kerouac

This isn't done so much anymore, but I actually did it once, from Los Angeles to New York. When I was checking the Greyhound site today, I saw that you can still do it for a mere $165. Can you imagine that I am tempted even though it was like this? ---> http://tinyurl.com/nweuax

ksucat

You can fly to the east coast from LAX for $200 roundtrip.
no offense, but in this day and age, I would not set foot on a Greyhound bus..just my two cents.
Train would be a better option..imo
Be careful if you do!

michelleNYC

Oh my... if you value your back and body generally, I would not attempt this.

sf7307

I'd rather walk!

kerouac

I see that the pioneer spirit has died.

curiousgeo

I took a Greyhound from Santa Barbara to Orange County once, never again. Planes, trains or automobile would be my preferred choices over a bus ride, but maybe your name says it all. It would make for a pretty interesting trip report.

yk

Is the $165 one-way or r/t? If one-way, I can definitely fly that route for the same price or less.

sf7307

>>

Not really - I'd love to drive across country again, and not on interstates. But I'd do it in my own car, not on a Greyhound bus.

maitaitom

I've always wanted to rent a convertible and do the Route 66 drive. I think that instills the "pioneer spirit," because it gives me the freedom of where to stop along the way. Plus, I like to "Leave The Driving To Me!"

sf7307

>>

ksucat

Love a road trip in your own car is a blast..especially in a convertible..
Didn't a guy get beheaded last year from some tool on a bus?
Yeah, that's the pioneer spirit!

dfr4848

Not exactly on my "to do" list either, but really did like your report. Think you would find it quite a bit different today. Now, the sailing part of your adventure, that I could and can easily wish to do.

yk

BTW, IMHO, a 20 year-old person can tolerate a lot more "discomfort" than the average Fodorite (which I believe is in his/her 50s)?

I have taken multiple trips between Boston/Toronto on Greyhound in my late teens; as well as several overnight trips between London and Paris (pre-Chunnel), and several other overnight bus trips on Eurolines where all-night inhalation of cigarette smoke was free of charge.

I did those because:
1) I was young and really didn't mind
2) I was poor and the next alternative was MUCH more expensive (unlike NOW where flying is often the cheapest option, or perhaps just a tad more expensive)

methuselah

"Crossing the United States by Greyhound"

I'd rather cross it in a hearse.

AAFrequentFlyer

This is coming from a guy that is at the end of a cross country trip on I-10 in a convertible without A/C. See my on going report here:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-ac-report.cfm

We are at our last stop in Apalachicola, FL.


Anyways, I wouldn't do it now at my age but if the same service was available when I was younger I would consider it. I would not do it in one swoop. I would do it with an unlimited 14 day pass or something similar. That way you can do something like LAX-LAS-DEN-CHI-CLE-PIT-NYC or whatever your heart desires but at least you can have breaks in between the drives and sleep in a real bed almost every night.

Greyhound is in the midst of replacing their entire fleet with new busses that will have less seats, meaning more leg room, power at every seat and finally free internet. We saw few of them on the road. Very new, shiny, big windows machines.

If you plan the trip right, you can just do the express busses between your stop points. That means it's not a "local" bus that stops at every "corner". Just few stops between major points. Ultimately that means that it's a different clientele, for the most part.

Amtrak is more comfortable but it's very limited as to the stops and the schedule, and no power/internet at the seats. Greyhound does offer many more destinations and much more flexible schedule.

JMHO, but it's not such a death wish to do a Greyhound cross country, but the pass would also be more expensive plus the cost of the motels/hotels, so the $165 fare quoted would not apply to what I'm talking about, but If you wanted to see the country and didn't feel like driving, Greyhound is becoming a good option.

kerouac

Margaret Mead must be spinning in her grave. The anthropology of such a trip is priceless. No anthropology in your car.

kerouac

(I'm not talking about you, AAFrequentFlyer; you seem to understand. And since I have worked for an airline for the past 32 years, air travel is no secret to me, in all classes, but I find that it is a really sad travel experience, created for people who are only interested in getting from point A to point B and don't really care about travel at all -- just the destination. Beam me up, Scotty!)

Katie_H

I'd prefer to do this on a motorcycle I think. There are portions of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (a book I've never made it through) that really planted this idea on my head as something to aspire to (though in the book their not riding cross country).

I took a 13 hour Greyhound bus ride when I was 17 and couldn't wait to get off. Took a similarly long (I think) ride from Edinburgh to Amsterdam a few years later. The allure of the experience wore off pretty quickly in both instances and those were pretty short rides.

But still, I'm hearing Simon and Garfunkel singing "America" and it's tempting for a split second so I certainly see your point, kerouac.

If I had all the time in the world, I'd arrange to cycle across.

sf7307

>>

If you never stop and get out of your car, maybe. But I (and I think others) made the point that we'd want to do it not on the interstate but on "back roads". Plenty of "anthropology" there.

kerouac

Katie, that is sure to be fascinating, but that too, is a completely different experience.

I have taken buses the entire length of Vietnam (2000km), across Senegal, Kenya, Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia, on death roads in Laos and India -- so really, a Greyhound is pure luxury compared to those, while being delightfully sleazy and instructive at the same time.

I know a lot of people who have done the same 'foreign' adventures as I and yet who would never consider 'sinking' (?) to the same level in the United States or Western Europe. I guess that part of it is only accepting to 'slum' it where you are sure that nobody will recognize you. God forbid that you travel in such a way in the U.S. and risk that other Americans look at you as lowlife when you have a Gold card in your wallet.

I still travel to learn things about the countries where I travel, not just to visit the monuments and the fine restaurants. And I still have a lot to learn about the U.S. even though I was born and raised there.