Megabus travels: A review in story form

Before this past weekend, I had never been to Washington, DC. I've wanted to go so badly, especially since a good friend of mine now lives there, but I kept putting off buying a plane ticket.

Then last fall I read that Megabus was coming to Knoxville and would provide low-price commutes to DC. It seemed too good to be true. Even if it was cheap, it had to be super sketchy, right?

Over time, however, I did hear good things about it, and even saw a friend's photos on Facebook of a trip they took from NYC to DC on the Megabus. One of their statuses read: Megabus, I think I love you, but I want to know for sure.

That was it. I had to know for sure, too.

On January 31, I reserved two tickets on Megabus.com for a trip to DC from February 12 to the 14th. Each reservation cost $16.25, round trip.

This price floored me, but even more uncanny is the fact that if I had booked it sooner in advance, I may have only paid $1 for each reservation.

As my trip neared, I was feeling a little nervous. It calmed me to know that everyone has to book their tickets in advance online, which weeds out the Greyhound types who can walk up to a bus and pay on the spot. (Nothing against the Greyhound types, but you know what I mean.)

So my friend Micah dropped Liz and me off on Church in front of the swanky Transit Center. We had to be there at 10:30pm for our 10:45pm departure, only carrying one bag under 50 lbs. and a small carry on. We got there right at 10:30 and were the last people to board. The bus was already half full, and to my delight, there were lots of college-aged kids, parental types, and the only child was at least ten.


photo by Liz Totten

I pulled out my laptop. The Wi-Fi worked, so I sent my farewell to Robert, who, leading up to our trip, kept telling us a story about someone getting decapitated on a bus and no one noticing. Thanks again for that, Robert.

As you can probably tell, we made it through the night. No one ever tried to decapitate us. We each had two seats and, after watching August Rush that came on the little TV's, we slept in the fetal position. We made a stop for an hour around 1am (why an hour, I'm not sure) and then at the bus stop in Christianburg, VA where we dropped off some people and picked up more. I still had my two seats though.

Our only complaint on the way there was that it was freezing. We put on every item of clothing that we had. Someone on the bus said they were going to ask the driver to turn on the heat, but I never felt any. And in the fetal position on my two seats, part of my body was against the wall of the bus, which was like ice. I did manage to sleep from about 3am to 7am.

At 7am, I woke up to the sun rising past the Washington Monument as we drove over the Potomac River, a scene I won't forget for as long as I live. It was a surreal experience as we drove into the grand, clean, and quiet city that Saturday morning.

Our bus stopped at 10th and H, a block from the China Town Metro Station. Most everyone from the bus bee-lined into the Starbucks that sat directly in front of our parked bus.

So we made it, and we felt good, despite freezing our asses off all night. Liz, in her unceasing optimism, said, "Think of how many calories we burned shivering all night!" That's a good way to look at it, I guess.



So DC was pretty OK. Just kidding. Let's just say, my heart is still there... That doesn't sound overly melodramatic, does it?

But this post isn't about DC.

On Monday it was time to board the bus again. We were a little early this time, but our bus was late, only by about 15 minutes. We did witness a lady who arrived at the departure time (not 15 minutes early) to get on the Megabus to NYC. The bus left her, even though it hadn't pulled away yet. So let her tardiness be a lesson to you. Be there 15 minutes early!

The bus ride back was pretty uneventful. It was during the day, so the need to sleep wasn't necessary. We talked with the man in front of us who works at ORNL who was in DC visiting his son who brews beer. He gave us peanuts.

Our stop on the way home was only 30 minutes, but enough time to eat. The bus was only about 1/4 of the way full this time. I could never get the Wi-Fi to work, which honestly didn't bother me because I get motion sickness easily. Our bus arrived about an hour ahead of schedule, safe and sound. This is typical for most trips. They make good time.

So in conclusion, I highly recommend using the Megabus, unless you are really high maintenance. I'm thinking the more people who use it, the more it will expand. I would love to see it go to Memphis with a stop in Nashville, or to Atlanta. Oh man! The possibilities are endless! And you can be sure if that happens, I will feel comfortable traveling alone.

Megabus, I do love you. I know for sure.