Have a bus story to share? We’d love to hear from you. Send submissions to pr@busbud.com
Over the years, we’ve met and interviewed many travel bloggers around the world. Each of them has their own reason for traveling, but what unites them is their belief that travel helps give you get a better perspective on life and the people around you, and ultimately helps you become a better person.
The following bloggers gracefully took the time to answer a few of our questions about their travels, and they each have interesting stories to tell. Here are their bus stories.
National Geographic’s Digital Nomad: Andrew Evans shares his epic 10,000 miles bus ride from Washington, DC to Antartica.
“I think I had the best of the best and the very worst, too. I rode “chicken buses” where I literally had chicken sitting on my feet. Then I rode first class buses where I had my own flat screen TV to watch whatever movies I wanted. Greyhound in America fell somewhere between those two extremes. Across my travels, some buses were too hot, some were far too cold, some were very bumpy and some allowed me to sleep all through the night. Honestly, I liked the diversity of it all. Each time I boarded a new bus, I new I was embarking on a totally new adventure.”
You can follow Andrew on National Geographic and Twitter.
Twenty-Something Travel: Stephanie Yoder shares her thoughts on life as a professional travel writer and twenty-something on the road.
“I’ve taken a lot of buses in my travels. The most memorable was probably this insane night bus from Vietnam to Laos. It was mega-shady but there wasn’t any other way to get where I wanted to go. The bus crew (for some reason there were like five big burly Vietnamese guys running the bus) were definitely running some sort of smuggling operation. They would make all these middle of the night stops and shift stuff around under the bus. When we got off at a rest break I caught a glimpse of their cargo: It was several large pallets of two-liter bottles of Coca Cola!”
You can find Stephanie on her website, Facebook and Twitter.
Legal Nomads: Foodie Jodi Ettenberg shared stories on traveling, photography and making lifelong friends during her travels. Oh, and food!
“One of my favourite bus moments was also one of the more absurd, when I was in the middle of a 30-hour gauntlet from Flores back to Lombok, careening atop a minivan with a goat in my lap. The ticket collector climbed up to the roof to ask me for a ticket, and I couldn’t help but laugh – with one hand holding the roof rail and the other holding the baby goat in my lap, there was no way he was going to get a ticket from me until we stopped.”
You can follow Jodi on her website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Backpacker Travel: Michael Glass shares his thoughts on smarter travel and how he curates a resource for backpackers worldwide.
“To be honest with you, I struggle with pretty bad motion sickness so I am generally knocked out whenever I need to take a long bus ride. My tour group can attest to that during our bus ride from Alice Springs to Darwin. All I need is an open window, a pillow, and something to put me to sleep!”
You can follow Michael on his website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
To Europe and Beyond: Marie-Eve Vallières shares stories on living halfway between Montreal and Europe.
“I haven’t used the bus much in Europe but I do remember a fantastic ride in the Norwegian countryside on my way to Gothenburg in Sweden. It was in the middle of October and the foliage was in its brightest state – it was such a gorgeous sight to see. Scandinavia still remains one of my favorite places in Europe, along with Andalusia, the Loire Valley, and the Dutch countryside.”
You can find Marie-Eve on her website, Facebook and Twitter.
Anekdotique: Bilingual travel blogger Clemens Sehi shares his tips on telling travel stories through anecdotes.
“I was once on a night bus in India, which rode all the way though the state of Karnataka. It was 11 hours! The bus was about 30 years old, minimum – it had big holes in the ground and everything was rattling loudly the entire time. It was crowded all night with dogs barking, children screaming, and a guy talking to me at 3am asking for my opinion on German Soccer. What an eventful night – worth an anekdotique, I guess!”
You can follow Clemens on his website, Facebook and Twitter.
Frugal Traveler: Seth Kugel from the NY Times explores the world on a budget.
“One of my first trips was a 36-hour bus ride. That was an interesting journey. I sat next to a coca leaf dealer, which is all legal business in Bolivia, but as an American it seemed kind of funny to be with a guy who was transporting coca leaves on the bus. He was able to explain to me how the legal trade of coca leaves works and that was totally fascinating. We stopped in little towns, saw this llama entertaining passengers. There are always tons of crazy things that happen on bus rides.”
You can follow Seth on his website and Twitter.
Everything Everywhere: Gary Arndt shares his thoughts on photography and bus travel.
