Taking the Bus up north

[Aimster]

Going from Washington to Toronto via GreyHound.

Question:
When I have to wait an hour for the next bus to come will I usually be at a major bus station (where I can go inside and wait) or will I be on the side of a street like somewhere in Chinatown? I am not a fan of this at 4A.M.

Everyone keeps telling me the bus is ghetto and I am going to have a horrible time. What are your experiences?

 

[FoBoT]

everybody should do it at least once
good luck

 

[Zedtom]

Depending on your schedule, I would look into airfares first and do a price comparison.

I can only suggest that you bring a book, some water and snacks, and earplugs. The earplugs are for the crying babies that will lull you into insomnia. When the bus stops for a break and the driver says they will depart in eight minutes...be on the bus, they aren't gonna wait for you.

Watch your water intake. If your bladder is busting and you need to piss, you might have to fight your way through a foreign language fiesta to get to the toilet.

 

[Xavier434]

You are going to hate it. Crying babies, trashy immigrants, loud assholes, you get hungry, you get thirsty, you are uncomfortable, you are really bored, the stops are annoying more than they are refreshing, and it takes so much longer than if you were to drive yourself.

Tips:

1. Bring something warm to wear. It gets cold.
2. Earplugs and make sure they are good. Headphones work too but make sure they are the ones which cover your whole ear.
3. Buy a Nintendo DS or something where the replay value is near infinite.
4. Bring snacks and drinks, but don't over do it on the drinking.
5. Bring a small pillow. You can get small pillows designed for camping in a lot of place that work great for situations like this where you are limited on space.
6. Bring NyQuil. The longer you are unconscious, the better your trip.

After you are done, you will appreciate your efforts of going to college and getting a good job like 10 times more than you previously did.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: Xavier434
You are going to hate it. Crying babies, trashy immigrants, loud assholes, you get hungry, you get thirsty, you are uncomfortable, you are really bored, the stops are annoying more than they are refreshing, and it takes so much longer than if you were to drive yourself.

Tips:

1. Bring something warm to wear. It gets cold.
2. Earplugs and make sure they are good. Headphones work too but make sure they are the ones which cover your whole ear.
3. Buy a Nintendo DS or something where the replay value is near infinite.
4. Bring snacks and drinks, but don't over do it on the drinking.
5. Bring a small pillow. You can get small pillows designed for camping in a lot of place that work great for situations like this where you are limited on space.
6. Bring NyQuil. The longer you are unconscious, the better your trip.

After you are done, you will appreciate your efforts of going to college and getting a good job like 10 times more than you previously did.

It really depends on the bus route. I travel from Boston > Montreal and back frequently. I've never had a problem with loud people. Yeah, it's boring, but it's better than dropping $300 on a plane ticket.

Crossing the border really sucks. Canadian customs makes you take everything you own off the bus (including the stuff below). This means that the border alone can take nearly 45 minutes if the bus is full.