Greyhound bus

I rode the bus from Seattle to Redding when I got out of the army in 1970. Well, I tried to. I gave up in Eugene, got off and hitch-hiked the rest of the way. My one and only bus ride.

 

In Atlanta, picture a homeless encampment full of psychos. Seriously.
At the time I was in my early 50's and had been around the block a time or two, but NOTHING prepared me for what I encountered there.

 

I haven't ridden a long distance bus since the '60s in Australia but, reseaching for my son who was contemplating moving to southern Spain a few years ago, I found a company called Flixbus (I think) They are German owned and have an extensive network and good reputation but interestingly they apparently own Greyhound in the US. I suppose they haven't got round to sorting it all out yet then.

As regards that Australian experience it was a real joke. I was in Darwin and decided to move 320 kms south to Katherine where there was a road train company I wanted to drive for. I caught a Redline bus at a stop just out of town and threw my swag in the luggage compartment. The driver turned the key and it wouldn't start, flat batteries, so he asked us all to get out and push, yes, really.
So we all did just that in a big crowd at the back, he cracked it up, we all got on board and continued down the road. Given the fact that, apart from a few towns, it was open desert most of the way to Alice Springs, his destination nearly 1200 kms away, I was full of admiration for his confidence as he gaily carried on into the unknown.

 

You meet the nicest people on the grey dog..

Mid 80s I abandoned a truck in northern New Jersey. Slept in a park and next day took a local bus into NYC.
Grabbed a greyhound w all my gear and headed out on a 2 day ride back to the midwest. Rather humbling remembering back but vowed never again.
Lots of better options nowadays.

 

Did you walk down to the "smoking area"? Drunks & dope heads passed out on the sidewalk across the street. Trash everywhere, don't leave your bags unattended to use the bathroom, you'll be missing them pronto. All this was in '16...