power to avoid it in the future. It was crowded and the people were rude. We never had time to grab any food at the stops, either. So make sure you bring snacks and drinks in your bag. And that trip was only because I was traveling one-way where I was going to buy a truck from my relatives and then drive it back. Otherwise, since I have my own vehicle, I find it more economical and convenient to just drive myself. (though you can't drive straight through the night unless you have several people in the car) Or to only visit places that Southwest flies to.
I had a car up here in NY for a couple of months and it needed to get back to Texas. FIrst, I drove back all by myself. That was bad enough, a 28 hour road trip.in the luxury of my own automobile. then, I had to get myself back to NY. I got on a greyhound at downtown HOuston(not the prettiest of bus depots) and departed for NYC. that was the worst trip of my life. we stopped in every major city along the way(new orleans, atlanta, baltimore, DC, philly) and we got held over at small stops in podunk towns. the whole trip took 36 straight hours and as we crossed the tunnell into manhattan, a poor girl who didnt speak english started to ask me questions in her native tongue. I just looked at her with this look that said, "I'm sorry, I can't help you." she then proceeded to vomit all over the place.
I rode a bus to NY from Louisiana, took about 40 hours each way... we stopped in every stupid little town along the way making sleep worthless, got lost in some Memphis ghetto and the bus driver let some crazy looking man in the bus to give him directions worse still is changing busses where you have to drag your luggage around and guard it constantly while waiting for the next bus bring something to entertain yourself, earplugs, a blanket and pillow and possibly a phone card good luck! lol
