What it is like to ride Greyhound

I have fun trying new things. I needed to travel to San Diego for a conference. My options were a flight ($550+), Amtrak ($400), or Greyhound ($99). I read the Greyhound website. The buses have reclinable seats, free wifi, and electric plugs at the seats. I can handle that!

OK, the reality…the seats are cushioned and slightly reclinable but it is still difficult to sleep. The wifi isn’t bad, but on an overnight trip you spend most of your time trying to sleep and you don’t really want to show-off a laptop (see hints below). The plugs on my first 2 buses were only every 4 rows. The outlets weren’t working on the 3^rd bus. The 4^th bus was good with outlets for both seats.

Hints:

--   Don’t dress up or show-off fancy electronics (smart phones are OK since everyone has them). The clientele of Greyhounds aren’t fancy and you don’t want to look rich. Jeans and an old jacket along with older luggage worked well for me. Also, don’t discuss your job. On flights, everyone talks about their job I don’t remember anyone discussing work. People mostly keep to themselves.

-         -- Bring a jacket, sweater, and maybe a light blanket and pillow. I hoped to use my jacket and sweater as a blanket and pillow but it was cold enough that I had to wear both on one of the buses.

     -- As soon as people stand in line at the gate/door in the station, get in line. This line is to get first choice on seats. Given the unique people, sometimes that can be good. On my return trip, only people near the front of the line got seats on the bus while the rest had to wait for another bus. They do this weird thing where you put your suitcase in the line to hold your place then you can walk around. No way could you leave a bag without a bomb scare at the airport but everyone does it at a bus station.

-        -- Be prepared for unusual people. I saw a guy with a Chinese-type coolie hat, people talking to themselves, a guy wearing long johns as pants, a lady talking about getting her son once he was “released”, and a major incident with a women yelling and cussing and calling for police so that she would be allowed to use the bus station bathroom (it was inside the security area and she had no bus ticket). I never felt scared and many were friendly and helpful, but it was a different crowd.

     -- Be prepared for lack of sleep and bring snacks. Most buses travel overnight. Who really sleeps well on a bus? Some stops have snacks or fast food, but time is limited at most stops. Drink sparingly. My 9 hour trip had 2 bathroom stops with everyone on the bus in line for a single gas station bathroom. There is a bathroom in back but I wasn’t brave or desperate enough to try it.

-         --  Don’t watch the app too much.  Greyhound has an app showing the location of the bus and expected arrival time. Over the day as my bus headed for my stop it changed from early to late to on time and to very late. The times no sense. Expect the bus to be late. BTW, at one point, the bus driver stopped the bus, stepped out, walked back and opened the luggage compartment. He started waving his hands and talking to himself. No idea what that was about.

     Overall, it was an interesting experiment. If I needed to do it, I’d ride again but I would check my other options first.