“I took a bus in Egypt from Luxor to Suez which went up along the Red Sea. The bus was so dilapidated that I spent most of it sitting on a spare tire. I’ve never counted the number of countries I’ve traveled by bus in, but it is certainly a big number. Even in some countries with an extensive train system, I often end up taking a bus because it is cheaper and just as fast.”
You can follow Gary on his website, as well as on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Hobo Lewis: we randomly met Lewis on a bus from Montreal to Ottawa, and found out he’d been traveling the world for 6 years now. He shares a few stories.
“Yeah, I once traveled from Sydney to Melbourne by bus. It was a long ride, something like 12 hours or so. During the entire ride, there was this kid with Tourette’s that was constantly whistling. Like, he wouldn’t stop. He just whistled for 12 hours. The bus driver shouted at him to stop and the kid replied, ”I have Tourette’s!” and just kept on whistling.”
You can follow Lewis on his blog.
Scribbler in Seville: Fiona Flores Watson shares her thoughts on living in Spain and the romantic side of Seville.
“Years ago when I was travelling in India, I took a bus trip with friends to a mountain pass in Himachal Pradesh, and the bus got snowed in! We had to hike several miles down the road, then the Army met us to give us blankets and hot food, and took us back home. The worst part was we were all wearing shorts as it was summer – the weather was freakish and totally unexpected. That was quite an adventure.”
You can follow Fiona on her website, Facebook and Twitter.
Wandering Earl: Earl shares lessons learned from 12 years of traveling.
“I’m a huge bus fan myself and I’d say that there are many countries that offer excellent bus systems. India probably offers the most extensive and cheapest bus system on the planet, but I would have to say that countries such as Mexico, Argentina and Thailand offer the best bus networks in terms of efficiency, comfort and value. Taking buses in those three countries is almost always a fully enjoyable experience.”
You can follow Earl on his blog as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Andy Steves: Backpacking essentials and insider travel tips for top european destinations.
“I was on a bus between Krakow and Budapest and the ride included an attendant who came through with snack and drinks quite often. That was a pleasant surprise that I’ll look forward to the next time I’m hopping on a bus!”
You can follow Andy on his website and Twitter.
Traveling Canucks: Cameron Wears talks about marriage, travel and finding life balance on the road.
“A bus travel story to share would be the one we took from Luxor to Dahab in Egypt. We were told by many tour operators that the bus trip would be approximately 14 hours. We were prepared for a 14 hour journey, what we were not prepared for was the 22 hour journey that it actually ended up being!”
You can follow Cameron and Nicole’s adventures on their website, Twitter and Facebook.
Nomadic Matt: Matthew Kepnes shares his thoughts on leaving the rat race to explore the world.
“I don’t think any one country in the world is better to travel by bus than another simply because all countries have buses. However, countries in South America make the experience more enjoyable by providing comfy chairs that become beds, they provide blankets, have nice meals. They really are something special, especially the ones in Argentina.”
You can follow Matt on his website, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
Uncornered Market: Dan & Audrey share their their secret to long-term travel in 70+ countries as a husband and wife team.
“Argentina has the best buses of the three. If you splurge for the high end service, you get champagne, wine and pretty good food. Often there is free wifi, too. In China, my suggestion is to take the train if you can.”
You can follow Dan and Audrey on Youtube, Facebook and Twitter.
Lee Abbamonte: Lee Abbamonte shares his thoughts on being the youngest American to visit every country in the world at the age of 32. He’s visited 318 total countries so far.
“I have had many experiences on buses throughout the world – good, bad, and ugly! However, I like to concentrate on the good, and I honestly love taking scenic bus rides through a beautiful place like New Zealand and just staring out the window and losing track of time. Just looking out the big clear window staring at beautiful scenery… I love that.”
You can follow Lee’s adventures on his blog, as well as on Facebook & Twitter.
La Carmina: on exploring subcultures and traveling throughout Asia.
“The pit-stops are always a fun part of the bus journey. You’ll often end up in small towns or quirky stores, which you wouldn’t get to experience any other way. When my friend and I traveled from Tokyo to Osaka by bus, we made a stop at a seemingly plain building. But inside, there was a local bakery that was famous for its big, fluffy, pale green melon bread! What a treat it was to bite into a fresh-out-of-the-oven loaf in this most unexpected place.”
You can follow La Carmina’s adventures on her blog, as well as on Facebook & Twitter.
