Monday, June 3, 2013

My midnight bus to Austin!

Remember that late-night bus ride I book for just $6? I wanted to revisit that journey from New Orleans to Austin and tell you how surprisingly well the red-eye bus ride went! 

I arrived near the French Quarter around 11:15pm and found the MegaBus pick-up lot in plain sight. After you've purchased your ticket on MegaBus, you can either print out your reservation or simply show them the email from your phone. 

One of the bonuses of traveling with MegaBus are their agents. Their attitudes are some of the most un-jaded in the travel industry! I’m not sure if they rotate jobs within a week, but the guys and gals who are loading the bus, taking the tickets, driving the bus or are there for coordinating and taking questions, are simply kind-hearted. They seem to really love their job and their willingness to over-explain and answer all questions, even the same one five times in a row is refreshing in a time when even some airline agents put no effort into making your travel experience go both smoothly and enjoyably. 

This overnight bus ride really was the best option. First of all, I didn’t have to rent a car for one person to drive 500 miles for 10 hours. Am I environmentally friendly or what?

Other incentives include complimentary wi-fi; you know, that omnipresent thing that is seemingly everywhere and these days seems almost as necessary as that other complimentary thing we can’t see but need: air. [hello, slight exaggeration!]

And outlets! Did I mention there are power outlets? As a more frequent than not overnight airport dweller, outlets are a hot commodity. Granted, sometimes these outlets work, sometimes they don’t but let’s be honest, it’s a large moving vehicle, not a power plant, ya’ll. 

Although I’m not one for sleeping upright, the bus was cool, clean and the seats did recline a bit! I was in and out of snooziness and soon enough, I was in Houston where I made aquaintances with fellow travelers. We only waited for our “connecting” bus to Austin for about 20 or 30 minutes. Et voila!  

I was in Austin in no time. Not to mention upon arrival I did not feel tired at all. I can’t imagine having wasted a whole day driving and spending all of that money that I could now use on refueling food in Food Truck Capitol! (I might have made that title up.)

Simply put, travel with MegaBus. Take your time on the journey. Enjoy your fellow travelers. Take to the open road. Low budget? No excuse! I'm now in San Francisco and will soon be traveling from The Bay Area to Los Angeles via MegaBus!