Early Retirement Extreme Forums

My Greyhound experience is only in Canada but for 1 day trips it's been fine. Certainly no worse than flying.

@HappyGarret: yeah, I think you chose the wrong option here. $200 down the drain for you, maybe even more. Anyway, it's no disaster... Have a safe and pleasant journey!!

I used the bus quite frequently as a student to visit my family. It's not that bad, though ridership is down as people own more cars and fly. That being said:

The canniblism thing was a FREAK accident. And honestly, if you are worried about that, you shouldn't fly. Bus stops, everyone else gets off, you leave the sick individual on board. On a plane? Screwed. FTR, the guy was mentally ill and did not get help. The stars aligned and freak accident. If you are worried, sit up at the front, next to the driver and the door.

"Setting up camp" is an accurate term.

You can usually watch your bag being loaded because it's not like an airport where it goes into Neverland. Put a bright tag on it so you can see it. That being said, valuable stuff should be in your carry-on bag.

YMMV as I'm in Canada and we have ViaRail, but I'm in a part of the country where it wouldn't make sense to take the super expensive train when the cheap bus goes mulitple times a day.

@OP - Have a great trip!

@HG: I think I was the one who originally suggested Greyhound. Didn't know about the cannibalism incident (really?) and wasn't trying to make you anyone's dinner. Also didn't realize the trip would take nearly 40 hours by bus!

Anyhow, if the plane ticket is going to make you less stressed, it was the right call.

Good luck with college!!

lol, I'm going to disagree; the Greyhound can be bizarre, hilarious, frightening, so on. More so than any bus I saw on any other country or even continent.

I've witnessed several... unfortunate... sexual encounters. Sat next to a guy who detailed his rap sheet to me, then wanted briefed on mine. Been offered a variety of pills, and witness quite a few clearly altered people, some freaking out. Witness a smuggling operation. Saw people almost freeze to death (-20F in MT) because Greyhound kicks people out of the stations (to save money manning them) during all hours.

Too many stories to recall. And most of my travels were in a healthier economy when it was driver + "enforcer" / driver's assistant. This position has been eliminated, unfortunately...

All that aside, I always got where I was going unmolested... All Americans should witness at least 1 horror on a Greyhound.

"On the greyhound a shoebox is like a laptop!" - some standup comedian

When I got outta the army in the mid 90's, some friends came from WA to TX by greyhound to make the roadtrip back with me. Wires crossed, bus was late, so I called back to post by payphone. The Guy at the phone next to me is trying to explain why he's not on the bus he was supposed to transfer to. Turns out the old Guy next to him died in his seat, in his sleep.
this was discovered after they left Phoenix, thedeiver announced it,and the consensus was to keep going,drop him at the next stop.
So, the driver calls in, trying to arrange an ambulance to meet. It turns out, you need a licence to move a body across state lines. Greyhound doesn't have the license, and this happens enough that the dispatcher knew it, and the policy off the top of his head.
the bus went back to Phoenix, and this guy traveled seated next to a cadaver for 140 miles.
Greyhound, you just never know...

I took a Greyhound from the Carolinas to Michigan once. I was offered liquor and drugs, but otherwise uneventful.