jg2802

anyone have any experience using this? just wondering whether its worth trecking my laptop around america for two months or just having it shipped over to Canada with everything else when i settle.

Bob

Not all greyhounds have it....you'll likely get mugged if you do anyway, I mean who else uses greyhound?

Plenty of places have free wifi though, most McD's and coffee shops etc will at least.

Scouse Express

The notion of travelling around North America, by Greyhound, is not quite as "romantic" as it once was.

There are some very shady characters who ride around on Greyhound, and they often pick up Prisoners who have just been released from serving sentences. Several people are murdered, each year, at or close by to Greyhound Terminals. AmTrak, or even "No-Frills" Airlines like Southwest, AirTran or Frontier may be better options.

Wi-Fi on Coaches tend to run off Cell Phone Towers. If you are out in the Boonies.......no signal. Greyhound, who are now owned by UK Transportation Company First Group, have invested Millions in newer vehicles, but, the same old "Riff-Raff" still rides them.

If you are going to be in the NE Corridor for a while (Between Washington DC and Boston). You may wish to consider Megabus or Bolt Bus. You need to book your tickets on-line, so that eliminates quite a bit of the Riff-Raff. Megabus and Bolt Bus do not have Nationwide Networks, right now. They are mostly Regional Operations, with locations in the NE, Chicago and West Coast Areas. They are not linked up with each other, just yet.

Jim (Coach Driver for 25 Years).

GeoffM

I don't know what your plans are exactly but it's a +1 for the Amtrak option. Wifi signal is likely to be worse though, but on many trains you can find a socket to charge from - definitely if you're in sleeper but harder to locate in most long distance coach cars. I do know people who take laptops and write and upload blogs enroute. Loads of room and slightly better clientele than the average Greyhound! Be prepared for delays though. The travel passes have changed since I last used them but they should still work out quite reasonably.

Jerseygirl

When in the car I use either a Verizon dongle with my netbook or IPad with AT&T service. Occasionally when we are driving in the boonies the service will drop out or be very slow...but all in all both give a good service. I should add that I am mainly travelling in the NE...up to the Canadian border.

Scouse Express

Case in point;

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/...m-1277369.html


Jim

caleyjag

Amtrak Amtrak Amtrak!

If you are young or cool, there's various hostel-backpacker options too. For example, http://www.greentortoise.com/

I've done my time in Greyhounds over the years. I haven't been stabbed, but every single long-distance ride I've been on had at least a couple of proper weirdos on it (including one where I was felt up a couple of times by some freak while i was trying to sleep. And I'm a burly rugby player kinda guy.)

On top of that Greyhound depots themselves are often sketchy as hell. Not cool when you have a 5 hour overlay in the middle of the night.

Basically, Greyhound sucks.

avanutria

I took Greyhound a couple of times across New York state to visit my brother in college. I was a teenager, and female, but no one messed with me. However, this was the 90s so things may have changed. I can corroborate the extremely dodgy bus depots comment. They were really creepy, and one was early-morning creepy.

In 2006 my grandma had to take a Greyhound across Florida and my DH and I saw her to the bus station. Talk about dodgy. In addition to the usual questionable characters, some guy asked my DH for money and then tried to get DH to go round a corner with him to have a conversation. Fortunately DH is London-raised and was not about to do anything that stupid. We made well sure that we visibly witnessed her getting onto the bus before we left. And when we came out we found a ticket on our car, even though we'd put money into the apparently defective meter.

jg2802

Oh god maybe I should re think the whole travelling around America thing. The train is just so expensive and you can only use it a certain amount of times even if you buy an unlimited month ticket. (Segments I think its called). It will just be me and another girl travelling maybe its not such a good idea. We want to travel from Vegas to Toronto but I want to go via California, Texas, Florida, Kentucky, new York etc - that kind of route.

GeoffM

Still female these days?!

It's not as good as it used to be admittedly. Plus Las Vegas hasn't been served by Amtrak for about 16 years now I think, so that's not much good. Texas to Florida used to be possible but hurricane Katrina put pay to that and they haven't bothered resurrecting passenger service between New Orleans and Orlando. A shame as it is a more civilized way to travel.

avanutria

Yes...my original wording was "I was a female teenager" and decided that perhaps it could be worded a bit better...

caleyjag

That is a very strange route. With all due respect I think you are underestimating the distances between these cities. That will be an expensive trip no matter how you do it.

1.) Southwest can be an affordable solution for at least some legs of the trip, if you book it in advance. Virgin America can also be cost effective.

2.) http://www.autodriveaway.com/ This is the classic way to get around the US on a budget. You drive cars for people who need their vehicle moved from A to B. It's like renting a car, but much cheaper. The catch is you have to work your travel around the available vehicles. Typically it is most effective between the major cities, which might work out for you.


How old are both of you? If you are young and money and is an issue then Green Tortoise really might not be such a bad idea.
Cross-country packages

avanutria

Is hiring a car and driving out of the question? You'll have a lot more flexibility that way, though it can be very tiring. However, you also won't be restricted to using a bus-based toilet.

That's a very long and circuitous route you've got planned. (Helpful tip - take a couple of these locations and check their distance using google maps, which will give you the miles and the expected time, without traffic or stops, to travel between them.) Be prepared for a LOT of travel, regardless of what method you take. It certainly CAN be done, we just want to make sure you're aware of what you might encounter.

Bob

Aye, BIL used the Greyhound to get from Boston to Toronto. It's regular a 8 hour drive by car, but on the bus took around 30 hours. Was pretty cheap though...but well minging and sketchy.

Also not a great way to see stuff as it goes from one grot hole to another, taking a slow and boring route to get about it.

Scouse Express

There's two "levels" of Greyhound Service.

"Express" which uses the most direct route and fewer stops

"Local" which goes all over the place, stopping at everytown along the way

Jim.