Travel Tips

This summer I realised the my dream of visiting all the cities of the "BosWash" (Boston - New York - Philadelphia - Baltimore - Washington) and travel through the US by bus. Both were things I learned about in highschool and were problably the only things that sticked to me since :) While we were there we visited New England briefly as well. I made this trip with my girlfriend. It toke us three weeks.

We flew from Zaventem (Belgium) to London and from there to Washington. I have family over there so we could afford to stay there a week (thank you family!). We made a day trip to Baltimore. Then it was of to Philadelphia where we stayed 2 nights. On to New York were we stayed 3 nights. From there we had a 12 hour journey (should have been 10, bus broke down) to visit the Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor in New England. Here we camped for 2 nights and then we went back to Boston were we also stayed 3 nights. We flew back to Belgium from Boston.

At times during this trip we started to believe the selection procedure to work for major bus company involves walking over a 20 feet long bed of burning lava, fighting four hungry lions and biting the throat of a little white rabbit. When dealing with major bus company personnel their is only one rule: always state your destination and whether you have a ticket or not immediately before any other form of communication. He/she will then examine your ticket and point you to the right gate or bus. Every attempt to pose a more direct question like “where is the bathroom, please? It’s urgent!” is futile and will lead to more stubbornness in sticking with the above-mentioned procedure. Sticking to procedures sure is important to them. A few real life examples from personal experience:

EXEMPLE CONVERSATION NR 1:
Major bus company zombie (avoiding eye contact):”Could you spell your name please.”
Me (friendly and showing my passport): “This is my passport, and here is my name written on it.”
Major bus company zombie (still no eye contact):” spell your name please.”
Me (slightly bewildered): “…it’s written right here…”
Major bus company zombie (direct evil eye contact, louder commanding voice): “spell your name please, sir.”
(Major bus company security personnel start listening in and approach slightly.)
Me (deeply disappointed in the human race): “J-O-Z-Z-Z-…”

EXEMPLE CONVERSATION NR 2:
Me (friendly): Excuse me sir, could you tell me, which bus goes to Washington D.C.?
Major bus company bus driver (mistrustful): Where are you going?
Me (trying not to shout “HAWAI, d’euheu!”): “Washington D.C., sir”.
Major bus company bus driver (happy I follow the procedure so a little less mistrusting): “Do you have a ticket?”
Me (trying not to roll my eyes to visibly): “Here you go sir;”
Major bus company bus driver (pointing to a bus with a giant NEW YORK sign): “That is the bus you want”.
Me (slightly troubled about NY being in the opposite direction of D.C. being in Baltimore): “That bus goes to Washington?”
Major bus company bus driver (all evil eyed and shouting): “I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME! DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?”
(Major bus company security personnel approaching)
Me (sheepishly entering the bus with giant new York sign):”No, sir. Thank you,sir…”

I don't mean to put these people down because most of them are hard working and there even were a few really nice people among them. I also understand the reason, the bus is by far the cheapest form of travelling so it is the choice of less nice and sociable characters as well. The strictness of the personnel results in quiet and enjoyable journeys. I really enjoyed travelling through by bus and I did some serious distances.

The bus stations are located where property value is low so they are not the best neighbourhoods. They are always near the city centre though so orientate and start marching in the right direction, you'll reach nicer neighboorhoods in a block or two. We got this safety tip: don't exept rides or cheap lodgings from people in or around the busstation as a rule, it seams the most logical thing in the world but keep it in mind!