GoSeeWrite: Michael Hodson shares his adventures circling the globe without flying.
“I just wrote recently about one of my constant bus stories — what’s up with the Air Con??. It never ceases to amaze me when I get on a bus in a country where it is hotter than Hades and the Air Con is set so high that you can almost see your breath. Or…. its broken and you fry.”
You can follow Michael’s travels on his blog, GoSeeWrite, as well as on Twitter and Facebook.
Greenloons: Irene Lane talks greenloons, ecotourism and her craziest travel experience.
“Last summer, my son and I traveled through Croatia by bus, which was extremely convenient and quite enjoyable – save some quirks. The scenery, especially on the Dalmatian coast, was truly remarkable and it helped a great deal to have a good Wi-Fi connection while onboard.
The quirky part that you had to be mindful of was that it was solely up for the driver and ticket handler’s discretion as to when to take a break. When they stopped, some of them gave you a 20-minute break while others only gave you a 5-minute break, and they didn’t count heads when it was time to leave. Essentially, there weren’t any designated rules either about where they would stop, so it was important to keep track, otherwise, you could be stuck for at least a day.
One time, the bus started to depart and we saw this lady running across the parking lot. She had this small pastry bag with her, high heels on and was screaming for the bus to stop. Neither the bus driver or ticket handler saw her, so we told them to stop and pointed outside. She got on the bus, said a few choice words in Croatian, and rather than profusely apologizing, the driver and ticket handler looked at each other, laughed and proceeded to drive. I suppose there’s little mercy from bus drivers in Croatia.”
You can follow Irene on her blog, and she’s also active on Twitter and Facebook.
Inside the Travel Lab: Abigail King shares how she swapped her scrubs for travel writing and photography.
“Hm. I was on an overnight bus in Mexico once near the border with Guatemala when soldiers stormed on and yanked out the passenger sitting behind us. That was pretty memorable.”
You can follow Abigail’s adventures on her blog, as well as on Facebook & Twitter.
Travels of Adam: Adam Groffman shares his thoughts on hipster travel and moving halfway across the globe.
“I remember many of my bus rides in India – it was a crazy, but fun way to get around the country. The buses were colorful and the people were friendly. I took several long bus journeys, but my most memorable was a short bus ride (about 2-3 hours) I took from Pondicherry to Mamallapuram on the southeastern coast of India. My friend and I were on the bus on New Year’s Eve, so we had a fun time chatting with some of the locals before getting off to celebrate at midnight!”
ou can follow Adam’s travels on his blog, as well as on Facebook & Twitter.
Raising Miro: Lainie shares her thoughts on the road of life and raising a child while traveling.
“Both Miro and I don’t mind bus rides, even like the long ones from time to time. We have been on two 40 hour bus rides at different times on our journey. And once in Guatemala, we were caught in a shuttle bus for 30 hours in a bad storm where the roads were literally washed out. In this case, Miro and I got to observe the best and the worst of ‘creating your own reality”. We were both patient, wide-eyed and accepting of what was happening. On the other hand, we were in the company of a couple of travellers who choose to experience the situation in a very negative manner. Both Miro and I were observers, and choose to learn in every experience, reflect and grow than making the choice to suffer, judge, or condemn what is happening.”
Bacon Is Magic: Ayngelina Brogan shares stories about a year and a half of eat-pray-loving.
“Well I didn’t fly in South America, except for a few times in Colombia because it was cheaper than the bus. But my hidden gem is a tip a local gave me on a bus! Cajamarca, Peru, is in the North and lots of South Americans visit it, but few foreigners. In fact, while Peru is laden with tourists they seem to concentrate on the South but this town is tucked in the mountains and has amazing cheese, chocolate, sights and people.”
Nomadic Samuel: Samuel Jeffery shares his thoughts about teaching abroad, epic bus journeys and… ostrich rides?
“Although I have many tales of misfortune that I could get into I’ll pick something positive. When I was travelling in South America I met some of my closest friends that I still keep in touch with on various bus journeys. Many of my trips were 24 hours or longer providing the perfect opportunity to get to know whoever I was sitting next to. When traveling by bus I would suggest keeping an open mind. A great new friend might be sitting next to you.”
You can get in touch with Samuel on his website, Facebook and Twitter.
Have A Story To Share?
Do you have a bus story to share? We’d love to hear from you. Send submissions to alain@busbud.com, and who knows you might be featured next on our blog!