Traveling via the Greyhound Bus - Still the Best Way to See America

Planning a trip and traveling to locations that aren't served by big city airports? Need a way to get there but have the freedom to be flexible yet see a lot of great beautiful landscapes enroute??

In the past four years I've been traveling by Greyhound….  Yes, that bus line that stops in the dead center of the biggest American cities and introduces you to the "most interesting" people and areas of a major USA city you really don't want to know, let alone see with your very own eyes.

But surprisingly, the reason why I do this is because though I want a fast trip, better yet it is a leisurely trip through the United States and to be able to see this vast country, I've discovered Greyhound is the best way to do it. Greyhound has provided its customers with reliable bus service for decades and though they generally live up to that reputation, you'll usually not see Greyhound at the top of the "on-time" charts.

As an American who lives in Spain, I find European bus lines and especially in Spain are very exacting to their published schedules. I am amazed how year-long they can run on a tight schedule through tourist off-seasons and during holidays... during both holidays I have experienced Greyhound drivers in the past who have used such events and situations as the reason for their constant tardiness. Well, if the European drivers can accomplish it and still suffer through narrow roads and traffic-congested city streets why can't the American drivers do the same?

I've discovered European drivers load up their buses before their scheduled departure times and when that time approaches, they depart on time. They don't wait and they don't start checking tires ten minutes after their scheduled departure times as do their American counterparts. On past trips on Greyhound, I rode a single bus in the NW during a two-month Greyhound journey that was the only driver/bus on time and that driver was a female driver! I did inform her of my opinion that I thought it amazing how she would be the most on-time driver over her male counterparts.

taken with my cell camera while on the bus, I captured this sight as we entered St Louis

Credit: Tony Lee

Copyright: Tony Lee